During the first week of March 2016 an unusually prolific weather event pummeled the area near the Texas-Louisiana border, smashing rainfall records as well as homes, bridges, and other infrastructure. In some areas, over two feet of rain was recorded from this single event- an incredible amount that wreaked destruction and put many lives at risk. The massive amounts of rain put tremendous pressure on local reservoirs, and engineers were forced to open the gates, sending huge plumes of water downstream. For example, at the height of the water release operation at the Toledo Bend Dam, water was released at the astonishing rate of 1.5 million gallons per second!

Precipitation levels recorded on March 11th, 2016.

The amount of water released at the Toledo Bend Dam was record-breaking- never before in the 50-year service life of this dam had that much water been released. As might be expected, all that liberated water rushed downstream at perilous speeds, and resulted in river flooding throughout the area. Homes, businesses, farmlands, bridges, and roads were washed away. Some people, who may have little understanding of dams and reservoirs, questioned why the water was released, when so many people living downstream were grievously affected. The simple truth is that had engineers not released the pressure on the dam, the entire dam might have collapsed, causing a disaster that could have dwarfed the infamous Johnstown Flood in terms of destruction and loss of life.

As it was, the water that was released from the dam caused widespread flooding and destruction, and this was in addition to the flooding that was already happening before the sluice gates were opened at the dam. All the rivers in the region were already nearing record crest levels, and after the dam water arrived, many rivers not only broke crest records, but smashed them. The Sabine River, which flows along the border of Texas and Louisiana, achieved a crest level a full five feet above the previous records, which went back to the year 1884.

This particular storm only added to what has been a miserable year for the region, which suffered over a dozen major flash flooding events. Almost half a dozen reporting sites have recorded precipitation levels of 2 feet or more above normal levels for the year. This is an incredible amount of extra rain, and the region has suffered greatly in terms of loss: homes, roads, bridges, businesses, and agricultural ruin will require much effort and funding in order to return to normal.

The cause of the rainfall during the first week of March was identified as a massive storm system that moved slowly across Mexico, then skirted around the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, all the while picking up moisture- which it dumped on the Mississippi Valley region. This region is well accustomed to enduring massive storms, but the rainfall amounts recorded this month crushed records in many spots. The weather station near Monroe, Louisiana recorded the highest amount of precipitation, at just under 27″ for the duration of the multi-day storm. Overall, the storm brought more precipitation that has ever been experienced in living memory, and perhaps will become known as the infamous Storm of March 2016; a storm by which future tempests will be measured.

Source:: FloodBarrierUSA

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) permits floodproofing of non-residential buildings instead of elevating to or above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE). For these structures, a floodproofing design certificate is required.

Take a look at the revised floodproofing certificate here.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) NFIP Floodproofing Certificate for Non-Residential Structures and Instructions, 2015 Edition:

“A floodproofed building is a building that has been designed and constructed to be watertight (substantially impermeable to floodwaters) below the BFE and with structural components having the capability of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and effects of buoyancy. Before a floodproofed building is designed, numerous planning considerations, including flood warning time, uses of the building, mode of entry to and exit from the building and the site in general, floodwater velocities, flood depths, debris impact potential, and flood frequency, must be addressed to ensure that dry floodproofing will be a viable floodplain management measure.

The minimum NFIP requirement is to floodproof a building to the BFE. However, when it is rated for flood insurance one-foot is subtracted from the floodproofed elevation. Therefore, a building has to be floodproofed to one foot above the BFE to receive the same favorable flood insurance rates as a building elevated to the BFE.

Additional guidance can be found in FEMA Publication 936, Floodproofing Non-Residential Buildings (2013), available on FEMA’s website at https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/34270.”

Residents of low lying regions, such as Florida, have new reasons to worry after new research has revealed that sea level rise will occur much faster than had been previously predicted. The earlier estimates called for a sea level rise of about one meter by the end of this century. However, these calculations did not factor in significant melting and shrinkage of the ice sheets in Antarctica, which climate scientists had thought to be more or less stable. Now it is known that these ice sheets are not stable at all, and are in fact collapsing precipitously. The new information doubles the expected sea level rise; from one meter to two meters by the year 2100.

For Florida, which has many residents and much critical infrastructure close to the shoreline, this news is disheartening to say the least. A rise of two meters will incur great damage to many important municipal areas, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, and Tampa. Particularly hard hit would be the Everglades, which would be awash in salt water incursions that could spell the end of this unique ecosystem. The famous (and densely populated) Florida Keys would also be grievously affected, with up to 50% of the current land mass slipping beneath the waves. As of today, almost 80,000 people live in the Keys. If the current projections for sea level rise become a reality, or if these dire predictions are even surpassed by our failure to reduce greenhouse gases, many of these 80,000 people will lose their homes and communities.

The very low topography of southern Florida is evident in this color-coded shaded relief map generated with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The image on the left is a standard view, with the green colors indicating low elevations, rising through yellow and tan, to white at the highest elevations. In this exaggerated view even those highest elevations are only about 60 meters (197 feet) above sea level.
For the view on the right, elevations below 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level have been colored blue, and lighter blue indicates elevations below 10 meters (33 feet). This is a dramatic demonstration of how Florida’s low topography, especially along the coastline, make it especially vulnerable to flooding associated with storm surges. Planners can use data like these to predict which areas are in the most danger and help develop mitigation plans in the event of particular flood events. Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Unfortunately, sea level rise is not the only dreadful consequence of unchecked carbon emissions. It is now known that weather patterns will be altered in such a way as to greatly increase both the frequency and intensity of storms — and this is already happening in the present day. Ferocious storms, in combination with rising sea level, spells flooding disaster for major metropolises around the world: from New York to Jakarta. Even at current the sea level, cities like Boston and Tampa are extremely vulnerable to the major “100-year” storms that seem to hit annually these days. At the turn of the next century, only 84 years from now, some of these huge population centers may no longer be defensible. A worldwide retreat from the coastline will most likely take place … unless carbon emissions are brought under control in time. Scientists have previously predicted these dire consequences for the planet, but now the damage may well be suffered by people alive today, not by our unborn descendants.

While many countries are working to reduce carbon emissions, the new research in Antarctica indicates that significant reductions in greenhouse gases must take place quite soon in order to stave off disastrous sea level rise which will doom coastal regions around the world to incessant floods and inundation by the seas. Incredibly, scientists have discovered that the entire planet is already wobbling on its axis in a new and different way — this is caused by the planet’s shifting weight distribution as ice melts at the poles and in Greenland. The good news is that it is still not too late to alter this future of flooding and storm surge — we need only work cooperatively to bring the emissions to a safe level. New technologies like solar, wind, and biomass energy production, if adequately funded and supported by prudent legislation, can help reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. If nations around the world get serious about abandoning dirty technologies, the ice sheets of Antarctica may still be salvageable … along with the cities of New York and Mumbai.

Source:: FloodBarrierUSA

Residents of low lying regions, such as Florida, have new reasons to worry after new research has revealed that sea level rise will occur much faster than had been previously predicted. The earlier estimates called for a sea level rise of about one meter by the end of this century. However, these calculations did not factor in significant melting and shrinkage of the ice sheets in Antarctica, which climate scientists had thought to be more or less stable. Now it is known that these ice sheets are not stable at all, and are in fact collapsing precipitously. The new information doubles the expected sea level rise; from one meter to two meters by the year 2100.

For Florida, which has many residents and much critical infrastructure close to the shoreline, this news is disheartening to say the least. A rise of two meters will incur great damage to many important municipal areas, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, and Tampa. Particularly hard hit would be the Everglades, which would be awash in salt water incursions that could spell the end of this unique ecosystem. The famous (and densely populated) Florida Keys would also be grievously affected, with up to 50% of the current land mass slipping beneath the waves. As of today, almost 80,000 people live in the Keys. If the current projections for sea level rise become a reality, or if these dire predictions are even surpassed by our failure to reduce greenhouse gases, many of these 80,000 people will lose their homes and communities.

The very low topography of southern Florida is evident in this color-coded shaded relief map generated with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The image on the left is a standard view, with the green colors indicating low elevations, rising through yellow and tan, to white at the highest elevations. In this exaggerated view even those highest elevations are only about 60 meters (197 feet) above sea level. For the view on the right, elevations below 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level have been colored blue, and lighter blue indicates elevations below 10 meters (33 feet). This is a dramatic demonstration of how Florida’s low topography, especially along the coastline, make it especially vulnerable to flooding associated with storm surges. Planners can use data like these to predict which areas are in the most danger and help develop mitigation plans in the event of particular flood events. Image Courtesy SRTM Team NASA/JPL/NIMA. Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Unfortunately, sea level rise is not the only dreadful consequence of unchecked carbon emissions. It is now known that weather patterns will be altered in such a way as to greatly increase both the frequency and intensity of storms — and this is already happening in the present day. Ferocious storms, in combination with rising sea level, spells flooding disaster for major metropolises around the world: from New York to Jakarta. Even at current the sea level, cities like Boston and Tampa are extremely vulnerable to the major “100-year” storms that seem to hit annually these days. At the turn of the next century, only 84 years from now, some of these huge population centers may no longer be defensible. A worldwide retreat from the coastline will most likely take place … unless carbon emissions are brought under control in time. Scientists have previously predicted these dire consequences for the planet, but now the damage may well be suffered by people alive today, not by our unborn descendants.

While many countries are working to reduce carbon emissions, the new research in Antarctica indicates that significant reductions in greenhouse gases must take place quite soon in order to stave off disastrous sea level rise which will doom coastal regions around the world to incessant floods and inundation by the seas. Incredibly, scientists have discovered that the entire planet is already wobbling on its axis in a new and different way — this is caused by the planet’s shifting weight distribution as ice melts at the poles and in Greenland. The good news is that it is still not too late to alter this future of flooding and storm surge — we need only work cooperatively to bring the emissions to a safe level. New technologies like solar, wind, and biomass energy production, if adequately funded and supported by prudent legislation, can help reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. If nations around the world get serious about abandoning dirty technologies, the ice sheets of Antarctica may still be salvageable … along with the cities of New York and Mumbai.

Source:: FloodBarrierUSA