I kind of doubt people are going to be swept away in any big numbers. Not that regular flooding is fun.
A guy near my hometown got swept away when a dam broke. They never found him.
There were some people that got swept away in bed during the 2015 floods here.
Texas is probably opposed to weather forecasting because of the weather babes on Univision.
Apparently 2015 was the recent peak in U.S. flood deaths. But it was only 176.
Hey, Cassandane's parents live in the Central valley. Squinting at Wikipedia's map, they're right between the "Delta and Eastside Streams" region and the "San Joaquin Basin" region.
I know this is a poor substitute for data but it's hard to imagine flooding where they are. Rain is one thing, but it's so flat, actual flooding would displace tens of thousands of people. And it's been so dry lately for the past decade or so, the local water table must be a sponge.
Oh, the reformation of the Tulare Lake won't kill anyone. It has been monitored and forecasted for months now. Flood has been activated since February. The risk is that hot days will melt the big snowpack and send it to the Valley. But they'll know a week or two ahead of time when that will happen and get people out of the Valley bottom.
Might get some hikers or tourists who try to swim in the raging rivers. But they'll have to intentionally enter the rivers, which a couple of people do most years, usually for a picture.
I forgot what year it was, but there was a bad year for small women crossing swollen streams on the PCT.
Here's an article for those of you that don't feel completely informed, without a linked article to not read:
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/05/1173069933/snowpack-california-2023-flooding-what-to-expect
That's good. I think I read about a giant aquaduct failure in the early 20th century in California that swept away a town? Did I make that up? And then I imputed it to this coming flood.
10: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_Dam - is this it?
You're thinking of the Great Molasses Flood. Or at least I am usually.
We're thinking of safety. Or at least we are usually.
Johnstown flood was still more deadly.
And it's been so dry lately for the past decade or so, the local water table must be a sponge.
I don't know the area, but rain on land that's been dry for a long time can end up just running off because the surface is caked so hard that water can't seep in.
And it's been so dry lately for the past decade or so, the local water table must be a sponge.
I don't know the area, but rain on land that's been dry for a long time can end up just running off because the surface is caked so hard that water can't seep in.
Both me! And now I see how that happens.
That's what I've always heard: that flash floods are worse when it's been dry because the ground can't absorb water as fast as damp soil can.
& more recent data indicates peak flooding will be less extreme than previously thought - https://sjvwater.org/big-melt-may-be-less-dramatic-and-damaging-than-initially-thought/
the aquifer recharge potential unfortunately is not that great in some areas, as the previous over pumping can change the physical nature of the structures (compaction) so that recharge isn't possible or is diminished.
in personal thrilling news, my flight yesterday was just enough east, and the cloud-fog cleared out sufficiently, so that i saw tulare lake & it's fucking huge! v cool.
the really juicy (also appalling & infuriating) story here is the mask-off actions of jg boswell co to keep their own land dry & in production.
I didn't know you read Lois Henry's site.
Yes. Boswell's farming company are showing their expected villainy. A friend sent me this on Boswell farms as an investment, which I found interesting.
Is it the type of thing where we know thousands of people will die, but it's too hard and unpredictable to coordinate disaster plans? Or is it the type of thing where there are coordinated plans in place, and we know lots of people will lose their livelihoods, but probably not be swept away in their beds in the middle of the night by a rush of water?
Officials say they don't think it will happen much more this year, partly because conditions improved, partly because some levees have been "bolstered".
10: I suspect you are thinking of the origin of the "current" version of the Salton Sea. Generally thought of as an aqueduct failure during floods in 1905 although some dispute that it was the aqueduct alone that did it. Don't thinnk there was a town that was inundated, however. Water levels have been variable and problematic in various ways since.
OP: During the successive atmospheric storms over the winter, the foothill towns and rural areas were challenged by the high snow buildups followed by warm storms would suddenly melt the accumulated snow. The rest of the south valley has a lot of water moving capacity, since the mountains are thoroughly dammed and extensive canal networks crisscross the valley to distribute water. There's a lot of water detention space used for groundwater recharge; a lot of those are already empty or close to it, so are available if flood releases are required.
Our first winter in California must have been a wet one, because I remember the Yolo Bypass having a shit ton of water in it for quite a long period. I kind of think California is way better situated to deal with big unusual volumes of water than pretty much any other state.
Lots of water management woes locally, for the same reasons. The snowpack is insane, and if it all melted, it would overtop the reservoirs, so the water management people have been releasing water early to make room for the 50% that's still up in the mountains.
I've never seen our local trails like this. Streams are are rushing and making second branches, overflowing trails, and it's all pretty great. Until the road in Ogden Canyon partially washed out. ::eek:: At least no homes fell off hillsides like they did in Draper...
The biggest concerns I've seen expressed about flooding in CA have been around possible levee failures brought on by sustained high flows combined with deferred maintenance.
I drove through the Corcoran area and saw some of what I assumed was Tulare lake a couple weeks ago. Kind of wish I could have seen it from the air. I stopped at Allensworth State Park and they had a supply of sandbags near the visitor center but no imminent risk.
Corcoran was precisely where they did the emergency bolstering. But the article also observed "This is the third time either the state or federal government will intervene to raise the levees."
We had a.vote to raise levees for the library.
31: Good going! Water can be very damaging to books.
A levee wouldn't really have helped much in that case though.
The snowpack here coming off pretty fast -- I have an irrigation district as a client, and I bet we have some issues in August this year.
We had a water case set for trial last fall -- settled just short of the courthouse steps (when we called him with news of the settlement, the chief water judge was 1/3 of the way here for the trial that would start the next morning). The attorney for the United States was dividing her time between our little case,* and a compact dispute involving the Rio Grande. In another lifetime, I might have gone into water compact litigation.** The thing about this Colorado River deal is even if it holds, it's just a stopgap. And maybe it won't hold.
* Our ditch carries like 30 cfs. Our settlement ended 60 years of litigation. That's "ended" truly.
** AIHMHB, earlier this year I turned down a couple of opportunities to challenge the CSKT compact. A somewhat nutty lawyer has apparently convinced a bunch of white supremacists that he's got one weird trick to defeat it. Just to review, after years of negotiation, a state agency reaches a deal with the tribe, the deal gets approved by the legislature and signed by the governor, then the deal gets approved by Congress and signed by the president. It's in front of the water court for some kind of final thing. How weird is this one trick going to have to be?
We had an exceptionally snowy winter (which is what caused the library in 33 to collapse), but the snow's pretty much all gone by now in Anchorage. Our topography means flooding is generally not much of a concern even with a lot of runoff. Further north there have been some ice jams on the Yukon and Kuskokwim leading to some flooding in a few communities, but nothing particularly extreme.
like 30 cfs
I think my basement has about half that.
After a warm spring we had it dip down to 28 degrees for several hours on the night of May 18. The late freeze wiped out a huge chunk of the state's apple crop. Blueberries too.
Film or book? Yay/yay in both cases anyway.
So, the Supreme Court has decided to fuck up the Clean Water Act. Par for the course. Roberts should be embarrassed about not joining Kavanaugh's opinion instead -- going no further than necessary to decide the case fits that one rather than Alito's super-legislature approach.