Floods

[DrTskoul]

you would have to dam the other entrance too... In any case..trade and shipping much more valuable... Most cities will have to deal with it... There are many ancient cities under the water already. Venice will just be another....

[be cause]

the pretty flood in Venice reached 5feet in St Marks square .. 4th worst flood the city has experienced . As the flood was caused by wind forcing water up the Adriatic , a dam at the mouth of the Med would not have stopped it ..
 Looks like rapid melting of recent snow in the Alps over the coming days will cause further flooding in Europe as warmth follows the weather moving North .. b.c.

[oren]

Another point - damming Gibraltar will raise global sea level faster.

Just fact-checking myself, Mediterranean surface area is less than 1% of the global ocean surface, so the effect on SLR elsewhere will be (almost) negligible.

[RikW]

you would have to dam the other entrance too... In any case..trade and shipping much more valuable... Most cities will have to deal with it... There are many ancient cities under the water already. Venice will just be another....

That's not that difficult, that's only a manmade channel. It would be an interesting project with huge  hydropower options. Although I don't know if the strait of gibraltar currently functions as a way to raise or to lower the mediterranean sea lvl.

[magnamentis]

Terrible idea. Once the dam is in place you will have hundreds of millions of people at risk of death in case of a catastrophic failure, dependent on continued maintenance forever after, even in case of major war, civilizational collapse, need for expensive refurbishment and whatever not, not to mention vulnerable to major terrorism or bombing.
It will be the Mosul Dam a hundred times over.
The good news being that by the time humanity realizes the imminent total loss of all coastal cities and infrastructure, there will not be enough cooperation and resources left to attempt such a project. (The same applies to geoengineering).
Another point - damming Gibraltar will raise global sea level faster. Will America, China, India, Northern Europe sit idle? No way.

while the risks you mention are true that would be the case for every dam, some more and some less depending what lays below them, hence that can't be an arguement, still millions or even billions of people live in places that would be erradicated in case of a dam failure. yangtse, river below the dam, cities below the hoover dam etc. etc. , probably thousands of such dams exist.

however, while opinions may differ and i'm not convinced that the idea is good, just considering, it's certainly not a "horrible idea" before all factors are weighed agains each other. the part about resources etc. is jumping to conclusions while it could be exactly the other way around. i say "could be" not "is" because under common threads history has also shown that even enemies can unite to first fight the common enemy and then fight each other again

either way i don't conclude anything but the thought is certainly worth a proper and detailed analysis before being discarded in case of a sea-level rise of several meters.

last but not least in case of a 60+ meters rise the idea will become obsolete again, that and the time frame would also have to be part of a propers analysis.

the question will be what cost more, to rebuild all the cities far enough inland, how much time it takes to move population and cities compared to how much time a dam would win us to move slowly and organized etc. etc.

there are so many factors that one cannot just say "great" or "bullshit" to be honest i was surprised about the the "horrible" word while i respect a more negative approach to the idea. i tend to be open to ideas until they are proven to be no good and in this case we wouldn't do it for fun but for a an organized and much slower transition of the mediterranean population and infrastructure.

[Sigmetnow]

Flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas last year.

Houston_First won’t recover from the economic hit until well into the next decade.

Houston First Tightens Belt To Pay Off Harvey Damage
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2018/12/11/315061/houston-first-tightens-belt-to-pay-off-harvey-damage/

Cross-posted from Hurricane 2018 thread

[kassy]

Another point - damming Gibraltar will raise global sea level faster.

Just fact-checking myself, Mediterranean surface area is less than 1% of the global ocean surface, so the effect on SLR elsewhere will be (almost) negligible.

The Mediterranean Sea is quite salty because it has a lot of evaporation.

It would be a more advanced version of the Oosterscheldedam. Probably should have sluices for shipping and points to let in Atlantic water.

The big problem is when is it urgent enough to build and at that time which projected SLR do you use for planning? And if that is really bad we might need some money in the north for flood defence too...or relocating.

[sidd]

Amtrak treading water:

" Parts of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor route, which carries 12 million people each year between Boston and Washington, face “continual inundation.”  "

"Amtrak has since de-emphasized the threat of climate change in its public documents, even scrubbing the phrase entirely from its most recent five-year strategic plan."

"One of the redacted portions of the report is an analysis of the full costs and benefits of protecting the corridor against climate change, making it impossible to know if the company has determined it would save more money by keeping the corridor open than it would have to spend to save it. The disclosure of that information “could possibly cause public confusion,” ... "

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-amtrak-sea-level/

They be screwed.

sidd

[Nemesis]

What a pity  "Shrug", Karma rules 

[Sigmetnow]

So, tunnels, then?

[Sigmetnow]

U.S. Southeast:

One sign of the seriousness of this week's heavy-rain/flood-threat onslaught in the Tennessee Valley: Nashville is very likely to see its wettest February on record--and the old record was set in 1880.

Serious Flooding Threat Looms for Tennessee Valley This Week and Beyond by Bob Henson | Category 6 | Weather Underground

A fast, furious jet
The upper-level dynamics on tap to drench the Southeast are in some ways an eastward extension of the pattern that doused California last week. Both events are the result of shots of energy moving through a very persistent and slow-moving upper-level trough (an elongated zone of low pressure) that extended on Monday from central Canada into the southwest U.S. On the east side of this trough, the jet stream has been roaring at extreme speeds—sometimes topping 220 mph at heights of around 35,000 feet.
...
This intense jet streak will be pushing across the Ohio Valley and Northeast into the Atlantic over the next several days, but its tail end will remain close to Kentucky and Tennessee through the week, assisting at times with the rain-producing dynamics. Beneath the jet stream, a surface front will be sloshing back and forth across the mid-South. As each upper-level impulse approaches, a rich supply of low-level moisture will be pulled northward from the Gulf of Mexico, intercepting the front and stoking periods of heavy rain. ...

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Serious-Flooding-Threat-Looms-Tennessee-Valley-Week-and-Beyond

[Sigmetnow]

NASA: Relentless rainfall pounded Queensland for weeks, causing destructive flooding in the region. When the clouds dispersed, our @NASAEarth satellites got a clear look at the damage caused across the Australian state.
https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1097317279686107137
Image below.

See the full report: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/144545/summer-floods-in-australia

[mitch]

Look on the bright side--storing excess water on land leads to a temporary sea level fall.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/08/scienceshot-why-did-sea-level-drop-2010

[vox_mundi]

Plans Approved to Build Massive Seawall in NYC for "Once in 300 Year" Storm
https://www.inverse.com/article/53485-but-what-happens-when-every-300-years-becomes-every-ten

Despite Hurricane Sandy’s immense impact, the city has been slow to adopt protective measures that would safeguard residents from future storm-related disasters. A 2018 report that evaluated storm preparation ranked New York 12th out of 16 Eastern coastal states, behind both New Jersey and Connecticut. But on Tuesday, New York finally secured funding to begin addressing that though the Staten Island Levee Project, a $615 million seawall that will be built to withstand a “300 year storm.”

The new project is set to run 5.3 miles along Staten Island’s Eastern shore. It’s actually not technically a “wall,” and it will eventually be composed of a system of interconnected levees, berms, and seawalls, designed to combat both storm surges and rising sea levels.

But as climate change proceeds at an increasingly destructive pace, the more traditional ways of measuring storm severity — once every 100 years, every 300 years, every 500, etc. — and the ways in which those designations inform our seawall design could quickly become outdated. Hurricane Sandy, after all, was a once in a century storm. The Staten Island seawall is built for a once-in-300 year storm. But a report released last year by the Regional Plan Association found that those “every 500 years” floods New York has been slow to protect themselves against? They could start happening once every five.

https://www.6sqft.com/study-new-york-city-could-get-hit-with-a-flood-every-five-years-instead-of-every-500/

[gerontocrat]

Plans Approved to Build Massive Seawall in NYC for "Once in 300 Year" Storm
https://www.inverse.com/article/53485-but-what-happens-when-every-300-years-becomes-every-ten

I am unable to stop a wry smile. In some ways humans are so predictable.
I posted this last September elsewhere in this forum

The Kraken Wakes
Author: John Wyndham, published July 1953

The novel describes escalating phases of what appears to be an invasion of Earth by aliens.
The aliens are speculated to come from a gas giant, and thus can only survive under conditions of extreme pressures in which humans would be instantly crushed. The deepest parts of the oceans are the only parts of Earth in any way useful to them.  Humanity nevertheless feels threatened by this new phenomenon – particularly since the newcomers show signs of intensive work to adapt the ocean deeps to their needs.

In the final phase,the aliens begin melting the polar ice caps, causing sea levels to rise.

The book describes in some detail the ever greater efforts by society to prevent catastrophe rather than adapt to it. Higher and higher sea walls and other massive infrastructure - all doomed to fail.

To me it was a good illustration of the mind-set that says "we can fix it, no matter what it is". Man as the master of nature. I doubt if I will be around long enough to see sea walls across the Bering Strait and on the Antarctic sea-floor, though I am sure to see before I finally pop my clogs an awful lot of new sea walls, raised roads, vast pumps etc. built on land.

[Sigmetnow]

Tennessee Valley Authority (@TVAnews)
2/22/19, 12:21 PM
Heavy rainfall continues mainly across the lower Tennessee River Valley. Stretches of the river in North Ala. are above flood stage and areas below Pickwick Dam in West Tenn. are approaching and will exceed major flood stage. Tune to the @NWS and your local news. #TNWX #ALWX

https://twitter.com/tvanews/status/1098996222105399306
2-minute video at the link describing how TVA dams are handling up to ten inches of rain falling in its river basin in Tennessee and Alabama.

[ritter]

Local flooding for the North Bay Area in California. Sonoma County just finished up two days of an atmospheric river, resulting in major flooding on the Russian River. Recall, we've been scorched by wildfire the last two summers. From fires to floods, climate change in action.

https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/forestville-russian-river-drone-flood-water-storm-13649847.php

[sidd]

"These owners won't sell after the first flood; they think they have another 99 years to go," he said. "But they will sell after the second flood."

https://www.waxahachietx.com/zz/news/20190216/climate-change-means-more-floods-great-and-localized

sidd

[wdmn]

Local flooding for the North Bay Area in California. Sonoma County just finished up two days of an atmospheric river, resulting in major flooding on the Russian River. Recall, we've been scorched by wildfire the last two summers. From fires to floods, climate change in action.

https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/forestville-russian-river-drone-flood-water-storm-13649847.php

More on the flood:

"Sonoma County authorities, about 70 miles (110km) north of San Francisco, said about 3,600 people were evacuated after the Russian River flooded.

Torrential rain and snowfall has triggered the worst deluge in over 20 years, emergency officials say.

The towns of Monte Rio and Guerneville are currently only accessible by boat.

"You cannot get into or out of town," Sonoma County officials said on Wednesday night in a mandatory evacuation order. "Guerneville is officially an island."

Around 2,000 homes and businesses are currently underwater, Ms Khan said, adding that only around half of the town's 4,500 residents complied with the official warning to leave.
........

By Wednesday night the Russian River crested at 45ft - nearly 14ft above flood stage - before beginning to recede.

In nearby Sebastopol, the Laguna de Santa Rosa wetlands rose high enough to swamp the town's main shopping district.

The Russian River Valley is home to more than 300 wineries, according to the Mercury News, and tourists there spent around $2.1bn (£1.6bn) in 2017.

It's not yet clear to what extent the flooding has affected local vineyards, but photos clearly show fields that are underwater.

More rain is forecast in the coming days, weather officials warn, and an increased snowpack in several western states could continue to keep water levels higher than average."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47406809

[Sigmetnow]

“Atmospheric Rivers”

Today’s floods in California may be a preview of a more extreme future

These floods show why atmospheric rivers are double-edged swords for California. They drop between 25 and 50 percent of the thirsty state’s precipitation over just a few days every year. But they’re also to blame for an estimated 81 percent of levee breaches in California’s Central Valley, according to a 2015 report. And in 2017, back-to-back atmospheric rivers accelerated damage to the crumbling Oroville dam spillway.

To capture that balance between benefit and hazard, Ralph proposed a new scale published earlier this month in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. It ranks atmospheric rivers based on the amount of water they’re carrying, and how long they linger. The scale ranges from a “weak” category 1 that mostly brings helpful precipitation to an “exceptional” category 5 that’s far more hazardous than helpful. Based on early measurements, Ralph estimates that the one that just drenched California falls around a category 3 or 4 — somewhere between strong and extreme.

While Ralph can’t speak to the effects of climate change on this particular atmospheric river, he says we may be able to expect worse atmospheric rivers as climate change continues. Warmer air can hold more water vapor, which means more rainfall. But winds, which are also important for atmospheric river formation, are expected to slacken on average as temperatures at the poles climb. “These two trends compete with each other in terms of the long-term projections,” Ralph says. “One says weaker, one says stronger.”

That could mean somewhat fewer atmospheric rivers in general, but it could also mean that some of the ones we do see are likely to be bigger, and stronger, a recent study from Ralph’s lab predicts. “An average AR has about 25 Mississippi Rivers worth of water vapor transport going on,” Ralph says. “A stronger AR would be like adding additional Mississippis worth of water vapor flow.”

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/27/18243658/california-floods-extreme-weather-future-atmospheric-river

[Sigmetnow]

Tennessee Valley Authority: "Management of the Tenn. River system using our integrated system of 49 dams across the region adverted $1.6 billion in flood damages. After the wettest February and fourth wettest month on record, we continue to manage high river and lake conditions to minimize flood impacts.”

https://twitter.com/TVAnews/status/1101528715173994497
Drone video of full-running dam at the link.

[Sigmetnow]

U.S.:  'Bomb Cyclone' Leaves Midwest Battling Floods

It's the worst flooding parts of the Midwest have seen in decades, where several states are battling the aftermath of a powerful "bomb cyclone" which swept through the region, bringing blizzard conditions, hurricane-like winds, snow and heavy rain.
...
The powerful storm pushed some waterways, including the Missouri River, to record levels in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.

Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told NPR many areas will remain water-logged for days.

"All the rivers respond differently, have different time scales that they flood and then recede. A lot of the rivers are going to remain in flood into the weekend, and some into next week," Chenard said. "Eventually as we head into next week, we should see more and more of the rivers start to recede below flood stage.” ...

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/16/704130300/the-midwest-battles-historic-floods-in-the-aftermath-of-bomb-cyclone

Much more on this storm in the “Weird Weather...” thread.

[vox_mundi]

Home Of Strategic Command And Some Of The USAF's Most Prized Aircraft Is Flooding   
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26991/home-of-strategic-command-and-some-of-usafs-most-prized-aircraft-is-flooding

The home to America's prized RC-135 "Rivet Joint" strategic reconnaissance and E-4B "Nightwatch" Advanced Airborne Command Post aircraft, as well as others, and the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), is flooding with water from a swollen Missouri River. 

Offutt Air Force Base sits near Omaha, Nebraska and is considered one of the most critical installations in the U.S. Air Force's portfolio. Not only does it house extremely high-value, but low density reconnaissance and command and control aircraft—massively expensive platforms that are essential to national security—but it is also the beating heart of STRATCOM that oversees America's strategic nuclear forces. In fact, a brand new command bunker, buried underground at the base, was just opened in January—which sounds far less than ideal considering water is now nearly covering the end of the base's runway..

A conga line of RC-135s were tracked escaping the impending deluge earlier today



The thing is that the fleet of aircraft housed at Offutt is among the oldest in the USAF's inventory and has received quite a reputation as of late for less than stellar readiness. In other words, some aircraft may not have been able to fly out. And even if most were good to go, there will almost always be a number left behind due to various circumstances—most commonly of which is being down for deep maintenance.

{Remember, over half the aircraft were left behind during Hurricane Michael - with base damage in excess of a $Billion dollars)

But still, considering the strategic operations centers that are the backbone of STRATCOM are located at the base, many of which are underground, this flood could prove to be way more harmful than the damage done to aircraft and basic infrastructure above ground.   

UPDATE: Offutt's commanding officer, Colonel Michael Manion, noted 15 hours ago that major damage is already being done to the base and that the rising river's edge isn't the only way water is flooding into critical areas:

"Team - 1600L/16 March update. Water is rising at a rapid rate on the SE side of the base. Water is entering from the river and through the storm drains. Several buildings including the Wing Building are inundated with water. We continue to work as rapidly as possible to improve water defenses around critical infrastructure. ...

Since then things have been getting worse, not better:

... "Team - 2100L/16 March update: Substantial flooding on the SE portion of Offutt AFB and we expect the water to continue to rise through the late afternoon of 17 March. Over 20 buildings have been evacuated due to flooding and we expect more flooding overnight. ...

[oren]

Oh dear. This looks severe indeed.

[Archimid]

Well, their boss said to ignore climate change and like good little soldiers that's what they are doing.

[vox_mundi]

UPDATE: 1,600 workers relocated, at least 30 buildings damaged by floodwaters at Offutt
https://www.omaha.com/news/military/air-force-gives-up-fight-to-stop-water-at-offutt/article_631f9b34-5271-50e8-b5eb-19f488daaf32.html

Even the U.S. Air Force couldn't stop the Mighty Missouri River from flooding Offutt Air Force Base.

Between Saturday night and early Sunday, the 55th Wing called off a 30-hour, round-the-clock sandbagging effort because the floodwaters were rising too fast.

"It was a lost cause. We gave up," said Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake, a 55th Wing spokeswoman.

By Sunday morning, one-third of the base was underwater, she said. Thirty buildings, including the 55th Wing headquarters and the two major aircraft maintenance facilities, had been flooded with up to 8 feet of water, and 30 more structures damaged. About 3,000 feet of the base's 11,700-foot runway was submerged   



At Offutt, the 55th Wing managed to fly out nine of the 33 reconnaissance jets based there Saturday evening, according to 55th Wing Commander Col. Michael Manion's official Facebook post. Some were flown to the Lincoln Airport, where the Nebraska Air National Guard has a base.
More photos: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2574278785920035&id=1728411170506805&__tn__=%2As%2As-R
https://facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/

Five planes were still parked on the northwest taxiway and the apron Sunday morning. Blake said it's not clear yet when or whether they'll be moved. No planes have been damaged in the floods.



Army Corp. Of Engineers expects water will begin to recede beginning Thursday, Mar 21

------------------------'--

Offutt, $1.2 billion StratCom HQ   
https://www.omaha.com/news/military/at-worksite-at-offutt-billion-stratcom-hq-taking-shape/article_5687667c-2ee2-5492-87f1-0b466d262c03.html

Exclusive: Inside the Base That Would Oversee a US Nuclear Strike
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/03/23/politics/us-strategic-command-nuclear-hyten/index.html

Several Workers in StratCom's Basement Got Mysteriously Sick. The Likely Cause: Carbon Dioxide Buildup   
https://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/several-workers-in-stratcom-s-basement-got-mysteriously-sick-the/article_56ba026e-86c4-5505-8b6a-cedd36ad2fb3.html

Offutt's Aging Jets are Breaking Down at Sky-high Rates 
https://www.omaha.com/news/military/risking-disaster-offutt-s-aging-jets-are-breaking-down-at/article_dde63e61-06eb-517e-bd8f-b28269dd152b.html

Tornado Caused Almost $20 Million in Damage at Offutt Air Force Base 
https://www.omaha.com/news/military/tornado-caused-almost-million-in-damage-at-offutt-air-force/article_dc05a175-0658-5595-b585-9f09f878e4b6.html

Offutt Runway Project Could Hit $100 Million
https://www.omaha.com/news/military/offutt-runway-project-could-hit-million-will-likely-continue-into/article_f11cf924-f468-542e-bae9-2638f36ca5a6.html

------------------------

From 2 month's ago ...

Climate Change Threatens a Majority of Mission-Critical Military Bases, Pentagon Report Says 
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/01/18/dod-majority-of-mission-critical-bases-face-climate-change-threats/

More than two-thirds of the military’s operationally critical installations are threatened by climate change, according to a new DoD report.

https://partner-mco-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/client_files/1547826612.pdf

The January 2019 report, “Report on Effects of a Changing Climate to the Department of Defense,” was submitted to Congress Thursday without an official announcement of the report or a public release. Several environmental organizations made the report publicly available early Friday.

In its assessment of those 79 installations, which included Army, Air Force and Navy installations — and notably no Marine Corps bases — the services reported that 53 of the 79 faced current threats from flooding; 43 of the 79 face current threats from drought and 36 of the 79 faced current threats from wildfires.

... Also, the report failed to mention last year’s massive storm damage to military installations. Tyndall Air Force Base sustained serious damage to almost all of its buildings by Hurricane Michael and the Marines' Camp Lejeune was badly damaged by Hurricane Florence.

See also: https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1858.msg188475.html#msg188475

[Sigmetnow]

Not as dramatic as the Air Force Base flooding, but impactful nonetheless:

NWS Omaha (@NWSOmaha)
3/17/19, 11:00 AM
You may encounter some broken links on our webpage, but our forecasters remain hard at work forecasting and issuing warnings and products. We've moved operations to Hastings, NE.

Thanks, @NWSHastings!

https://twitter.com/nwsomaha/status/1107295624586805248
Image below.

[kassy]

Cyclone Idai: 'Massive disaster' in Mozambique and Zimbabwe


Cyclone Idai has triggered a "massive disaster" in southern Africa affecting hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, the UN says.

The region has been hit by widespread flooding and devastation affecting Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi has called it "a humanitarian disaster of great proportion".

He said more than 1,000 people may have been killed after the cyclone hit the country last week.

Cyclone Idai made landfall near the port city of Beira in Sofala province on Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph).

...

Mozambique's government says 84 people have died and 100,000 need to be urgently rescued near Beira.

An aerial survey of the province shows that a 50km (30 mile) stretch of land is under water after the Buzi river burst its banks, charity Save The Children says.

...

In Zimbabwe, the government says 98 people have been killed and more than 200 are missing.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that the government was conducting rescue missions and delivering food aid.

In the south-eastern town of Chimanimani residents told harrowing stories of how they lost their relatives when the storm hit.

Some rescuers said homes and even bodies were washed away in the rivers to neighbouring Mozambique, the BBC's Shingai Nyoka reports.

Floods of up to six metres deep had caused "incredible devastation" over a huge area in Mozambique, World Food Programme regional chief Lola Castro said.

"This is shaping up to be one of the worst weather-related disasters ever to hit the southern hemisphere, if the report by [Mozambique's] president and other agencies are confirmed, in terms of the causality toll," Clare Nullis from the UN's weather agency told the BBC.

At least 1.7 million people were in the direct path of the cyclone in Mozambique and 920,000 have been affected in Malawi, the UN said.

In Zimbabwe, at least 20,000 houses have been partially damaged in the south-eastern town of Chipinge, 600 others were completely destroyed.

Local officials say they are distributing rice and maize from the national food reserve to those displaced.

and more on:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47624156

[vox_mundi]

‘Unprecedented’ US Flood Season Will Imperil 200m People, Experts Warn 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/21/mississippi-river-flooding-missouri-nebraska-noaa

The severe flooding in the American midwest is set to only be a prelude to “unprecedented” levels of flooding across the US in the coming months that will imperil 200 million people, federal government scientists have warned.



Nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states will have a heightened risk of flooding until May, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) forecast.

Much of the nation is forecast to receive above-average precipitation April through June.

Communities living near the Mississippi river, which has received rain and snow levels up to 200% above normal, the lower Ohio river basin, the Tennessee river basin and the Great Lakes are at the greatest risk, Noaa said on Thursday. Vast swaths of the rest of the country may also get mild or moderate flooding, including most of eastern US and parts of California and Nevada.

-------------------------------------------------

U.S. Military Knew Flood Risks at Offutt Air Force Base, But Didn’t Act in Time
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21032019/military-climate-change-flood-risk-offutt-air-force-base-army-corps-levee-failure

For several years, the U.S. military and federal and local officials knew that Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska lay exposed to the threat of catastrophic flooding. But a key federal agency moved too slowly to approve plans to protect the base from last weekend's deluge, a top local official said.

The risks to Offutt, long known, were laid bare back in 2011 when floodwaters crept to within 50 feet of the runway.

... the risks exposed by the 2011 flood were formally recognized in 2015. A land use management plan—carried out by officials representing the base, the city of Omaha, the natural resources district and various cities and counties protected by the levee—warned that the levee needed to be built up, and cautioned that climate change might make matters worse.

Under the heading "Climate Adaptation," the report cited the 147 acres of wetlands on the base and the Platte and Missouri rivers just outside the fence, and said:

"During heavy rainfall, this area is prone to flooding, and flooding onto Offutt AFB may cause delays to missions and operations."

It went on: "Due to changes in the base flood elevation of the Missouri River, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has identified the need to raise the levee between two inches to several feet for it to be capable of protecting the installation." (... fortification cost of the levees: $22.7 million)

In particular, FEMA had ordered 19 miles of levees along the Missouri to be raised by 2 feet to protect Offutt and portions of Omaha, including one of the city's wastewater treatment facilities.



"For the Department of Defense, the takeaway from this event has to be what lessons have been learned," said retired Army Lt. Col. Frank Galgano, an associate professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at Villanova University.

"You can't say it was an act of God and hope it doesn't happen again. You have to look at the frequency of these events and plan for the future."

"If this pattern persists, it may signal a larger problem," Galgano added.


The flooding surrounded fuel tanks at Offutt Air Force Base and tipped over one, which military officials said was empty and had been decommissioned

[sidd]

"If this pattern persists, it may signal a larger problem,"

No shit. Guess what, Sherlock, it's gonna not only persist, but get worse.

Now as to :

"The flooding surrounded fuel tanks at Offutt Air Force Base and tipped over one, which military officials said was empty and had been decommissioned"

These people lie and lie and lie. I deal with those large oil tanks. Even when empty there is sludge in the bottom, toxic, the worst stuff settles out during operation. Thats why its impossible to sell a fuel oil tank until you clean out the sludge, and doing that is usually worth more than the tank at end of life. Now that tank in the picture on its side looks about 5-10Kgallon, i guarantee there was 500-1000 gallon of sludge in the bottom. When that thing floats up and tips over it ripped all the plumbing out, and probably popped a weld or two when it tipped. All that sludge is in the Missouri.

Now take a look at the walls around the tanks. Thats the spill containment. When you put a big tank in you got to build a retaining wall round it, enuf to retain spill of all tank contents. Now you can see that the two tanks  still standing also have spill containment full of water.

Now the inside of those spill containments at large facilities are pretty gross places. Place like Offut, been goin for decades, that floor of that spill containment had decades of contaminant from millions of little spills over the long years. All that is in the river.

My tax dollars at play.

sidd

[vox_mundi]

Flooding's National Security Risk 
https://www.axios.com/floodings-national-security-risk-06d03b4d-6e32-4b72-a644-d4562f193934.html

In just the past 12 months, Nebraska floods, Carolina and Florida hurricanes and California wildfires have put military installations in peril, ravaging buildings and doing billions in damage.   

This is not a far off threat for the Pentagon to consider, and it's certain to get more challenging as the climate continues to warm, seas rise, and stronger and wetter storms strike.



... Retired Rear Adm. David W. Titley told the AP that Defense Department officials “by and large know what they need to do, but it’s very hard for them to do. White House dynamics are the White House does not want to hear about it."

“We probably do need some walls — but they’re probably levees," Titley said.

https://phys.org/news/2019-03-national-threat-posed-climate.html

-------------------------------

Flooding Impairs Drinking Water Treatment for Kansas City, Missouri   

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) - Record flooding along the Missouri River has impaired treatment of drinking supplies in Kansas City, raising health risks for infants, the elderly and other people with compromised immune systems, the municipal water service warned on Saturday.

The public health advisory came as utility crews struggled to replace broken pumps at a wastewater treatment plant submerged by floodwaters about 30 miles upstream in Leavenworth, Kansas, a town of 35,000 on the river's west bank.

The KC Water utility, which serves 170,000 mostly residential customers in Kansas City, Missouri, with water drawn from the river, said it had failed to meet "enhanced treatment technique standards."

Testing showed excessive levels of turbidity, the presence of fine particles in the water that can carry bacteria, viruses and parasites including Cryptosporidium, which can cause diarrhea.

-------------------------------

Meanwhile, in Mozambique, they've had no clean water or food for five days and  they're drinking from puddles. Cholera has already been detected.

[vox_mundi]

"If this pattern persists, it may signal a larger problem,"

No shit. Guess what, Sherlock, it's gonna not only persist, but get worse.
....
My tax dollars at play.

sidd

Marine Commandant Memo Adds Billions to DoD’s Growing Weather Cleanup 
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/03/marine-commandant-memo-adds-billions-to-dods-growing-weather-cleanup/

.... The Pentagon is looking at a growing list of bases that have been damaged or largely wiped out over the past six months due to extreme weather events. Joining the Marine Corps' Lejeune $3.6 billion price tag is the $5 billion the Air Force estimates it will take to repair Tyndall Air Base in Florida after it was walloped by Hurricane Michael’s 155-mile-per-hour winds last fall.

That $8.6 billion in repair work will likely push past the $10 billion mark once estimates come in from the historic flooding at Offutt Air Base in Nebraska, home of Strategic Command, which is currently 30 percent underwater and will need to repair or replace dozens of buildings, roads, and its main runway.

This unprecedented damage at three bases has raised alarm bells over how ready the Pentagon is to deal with climate change, and how it affects operations and readiness.

“DoD can’t count on 500-year storms coming every 500 years any more,” John Conger, director of Center for Climate and Security, and a former deputy comptroller at the Pentagon, told me.

[vox_mundi]

Death Toll in 'Unprecedented' Iran Floods Rises to 21
https://phys.org/news/2019-03-death-toll-unprecedented-iran.html

... The disaster, which the energy minister blamed on climate change, struck in the middle of Iranian New Year holidays, with many relief workers on vacation.

Nineteen people were killed and 98 injured in the southern city of Shiraz, while one person died in the western province of Kermanshah and another in Lorestan, also in the west, rescue services said. With 20 of Iran's 31 provinces experiencing floods or facing an imminent threat, the country's National Crisis Management Committee was activated at the cabinet level.

Iran's meteorological service has warned of more heavy showers until Wednesday, and flood warnings have gone out for central provinces such as Isfahan and the capital Tehran. The floods followed extreme rainfall which at times was equivalent to half of the average annual levels within 24 hours.

It follows major floods on March 19 in the northeastern provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran, for which no official casualty toll has been given. Such a widespread flood threat is unprecedented in arid Iran, which until 2018 was dealing with decades of drought.

"Climate change is forcing itself on our country," said Energy Minister Reza Ardekanian, who is in charge of dams and water supply. "These unprecedented floods in our country are because of climate change worldwide," he said on Monday, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.

[Archimid]

Midwest flooding threatens water safety in 1 million wells

https://us.cnn.com/videos/us/2019/03/29/nebraska-wells-flooding-health-concern-mclean-pkg-nr-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/top-news-videos/

Record flooding in the Midwest is now threatening the safety of more than a million private water wells. The National Ground Water Association estimates that people living in more than 300 counties across 10 states have their groundwater threatened from bacterial and industrial contamination carried by flood waters. CNN's Scott McLean takes a closer look.

Video in the link.

[Tor Bejnar]

I'm glad that the folks who located my cluster's well (5 or 6 families share each well in my community of 28 families) put it near the crest of a ridge here in north Florida.  While my house is down the slope on a locally flat-ish acre, a house-building carpenter got 'stuck' in my yard (didn't dare wade to the house) during an intense down burst and reported 'at least a foot' (300 mm) of water rushing under his truck.  My house has a ~1 meter crawl space and I've put berms in two places to prevent flood waters doing what they did that day - one almost over-topped during Tropical Storm Fay which dumped about 635 mm (25") in 7 days (mostly during 3 consecutive days), but we're planning on upgrading  the driveway berm to 'potentially cope' with 600 mm in two days.  (There are lots of woods, a neighbor's pond and a community 'dry' sinkhole that will absorb anything [water-wise] the gods might throw at us.  Water in different parts of my yard flow into two different local watersheds.  My driveway berm actually diverts water from one of these watersheds into the other!)

[vox_mundi]

Midwest Floods Have Reached Superfund Sites in Three States, EPA Says   
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-26/midwest-floods-reach-superfund-sites-in-three-states-epa-says

Major flooding across the U.S. Midwest has reached at least eight Superfund sites in three states, and kept EPA staff from determining whether any are leaking toxic chemicals as a result.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it is unable to access the sites containing arsenic, benzene, cyanide and other toxins, because of the floodwaters inundating the facilities.



The affected sites include a defunct ordnance plant, a chemical disposal facility and a former manufactured-gas plant, and some contain radioactive waste in addition to dangerous chemicals. At least three of those sites already faced the risk of contaminated groundwater movement before the flooding started earlier this month, according to EPA data.

... At the Iowa-Nebraska Light & Power Co. site, in the small city of Norfolk, “fieldwork is delayed due to road closures,” Sauerhage said. Even before this month’s floods, the contaminated groundwater beneath the site was already moving toward Norfolk’s municipal well field half a mile away, according to information on the EPA’s website. 

... In Kansas City, the Conservation Chemical Co. site, which stored and disposed chemicals from the 1960s to the 1980s, “is partially flooded,” according to Sauerhage. The EPA’s website says groundwater on the site contains cyanide and other dangerous compounds.

... The risk of chemical exposure is likely to expand to other sites around the region. Federal weather officials warned this week of “record flooding from now through May.”

The EPA has long warned that more intense flooding caused by climate change threatened to dislodge chemicals around Superfund sites. In 2014, the agency released a so-called Climate Adaptation Plan, which said that “inundation and flooding may lead to transport of contaminants through surface soils, ground water, surface waters and/or coastal waters.”

[Shared Humanity]

Record number of Americans believe that human induced warming is real.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/396487-poll-record-number-of-americans-believe-in-man-made-climate-change

As horrific as these storms are, we need more frequent and more devastating climate disasters in order to finally galvanize the public to insist on dramatic change.

[Archimid]

‘Breaches Everywhere’: Flooding Bursts Midwest Levees, and Tough Questions Follow

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/31/us/midwest-floods-levees.html

The widespread, severe flooding in the Midwest over the last month has exposed the vulnerabilities in a levee system that is now so full of holes that many here ruefully describe it as “Swiss cheese.”

With dozens of costly breaks across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and nearby states, the surging waters have left large areas without even cursory flood protection.

[Sigmetnow]

‘Breaches Everywhere’: Flooding Bursts Midwest Levees, and Tough Questions Follow
...

The widespread, severe flooding in the Midwest over the last month has exposed the vulnerabilities in a levee system that is now so full of holes that many here ruefully describe it as “Swiss cheese.”

With dozens of costly breaks across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and nearby states, the surging waters have left large areas without even cursory flood protection.

Building levees in one location on a river makes flooding worse in other locations.  The solution is managed retreat and designated flood areas, not more levees.

[sidd]

Letter from a flooded out farmer: Look out below!

" the river is back—bigger and taller than ever."

"Gavins Point is the last line of defense against Missouri River flooding in four states. It’s designed to meter upstream water into the river, not contain it. So when big water hits Big Muddy at Gavins Point, about all the authorities at Gavins Point can do is say “look out below.” "

"The good news, if you can call it that, is that although the new crest beat the 2011 record, it never made it to the forecast high. That’s because levees above us collapsing under the weight of record water flows allowed flood plains above to absorb, if only temporarily, part of the excess. They flattened out the wave by a foot or two. "

"each inch of snow or drop of rain is just another nail in the coffin of flood control"

https://www.dailyyonder.com/letter-langdon-40-feet-high-rising/2019/03/27/31094/

sidd

[sidd]

My last link contained a Johnny Cash video. Here are the lyrics:

How high's the water, mama?
Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Two feet high and risin'

We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and the oats,
Two feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Three feet high and risin'

Well, the hives are gone,
I've lost my bees
The chickens are sleepin'
In the willow trees
Cow's in water up past her knees,
Three feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Four feet high and risin'

Hey, come look through the window pane,
The bus is comin', gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain,
4 feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Five feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Five feet high and risin'

Well, the rails are washed out north of town
We gotta head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water comes down,
Five feet high and risin'

Well, it's five feet high and risin'

[wdmn]

Thanks for the Cash, man.

[Sigmetnow]

California:

Oroville Dam Spillway Reopens First Time Since 2017

Water is flowing down the rebuilt spillway of the nation's tallest dam for the first time since it crumbled two years ago and threatened to flood California communities.

Live video by the California Department of Parks and Recreation shows a light stream of water flowing down the main spillway Tuesday. It comes as spring storms are expected to swell the lake behind Oroville Dam this week.

Molly White with the state Department of Water Resources says crews may increase how much water is released if needed.

In early 2017, the dam's half-century-old spillway broke apart as it carried heavy flows from storms. That drove nearly 200,000 people from their homes over fears of catastrophic flooding. ...

http://www.ktvn.com/story/40230880/repaired-spillway-at-nations-tallest-dam-to-be-deployed

Article includes a video of the first water flowing down the new spillway.

[Sigmetnow]

Deadly flooding around the world is a warning of the cascading impacts of climate change
https://thinkprogress.org/deadly-flooding-climate-change-impacts/

Health effects; food supply; roads, schools and levees.

Image below:
Corn burst from a grain bin which was soaked with floodwater on March 23, 2019 near Union, Nebraska. Damage estimates from flooding in Nebraska top $1 billion. (Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

[Tom_Mazanec]

Mike Snyder has some good articles on the current flooding, and what it will mean to all of America:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/catastrophic-flooding-in-the-midwest-could-last-for-months-and-that-is-going-to-mean-a-dramatic-drop-in-u-s-food-production
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/200-million-people-at-risk-national-weather-service-warns-apocalyptic-midwest-floods-are-a-preview-of-what-we-expect-throughout-the-rest-of-the-spring
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/100s-of-millions-of-dollars-in-crops-destroyed-by-flooding-and-farmers-are-being-told-theres-nothing-the-u-s-government-can-do-to-help

[Alexander555]

And a new bomb cyclone is on his way to the same area.   https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Storm-to-hit-Rockies-before-forming-new-bomb-cyclone-508294461.html

[Klondike Kat]

Michael Snyder has been writing about the collapse of the American society for years.  This is just his latest scare.  FYI, if our crops were indeed in such a dire situation, it would be reflected on their prices in the futures market.  Yet, their prices have barely budged.

[vox_mundi]

US Disaster Aid Won't Cover Lost Crops in Midwest Floods, Farmers Out Millions of Dollars
https://accuweather.com/en/weather-news/us-disaster-aid-wont-cover-lost-crops-in-midwest-floods-farmers-out-millions-of-dollars/70007922

Record flooding that has overwhelmed the midwestern United States this spring has taken a significant toll on farmers, and the U.S. disaster aid isn't covering crops lost by the floods.

The federal policy states that the grain damaged from flooded river water has to be destroyed, and according to Reuters there's nothing the U.S. government can do about the millions of damaged crops under current laws or disaster-aid programs.

Reuters reports this is a problem the USDA has never seen on this scale before because U.S. farmers have never stored so much of their harvests.

Midwestern farmers have been storing their corn and soybeans in unprecedented amounts due to the U.S. and China trade war, according to the BBC.

Last year, the USDA made $12 billion in aid available to farmers who suffered trade-war losses, but there is no program to cover the catastrophic and largely uninsured stored-crop losses from the widespread flooding.

Nebraska's Gov. Pete Ricketts has estimated the losses to the agricultural sector alone at $1 billion. However, the damage doesn't stop there. States such as Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Iowa were also greatly impacted.

AccuWeather estimated the total damage and economic loss caused by record-breaking flooding in the midwestern U.S. this spring will total $12.5 billion, based on an analysis of damages already inflicted and those expected by additional flooding 

...On top of losing millions in crops, farmers are facing pricey facility damage. According to ISU experts, grains swell when wet, so bin damage is likely. Wood structures will be hard hit and may retain mold and contaminants.

Not only does flooding impact their grain and facilities, but it also delays planting of this years crop, Mohler said.

[wdmn]

Hands a shovel to the alligators, and lets his base get washed away. Trump is like Caligula.

As a Canadian, I can't help but laugh hysterically at the trade war part. Trump must secretly be a democrat, because he truly is a jackass.

[Shared Humanity]

Trump must secretly be a democrat, because he truly is a jackass.

This had better be a joke because it is truly laughable. Trump is the logical end point of the Republican Party's 5 decade long courting of racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, Christian Dominionist homophobes. The Republican Party has finally become what it has courted. Trump is the very personification of the Republican Party base.