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73483134 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997%20Nevada%20floods | 1997 Nevada floods | Severe floods occurred in western and northern Nevada from January 1–3, 1997, resulting in two deaths and causing $450 million in building damage. Washoe County, which includes the Reno-Sparks area, saw the worst of the damage. Flooding also impacted five other counties, as well as Carson City.
The floods occurred along the Carson River, Truckee River, and Walker River. Unseasonably warm rain melted excessive snowpack in the rivers, resulting in the floods. It was the most costly and damaging flood event to occur in 150 years of record-keeping for the three rivers.
Flooding overview
The 1997 floods occurred along three rivers in western and northern Nevada. The Carson River runs through the state capital of Carson City as well as four counties: Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey. The Walker River runs through Douglas, Lyon, and Mineral County. The Truckee River flows through Washoe County, including the Reno-Sparks area.
The floods were caused by unseasonably warm rain which partially melted excessive snowpack in the three rivers. A trio of heavy snowstorms from the Gulf of Alaska had hit the Sierra Nevada region during the last three weeks of 1996, followed by three subtropical storms originating in the Pacific Ocean, the third of which was a Pineapple Express. Aside from Nevada, the same storm system also caused flooding in several other states, including California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
In Nevada, the floods began on January 1, 1997, and continued over the next two days as water made its way through several counties. In Sparks, the Truckee River reached flood stage at 2:00 a.m. on January 1, followed by Reno at 10:30 a.m. The river's flood stage was 12 feet, and it crested at 14.7 feet on January 2, breaking the last record of 13.8 in 1950. The river experienced widespread flooding throughout its 90-mile course between Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake. The river level rose 7 feet, eventually receding from flood stage on January 3. The Truckee River had an early warning system – consisting of gauges – that performed inadequately in predicting the flood severity. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) had approximately 100 gauging stations covering the three rivers, and 35 of these stations were damaged by the floodwaters, with 6 being completely destroyed.
The floods covered approximately . Although initially considered a 100-year flood event, a study by the USGS found it to be less than a 50-year event. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) considered it a 60-year event, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) believed it to be a 75-year event.
Damage and effects
The 1997 floods were the worst to hit Carson City and Reno since 1955, and were the most costly and damaging to occur in 150 years of record-keeping for the three rivers. However, the flood severity along the Truckee River was alleviated by three dams, which were built following floods in the 1950s.
The floods resulted in numerous business closures, including several casinos in Reno, where some streets saw up to four feet of water. State government buildings in Carson City and Reno were flooded and forced to close as well. Reno–Tahoe International Airport closed on January 2, stranding 1,000 tourists before reopening the next day. The airport's only east–west runway eventually required $33 million in repair work. Floodwaters tore out bridges along the Truckee River and also swept large trees downriver. Mudslides also occurred, resulting in the closure of Highway 50 at Spooner Summit, as well as Interstate 80 near the California-Nevada border.
In Carson City, officials had prepared with the use of 4,000 sandbags for flood control, although this proved to be inadequate. It was later estimated that 100,000 sandbags would have been needed. Most damage in Carson City came from floodwaters rushing downstream from several canyons, eventually flooding streets. The Carson River also runs through Dayton, where flooding affected ranches and mobile homes, as well as Dayton State Park. The Walker River reached flood stage on January 3 as waters reached the small city of Yerington, which experienced flood damage across 500 homes and businesses.
The floods resulted in two deaths, including a 59-year-old Gardnerville man who drowned in the Carson River. His remains were found nearly a year later. The other victim was a 53-year-old man from Sun Valley who disappeared along the Truckee River. Skeletal remains, possibly belonging to the latter victim, were found in January 1998.
Response and aftermath
On January 2, 1997, Nevada governor Bob Miller toured flood-damaged areas by helicopter, and declared a state of emergency for Carson City as well as four counties: Douglas, Lyon, Storey, and Washoe. The following day, U.S. president Bill Clinton declared the affected counties as a major disaster area, making them eligible for federal assistance programs. Two additional counties, Churchill and Mineral, were designated for assistance on January 15.
Much of the flood damage occurred in Washoe County. Clean-up efforts in Reno ramped up on January 3, as water began to recede. The flood's financial cost led to the permanent closure of several small casinos there. Early estimates of statewide damage, compiled by several government sources, put the cost at $632.5 million, including $540.2 million in Washoe County. The final cost of statewide building damage was estimated by USACE at $450 million, while local officials estimated total flood damage at $680 million when taking business losses into account. The state had a $123 million emergency fund.
In 1998, Reno and Sparks agreed to donate land to be used for future flood control projects. Two years later, Washoe County residents created a community coalition to work on flood prevention. In the Carson City area, more than $36 million in flood control projects had been completed as of 2006. The Truckee River Flood Management Authority (TRFMA) was also formed in 2011 and took measures as well to mitigate future floods.
See also
1999 Las Vegas flood
References
External links
Photos: The 1997 New Year's Flood by the Reno Gazette Journal
1990s floods in the United States
1997 floods
1997 in Nevada
1997 natural disasters in the United States
Natural disasters in Nevada |
73497792 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%20Western%20Ukraine%20floods | 2020 Western Ukraine floods | The 2020 Western Ukraine Floods is a natural disaster that caused a significant increase in the water level of the rivers of the western regions of Ukraine, in particular, the Dniester, Prut, Cheremosh, and Bystrytsi rivers, which occurred on the 20th of June 2020 as a result of intense thunderstorm rains.
The peak of the flood fell on June 23–27, and it is considered the largest in the history of Western Ukraine over the past 60 years. The total damage from the flood was estimated at $345 million.
Weather events and impact
Intense rainfall during June 22–24 led to the complication of the flood situation in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Zakarpattia and Ternopil regions.
On June 23, more than 50 settlements were flooded in Zakarpattia due to bad weather.
On Tuesday, June 23, due to worsening weather conditions, a "red" level of danger was declared in Prykarpattia and Bukovina. As a result of heavy downpours, mountain rivers in the Carpathians damaged local roads.
In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the Dniester river flooded the city of Halych, in particular, the district hospital in the city, where patients with coronavirus infection are treated. According to Vitaly Fedoriv, the head of the Regional State Administration, the peak of bad weather will occur on June 24. Due to the flood, a road collapse occurred in Yaremchi, which destroyed the main water pipeline, as a result of which the city was left without water supply.
In the Chernivtsi region, the Cheremosh River broke through two dams and cut off the entrances to several villages on its banks. An increase in the water level was also recorded on the Prut and its tributaries.
Near the village In the Ustya-Zeleny Monastyris district in Ternopil Oblast, the Dniester overflowed the dam, as a result of which local residents were partially resettled, agricultural lands were flooded, and there is a threat of Koropets, Ustya-Zeleny and Luka being flooded.
As of June 25, the following were flooded:
285 settlements (Ivano-Frankivsk — 234, Chernivtsi — 37, Lviv — 12, Ternopil — 2);
9,994 houses (Ivano-Frankivsk — 9,157, Chernivtsi — 728, Lviv — 72, Ternopil — 37);
9 social and household objects;
117 km of highways were destroyed (Ivano-Frankivsk — 116, Chernivtsi — 1), 64 bridges in the Ivano-Frankivsk region,
500 km of highways and 135 bridges were damaged (Ivano-Frankivsk — 487 km of roads and 118 bridges, Lviv — 2 km of highways, Chernivtsi — 12 km of roads and 17 bridges) and 280 m of dams in the Chernivtsi region [1 ] .
The head of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration Serhii Osachuk noted that the water level in the Prut River has started to decrease in recent hours, in particular, at 7:00 p.m. on June 24, the water level in the Prut near Chernivtsi reached 6.56 m, and at 1:00 a.m. on June 25, it reached 5.89 m.
As of June 25, a total of 110 km of highways were destroyed in Ivano-Frankivsk region as a result of bad weather, and 427.5 km were damaged, 90 bridges were destroyed, 130 were damaged, 285 people were displaced, and 1,850 meters of coastal fortifications were destroyed.
As of June 26, at least 2 people died in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, said that the flooding exceeded the scale of 2008 [3] . At the peak of the flood, 14,500 houses were flooded, as of June 27, 4,500 houses were flooded, and 8 settlements in the Ivano-Frankivsk region were also cut off. In general, according to the prime minister, at least 250 settlements in five regions were affected, the Ivano-Frankivsk region was the most affected.
On June 28, 20 days' worth of rain fell in two hours after lunch in Mizhhirsky district. In the villages, the flow of water and the landslide destroyed the road and damaged the houses.
As of June 29, 70 settlements in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Ternopil regions were flooded, the flood destroyed 150.5 km of highways, 83 bridges and damaged 582 km of highways and 220 bridges.
In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, rescuers completed the search for the driver of the car that fell into the White Cheremosh River during the flood. The man's body was found in a nearby area by local residents.
As of June 30, as a result of worsening weather conditions (rain, gusts of wind) due to the operation of power transmission line protection systems, power was cut off in 35 settlements in two oblasts: 31 in Zakarpattia, 4 in Volyn. In the western oblasts (Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv and Ternopilsk) works are ongoing to eliminate the consequences of the flood.
On July 2, it became known that the floodplains along the lower Dniester were filled with water, the water level reached dangerous levels and continued to rise. In the low sections of the Odesa-Reni highway, the water rose to the road surface.
As of July 7, 5 settlements in the Chernivtsi region remain flooded.
As of July 9, four people became victims of floods in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
On July 15, the flooding of residential premises was eliminated, more than 750 km of roads and almost 300 bridges remained damaged.
Reasons
Oksana Maryskevich, a leading researcher at the Carpathian Ecology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences: "The forest is one of the factors of the flood, but not the main one. No one could have canceled the flood, but its consequences could have been much smaller. The rampant clogging of rivers also had an effect, which is the fault of both local residents and the local authorities, because not all mountain villages have established collection of household waste. Undoubtedly, deforestation also has an effect. If there is a natural virgin forest, then the scale of washing, water erosion, is an order of magnitude lower" [21] .
Yuriy Debryniuk, professor of the Department of Forest Crops and Forest Selection of the National Forestry University: "Current floods are not related to deforestation. Forests have always been cut down and much more than now. Today, the volumes of logging are smaller than they were before - I worked in the Carpathians in the 1980s, and then the volumes of logging were much larger."
Weather forecasters call heavy prolonged rains the cause of the flood.
Reaction to events
Local
In the city of Halych, Ivano-Frankivsk region, a scandal broke out due to the unfair distribution of monetary compensation, which was previously aimed at overcoming the consequences of large-scale floods in the region.
Damaged houses were divided into three categories:
For completely destroyed - 300,000 hryvnias.
For buildings in need of major repairs — 50,000 hryvnias.
Partially destroyed houses - 20,000 hryvnias (most of the houses were assigned to this category).
International
The Pope called to pray for the improvement of the fate of the peoples of the Middle East who are suffering from wars, "as well as those who were affected by heavy floods in Western Ukraine".
: To combat the consequences of the devastating flood, the European Union will provide assistance to Ukraine through the EU civil protection mechanism.
: sent pumping equipment, personal protective equipment, gasoline saws, generators and tents for the victims to Ukraine by plane.
: has announced its intention to send anti-flood barriers, water pumping hoses and technical experts to Ukraine.
The Embassy of Israel handed over 500,000 hryvnias and 25,000 one and a half liter bottles of drinking water. They will be delivered to Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi to eliminate the shortage of drinking water [27] .
Slovakia handed over humanitarian aid for the settlements of the Ivano-Frankivsk region that were affected by the flood, namely: tents, pumps, generators and other rescue equipment.
References
2020 floods in Europe
June 2020 events in Europe
2020 in Ukraine
2020 disasters in Ukraine |
73537776 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Fort%20Lauderdale%20floods | 2023 Fort Lauderdale floods | A historic flash flood event occurred in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the surrounding areas on April 12, 2023. The Fort Lauderdale area reported of rain within approximately 12 hours. of rain fell in nearby Dania Beach. Other affected areas, such as Hollywood and South Miami, recorded at least of rain. Fort Lauderdale mayor Dean Trantalis issued a state of emergency due to the flooding.
Meteorological background
The flooding rainfall in eastern Broward County, Florida, spanning from the midday hours of April 12 to roughly midnight on April 13, was supported by the combination of a weather front that was moving slowly through South Florida, and an intensifying area of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico. The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) wrote in its Excessive Rainfall Discussion, that was issued on April 10, that, "...it anticipated that atmospheric conditions supportive of flash flooding in the Florida peninsula would persist into April 12, highlighting a "Marginal Risk" of flash flooding for urban areas along the coast of southeastern Florida...". The WPC later upgraded the risk to a "Slight Risk", as the confidence increased in the potential for flash flooding, exacerbated by heavy antecedent rainfall on April 11. A flood watch was issued for southeastern Florida during this time. Rainfall spread across south central Florida, throughout the morning of April 12. This was happening in advance of a slow, northward-progressing warm front. The local atmospheric environment was conducive to heavier precipitation rates, bearing precipitable water amounts near the climatological maxima for the region (approximately ). Heavier showers and thunderstorms embedded in the largely stratiform rains grew during the morning. The combination of the morning rainfall and rain from preceding days saturated the soils in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to the point that only of rain would need to fall in an hour to produce flash flooding according to flash flood guidance.
The moist conditions persisted into the afternoon and evening, enabling the highly efficient production of rainfall in the storms as the warm front progressed north of Key Largo and into the Miami area. By around 5:30 p.m. EDT, of rain had fallen across the Miami metropolitan area. During the evening hours, stationary thunderstorms caused torrential rainfall over Fort Lauderdale, fueled by the locally moist atmosphere and a persistent inflow drawing moisture from the Atlantic towards the Florida coast. National Weather Service Miami, Florida, issued a flash flood emergency at 7:58 p.m. EDT for Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood highlighting the potential for of additional rainfall atop the of rain that had already fallen. The cluster of storms began to weaken by around 11:00 p.m. EDT after dropping of rain in the Fort Lauderdale area. The day's storms also produced two brief tornadoes in Broward County, each producing EF0-rated damage; the first one touched down near West Hollywood at 3:26 p.m. EDT while the second touched down near Dania Beach at 9:41 p.m. EDT. The combination of wind shear, interaction between the warm front and the coast, and enhanced convection and vorticity resulting from the aggregation of thunderstorms may have produced conducive conditions for the development of tornadoes.
Impact
Over of rain fell on Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport. The of rain measured at the airport was the most ever observed in Fort Lauderdale in a single day, eclipsing the previous record of set on April 25, 1979. The daily total was roughly equivalent to a third of the city's annual rainfall and seven times the typical April total, exceeding the of rain that fell in April 1979, Fort Lauderdale's previous wettest April on record. To the south of the city, a nearby swath of rainfall totals between spanned from Hollywood to Dania Beach. During the most intense rainfall on the evening of April 12, rainfall rates exceeded per hour, comparable to the average April rainfall total; the extreme rainfall rates were at the level of a 1-in-1000 year event. Rainfall amounts tapered to the south, with totals of in Miami proper, though Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood saw over of rain between April 12 and April 13. Floodwater depths exceeded near Floyd Hull Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The flood inundation near and north of downtown Fort Lauderdale reached depths of .
Over 900 calls were received by the Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department during the storm, with the Broward County Sheriff's Office assisting in roughly 300 of those calls. Streets in Fort Lauderdale remained impassable on April 13 due to slow flood drainage. Several exits along I-95 were closed by Florida Highway Patrol, along with a tunnel closure in Fort Lauderdale. Schools were closed in Broward County on April 13 as a result of the flood. The County later extended the closure until Monday, April 17 after announcing at least $2 million in damages to its schools across Fort Lauderdale, Dania Beach, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, and Oakland Park. The Fort Lauderdale City Hall was also closed. Hundreds of cars were reported stranded in floodwaters. The roof of a shopping center in Fort Lauderdale collapsed during the storm. A weak EF0 tornado caused minimal tree damage in West Hollywood while a high-end EF0 tornado in Dania Beach damaged trees and a mobile home park. Brightline trains were suspended from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. There were two lightning delays at Miami International Airport on April 13. A parking lot at Florida International University was flooded. There were more than 22,000 power outages.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
After 25.91 in (658 mm) of rain at the airport on April 12, debris and floodwaters inundated the runways and prompted the temporary closure of Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport. The airport closed from just after 4 p.m. EDT on April 12 until April 14 at 9 a.m. EDT. Passengers were instructed not to attempt to enter or leave the airport due to flooded roadways. At least 1,119 flights were cancelled due to the flooding, including 207 on April 12, 659 on April 13, and 253 on April 14, affecting 64,000 passengers.
Rescue efforts
Prior to the storm landing in Florida, many services such as American Red Cross opened shelters in area such as Holiday Park for those affected by the floods. Additionally, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FEDM) and Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue Department deployed staff to the affected areas. Due to high waters blocking streets, rescue craft and aquatic vehicles where employed to rescue survivors. About 600 residents took shelter in Holiday Park. Some residents in the Edgewood neighborhood of southwest Fort Lauderdale required water rescues, with one resident reporting nearly of water in their home. A local towing company reported receiving nearly 500 calls for service through April 13. Two firefighters were slightly injured by electricity in standing floodwaters during search and rescue operations. Crews in Fort Lauderdale worked to clear drains and deploy pumps.
Aftermath
Gas shortages
Following the storm, Port Everglades, which handles 40% of Florida's gasoline distribution across 12 counties, announced that the flooding had disrupted operations. By April 14, two days after the storm had passed, many gas stations in South Florida had run out of pre-storm supplies, and long lines had started to form at the few that remained open. By April 18, many remained closed because of panic sales and a shortage of truck drivers, and the FEDM announced that 500,000 gallons of emergency fuel would be arriving by April 19. Customers reported wait times over 30 minutes and lines as long as 70 cars at stations nearly a week after the storm. On April 28, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a disaster declaration after Florida governor Ron DeSantis requested one on April 22.
See also
Weather of 2023
1947 Florida–Georgia hurricane – Generated of rain in three hours in Fort Lauderdale, causing similar flooding
References
2023 meteorology
2023 in Florida
2023 floods in the United States
April 2023 events in the United States
Natural disasters in Florida
2023 floods |
73594142 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987%E2%80%9388%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1987–88 Floodlit Cup | The 1987–88 Floodlit Cup was the inaugural edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Glentoran won the tournament for the 1st time, defeating Coleraine 1–0 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1987–88 in Northern Ireland association football |
73594459 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988%E2%80%9389%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1988–89 Floodlit Cup | The 1988–89 Floodlit Cup was the 2nd edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Glenavon won the tournament for the 1st time, defeating Linfield 6–1 in the final replay after the original final ended in a 1–1 draw.
Results
First round
Teams that were at home in the first leg listed on the left.
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
Replay
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1988–89 in Northern Ireland association football |
73599544 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989%E2%80%9390%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1989–90 Floodlit Cup | The 1989–90 Floodlit Cup was the 3rd edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Glentoran won the tournament for the 2nd time, defeating Linfield 4–2 in the final.
Results
First round
Teams that were at home in the first leg listed on the left.
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
|}
Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1989–90 in Northern Ireland association football |
73599660 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990%E2%80%9391%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1990–91 Floodlit Cup | The 1990–91 Floodlit Cup was the 4th edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Portadown won the tournament for the 1st time, defeating Glenavon 2–0 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1990–91 in Northern Ireland association football |
73606308 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991%E2%80%9392%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1991–92 Floodlit Cup | The 1991–92 Floodlit Cup was the 5th edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Omagh Town won the tournament for the 1st time, defeating Linfield 3–1 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1991–92 in Northern Ireland association football |
73606438 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992%E2%80%9393%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1992–93 Floodlit Cup | The 1992–93 Floodlit Cup was the 6th edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Portadown won the tournament for the 2nd time, defeating Ballymena United 3–1 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1992–93 in Northern Ireland association football |
73606544 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993%E2%80%9394%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1993–94 Floodlit Cup | The 1993–94 Floodlit Cup was the 7th edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Linfield won the tournament for the 1st time, defeating Ards 3–0 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1993–94 in Northern Ireland association football |
73606647 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994%E2%80%9395%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1994–95 Floodlit Cup | The 1994–95 Floodlit Cup was the 8th edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Portadown won the tournament for the 3rd time, defeating Distillery 4–2 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1994–95 in Northern Ireland association football |
73606800 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995%E2%80%9396%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1995–96 Floodlit Cup | The 1995–96 Floodlit Cup was the 9th edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Cliftonville won the tournament for the 1st time, defeating Glentoran 3–1 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1995–96 in Northern Ireland association football |
73606902 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%9397%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1996–97 Floodlit Cup | The 1996–97 Floodlit Cup was the 10th edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Glenavon won the tournament for the 2nd time, defeating Glentoran 1–0 in the final.
Results
First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1996–97 in Northern Ireland association football |
73606990 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997%E2%80%9398%20Floodlit%20Cup | 1997–98 Floodlit Cup | The 1997–98 Floodlit Cup was the 11th and final edition of the Floodlit Cup, a cup competition in Northern Irish football.
Linfield won the tournament for the 2nd time, defeating Cliftonville 2–0 in the final.
Results
Preliminary round
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First round
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Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final
References
External links
Northern Ireland - Floodlit Cup
1997–98 in Northern Ireland association football |
73686017 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floods%20in%20South%20Sudan | Floods in South Sudan | Floods in South Sudan are a frequent occurrence, with the country's location in the Nile River Basin and its low-lying topography making it highly vulnerable to floods. Floods in South Sudan have been recorded since the 1960s, and their impacts have become increasingly severe in recent years due to climate change and poor drainage infrastructure. This article will discuss the history, impacts, solutions, and interventions related to floods in South Sudan.
History of Floods in South Sudan
Floods in South Sudan have been recorded since the 1960s, with the most severe floods occurring in 1963, 1978, 1983, and 1998. In recent years, floods have become more frequent and severe, affecting millions of people and causing significant damage to infrastructure, homes, and crops.
Impacts of Floods in South Sudan
Floods in South Sudan have had severe impacts on the country's population, economy, and infrastructure. The floods have caused displacement, leading to the loss of homes and personal belongings. The displacement has also impacted the education of children, as many schools have been closed due to the floods.
The impacts of floods in South Sudan have also been felt in the country's agriculture sector. Floods have destroyed crops, leading to food shortages and increased food prices. The floods have also impacted livestock, with many animals being swept away by floodwaters.
In addition to the impacts on people and agriculture, floods in South Sudan have also damaged infrastructure. Floods have damaged roads, bridges, and buildings, leading to disruptions in transportation and communication.
Solutions and Interventions
Addressing the issue of floods in South Sudan requires a comprehensive approach, including both short-term and long-term solutions. The following are some of the interventions that have been implemented to address the impacts of floods in South Sudan:
Early Warning Systems: Early warning systems have been implemented to provide communities with advance notice of impending floods, allowing them to evacuate to safer areas.
Infrastructure Improvements: Improving drainage infrastructure, such as the construction of canals and stormwater drainage systems, can help mitigate the impacts of floods.
Flood Resilient Housing: Building flood-resilient homes can help reduce the impact of floods on communities.
Flood Mapping: Mapping flood-prone areas can help identify high-risk areas, allowing for targeted interventions.
Disaster Risk Reduction: Incorporating disaster risk reduction measures into development plans can help build resilience and reduce the impacts of floods.
Conclusion
Floods in South Sudan have had severe impacts on the country's population, economy, and infrastructure. Addressing the issue of floods requires a comprehensive approach that includes early warning systems, infrastructure improvements, flood-resilient housing, flood mapping, and disaster risk reduction. The government of South Sudan, in partnership with international organizations, has taken steps to address the impacts of floods in the country, but more needs to be done to build resilience and reduce the impact of floods on communities.
References
Natural disasters in South Sudan
Floods in Africa |
73733489 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Africa%20floods | 2023 Africa floods | Since 5 February 2023, floods have killed over 2,200 people in 15 countries across Africa.
Background
Frequent heavy rains causing damage and casualties between March and May are common in East Africa – in May 2020 around 80 people were killed by floods in Rwanda. Floods and droughts have increased in Rwanda over a 30-year period. Rwanda's weather authority attributes the unusual rainfall patterns to climate change.
In 2023, several rounds of heavy rain saturated the ground, increasing the likelihood of flooding. Between January and April 2023, the Ministry of Emergency Management reported that weather-related disasters caused 60 fatalities, destroyed over 1,205 homes and damaged 5,000 acres of land across Rwanda. On 2 May, the Rwanda Meteorology Agency predicted above-average forecast rainfall for the next 10 days. The Rwandan government previously asked residents living in wetlands and other dangerous areas to relocate.
Uganda had also experienced heavy rain since March, which had caused landslides that destroyed homes and displaced hundreds of people.
Impact
Floods formed by various causes killed 1,216 people in Malawi, 476 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 198 in Mozambique, 135 in Rwanda, 42 in Somalia, 40 in Madagascar, 29 in Ethiopia, 18 in Uganda, 16 in Kenya, 15 in South Africa and another in Cameroon.
Algeria
In early September, floods caused by torrential rain killed at least eight people in western Algeria.
Angola
In Angola, at least 20 people died and 2,900 homes were destroyed by flooding in April.
Cameroon
One person died, five were injured and six were missing as a result of floods that struck Buea, Cameroon in March.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
On 3 April, a landslide killed 30 people and left several missing in North Kivu Province. Another landslide hit North Kivu Province on 8 May, killing six and leaving dozens of miners missing.
At least 440 people were killed and over 2,500 others were left missing by floods in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo since 5 May. In response to the flooding, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi announced a national day of mourning for 8 May.
Ethiopia
Floods affected parts of Ethiopia in March, killing 29 people and affecting 240,000 others.
Kenya
Floods affected several regions of Kenya in late March, killing 12 people, injuring five and displacing 812 families.
In April, four people died and around 36,400 people were affected by flooding in the west and northeast regions of Kenya.
Madagascar
Cyclone Cheneso killed 33 people and left 20 missing in Madagascar, with many homes affected.
At least 17 people died and three were missing due to floods caused by Cyclone Freddy. A total of 6,706 houses were destroyed by the cyclone.
Malawi
In March, the long-lived Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi, causing flooding which killed 1,216 people, including 537 missing and presumed dead, injured 1,724 others and affected over 500,000 residents in the country.
Mozambique
Due to Cyclone Freddy, at least 198 people died and 201 were injured by flooding in Mozambique. At least 131,300 homes destroyed in the country.
Niger
32 people died, 30 people were injured and 110000 people were affected by floods caused by torrential rains between June and September.
Rwanda
Heavy rain started around 16:00 UTC (6 p.m. local time) on 2 May 2023 and continued throughout the night, killing at least 135 people. The Sebeya River burst its banks. The most affected areas in Rwanda were Rutsiro, Nyabihu, Rubavu, and Ngororero. More rainfall is expected during the rest of the month. According to François Habitegeko, the governor of Rwanda's western province, people were crushed by the collapse of several houses, and landslides made the main roads in the area impassable, along with flooded fields. 4,100 livestock were killed as well. Landslides and flooding destroyed 26 bridges and 17 roads, 5 health centers, 2 health posts, and a hospital. 5,100 homes were destroyed and an additional 2,500 were damaged. Rwanda's public broadcaster RBA stated that the number of casualties may increase as floodwaters continue to rise.
Sierra Leone
A storm brought heavy rain from 9 to 10 May, which caused floods and mudslides that killed at least seven people in the capital Freetown.
Somalia
In Somalia, hundreds of homes were damaged and there were 20 deaths (including a mother and her two children), two injuries and 8,000 people were affected due to floods in Bardhere District on March 24.
Flooding in May killed an additional 22 people and over 460,000 people were affected.
South Africa
There were 15 deaths and four missing in eastern South Africa due to floods that lasted from February to March.
Tanzania
Seven people died, six were missing, 1,400 were displaced and 60 houses were destroyed by floods in Rukwa, Tanzania.
Uganda
At least 23 people were killed, including five from a landslide, three were injured and three were left missing by floods in Uganda. Many houses were damaged or destroyed in the country.
Zimbabwe
Two people were killed in Zimbabwe after Cyclone Freddy hit the country.
Aftermath
Rwanda
Marie-Solange Kayisire, the Minister of Emergency Management, said that relief efforts started immediately. However, continued disruptions by heavy rain hampered efforts to help bury victims of the flooding disaster and providing supplies to victims whose homes were inundated. The Rwanda Meteorological Agency warned that additional rainfall is likely. According to Francois Habitegeko, some people were rescued and transported to hospitals. The Red Cross assisted with relief efforts. Marie-Solange Kayisire, the minister in charge of the emergency department, called on local residents to increase patrols and law enforcement.
See also
Weather of 2023
Notes
References
2023 disasters in Rwanda
2023 disasters in Uganda
2023 disasters in Somalia
2023 meteorology
Floods
Floods
Floods
Floods
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023 floods
2023 floods
2023 floods |
73809351 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908%20Port%20Elizabeth%20flood | 1908 Port Elizabeth flood | The 1908 Port Elizabeth flood was a devastating flood that occurred on 16 November 1908 in Port Elizabeth, caused by a heavy downpour typical of the coastal areas in South Africa, that led the Baaken's River to come down in flood.
The flood caused over £250,000 in damage, equivalent to £38 million in 2023, but there were no reports of fatalities.
Damage
The damage in Port Elizabeth was primarily due to the inadequate capacity of Baaken's River to handle the intense rainfall, despite its relatively small catchment area. Although the stream's catchment area covered only about 10 to 15 miles with a width of 3 to 4 miles, much of the destruction occurred in "reclaimed" land. The city experienced a rainfall of 3.25 inches, which alone was insufficient to explain the rapid transformation of a small stream into a 200-yard-wide and 20 to 30-feet-deep raging torrent within two hours. The floods even overcame a 150-feet-wide and 40 to 50-feet-deep gorge. The sudden rise of water gave people little time to escape, and some had to swim to safety, but a mule was fortunate enough to be washed onto the roof of the municipal stables while others perished. The water level rose six feet in just five minutes, and debris from an upper bridge obstructed the main bridge, diverting even more water through the town. The floodwaters stripped the maize fields down to the ploughed depth, and all trees and bushes were swept away for about a mile along the river.
The flood caused significant destruction as it surged through the town, particularly in the produce section. The main stream followed Commerce Street, cutting off the Customs House located 250 yards from the river. Numerous buildings collapsed and extensive property damage occurred, with entire stores demolished and their contents, including produce and merchandise, scattered for miles along the North End Beach. The Harbour Board plant and the Port Elizabeth Electric Tramway power station also suffered serious damage.
The flood washed away the railway bridge at the Creek, causing disruption to the train service between Zwartkops and the town. However, repair crews swiftly worked to establish a system where trains ran to each side of the break, allowing passengers to transfer between them.
The watershed of the Papenkuils River was also affected, causing damage in the Cradock Place area. The residents of Cradockstown faced devastating destruction as the heavy rainfall lasted for four hours almost continuously, causing immense damage to previously fertile agricultural lands. The powerful water swept away thousands of bundles of forage and wood that had been prepared over the past two weeks, as well as mature longstanding oak trees on the property were uprooted and carried a significant distance away.
Aftermath
In September 1909, individuals impacted by the flood damage took legal action against the Council and the Commissioner of Public Works. On 13 September, the Circuit Court began hearing the case. The plaintiffs were merchants who had incurred losses in the flood, claimed that the low bridge and raised roadway caused insufficient opening for floodwaters, and buildings should never have been allowed on the flood plain. The Council was found not liable initially, but the merchants appealed the decision, and brought the case known as "Tilbrook & Bayley v. the Town Council of Port Elizabeth and the Colonial Government." The plaintiffs claimed that the Town Council's actions caused the floodwaters to be diverted into buildings where their goods were stored. The alleged wrongful and negligent acts included reclaiming parts of the river bed, constructing a roadway across the river with an inadequate opening for floodwater discharge, and building a low-height bridge with oblique supports.
On 9 March 1910, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the case. The Court determined that even if a lagoon still existed, it would not have significantly affected the flood's course, as it was the most severe flood on record. Regarding the bridge, the Court ruled that public bodies were not responsible for every possible emergency and that the bridge was designed appropriately based on foreseeable circumstances. The appeal was dismissed, and the plaintiffs were required to pay the costs.
Following the litigation, the Port Elizabeth Municipality sought advice from a conference of engineers, who provided their opinions on 27 May 1910. The conference, unable to determine the original river channel conditions, recommended a 100-feet wide channel to accommodate any reasonable flood. They presented three alternative schemes, with the municipality ultimately adopting the "BB" scheme, proposing a channel length of approximately 1,600 feet.
References
Bibliography
Floods in South Africa
20th-century floods in Africa
1900s floods
1908 natural disasters
History of Port Elizabeth
20th-century disasters in South Africa |
73821329 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Emilia-Romagna%20floods | 2023 Emilia-Romagna floods | A series of floods were in and around the cities of Bologna, Cesena, Forlì, Faenza, Ravenna, and Rimini, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The first floods occurred between 2 and 3 May 2023, killing two people. More severe floods took place on 16–17 May 2023, killing at least 15 people and displacing 50,000 others.
The same amount of rain which usually falls in seven months fell in two weeks, causing the overflow of twenty-three rivers across the region. In some areas, almost half the annual average of rain fell in only 36 hours. Moreover, 400 landslides occurred in the area and 43 cities and towns were flooded. The provisional cost of the damage caused by the floods amounts to more than €10 billion (US$11 billion).
History
Following months of severe drought, heavy rains hit the Italian region between 2 and 3 May 2023, particularly within the provinces of Bologna and Ravenna. Some rivers overflowed in Romagna, causing widespread damage in the plains and killing two people. On 12 May, the Metropolitan City of Bologna was hit by a cloudburst, which caused minor floods.
The long-time effects of the drought and the persistent bad weather prevented the soil from draining; by 16 May, another storm—known as Storm Minerva—hit the region with uninterrupted heavy rain for almost two days. Twenty-three rivers across the region burst their banks. Fifteen people were killed during the floods; seven people died between Cesena and Forlì, seven died in Ravenna, and another one in San Lazzaro di Savena, near Bologna. Damages also occurred in the Apennine areas, with more than 400 landslides counted across the four Italian provinces. More than 50,000 people were displaced, with more than 4,800 of them finding temporary shelter in hotels and gyms indicated by local administrations.
While the storm ended in the afternoon of 17 May, other floods occurred on the following days. Notably, the town of Lugo, near Ravenna, was completely flooded on the morning of 18 May, while Russi, in the same area, was evacuated on 19 May due to the overflow of the Emilia-Romagna Channel. On 19 May, rain started to fall again. On 20 May, alert remained high in the territory of Ravenna, where 36,000 people were evacuated.
On 26 May, the town of Conselice, in the province of Ravenna, was evacuated due to health reasons, since the stagnant water that was still flooding large areas of the town was full of waste and garbage, and so could have become a vector for either viral or bacterial infections. On 27 May, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane officially announced that access to the rail line between Bologna and Rimini, as well as the one between Faenza and Ravenna, would be fully restored from 29 May onwards, whilst the Ferrara–Ravenna–Rimini route would be completely re-activated on 30 May; all of the aforementioned lines stayed subject to variations and delays, since the standard number and top speed of vehicles available were set to be restored gradually.
Effects
On 17 May, Stefano Bonaccini, the president of Emilia-Romagna, stated that "in the last 24 hours, more than 300 millimeters of rain have fallen", and described the floods as a "catastrophic event, never seen before". Later on, Bonaccini also compared the impact of the floods to the 2012 Emilia earthquakes, stating that the damage was likely to be less significant but would still cost the region several billions of euros.
Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian Meteorological Society, stated that "two records were broken in 15 days in the same region. An event like the one that occurred on 2 May might happen once in a century, but then another one hit the same areas only 15 days later." Many events in the region were canceled or delayed due to the flooding. Throughout the Bologna metropolitan area, alongside many road closures, all schools and cultural activities were cancelled with people being strongly encouraged to work from home. The city's annual fun-run "StraBologna" was also postponed.
Frozen food company , based in Cesena, provided industrial-size freezers set at –25°C in order to store ancient books and manuscripts, some dating back to the 16th century, from several libraries in the worst-affected areas of Emilia-Romagna, including Forlì, San Benedetto in Cava, Lugo, and Sant'Agata sul Santerno, among other towns. The objective of the freezing process, which was usually used for ripe fruit and vegetables within three hours of harvesting, was to drain excess water from the books and prevent further damage, before drying and restoring them as soon as possible.
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
A Formula One race at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola was scheduled to be part of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and to be held from 19 to 21 May 2023. On 16 May, all Formula One personnel were instructed to leave the paddock, citing precautionary steps after a rise in water level at the nearby Santerno river was reported. Due to the heavy rain observed throughout the week before the race, and after several rumors the day before, the Italian ministry called for the race to be postponed. Ultimately, the race was canceled; an official statement from Formula One stated that the decision was made as it was not possible to safely hold the event for fans, teams, and personnel, and to lighten the load on local emergency services as they had already been pressured due to the storm damage. The cancelled Grand Prix's trophies, Ferrari Trento celebration bottle, and related items would be auctioned to raise relief funds for Emilia-Romagna.
Bruce Springsteen concert controversy
On 18 May 2023, American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band were set to perform at the in Ferrara as part of their 2023 world tour. Although the province of Ferrara was not between the areas directly affected by the floods, in the immediate aftermath of the disaster Springsteen fans and ticket-holders attempted to urge the organizers to reschedule the concert on social media in order to pay respect to the victims and avoid misplacement of emergency resources. After further examinations, both the Prefettura and the local council of Ferrara authorized Springsteen to go ahead with the concert.
The decision sparked heavy criticism towards Springsteen and his team, while both lead promoter Claudio Trotta and Alan Fabbri, the mayor of Ferrara, defended the choice to permit the show. Irene Priolo, the deputy vice-president of Protezione Civile for the Emilia-Romagna region, questioned the decision whilst clarifying that Ferrara's local authorities were the only institutions that had the right to either confirm or postpone the gig. During the concert, which reportedly involved 900 security members between police officers, volunteers, and first aid workers, Springsteen did not make any direct comments about the floods and their impact. On 26 May, Springsteen's guitarist Steven Van Zandt took to Twitter to answer a message from an Italian fan, stating that the band had not been informed of the emergency by anyone.
Reactions
Michele De Pascale, the mayor of Ravenna, called the floods the "worst disaster in a century", labeling the night between 16 and 17 May 2023 as the "worst one in the history of Romagna".
On the evening of 16 May, Matteo Salvini, the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, posted a tweet linking the tragic aftermath of the floods with the defeat of AC Milan (the team he was a supporter of) against Inter Milan in the 2023 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. He wrote: "Heart and commitment dedicated to the citizens of Emilia-Romagna who are fighting against water and mud. An AC Milan without heart, grit and ideas does not even deserve a thought." Salvini, who was set to be directly involved in the management of the emergency due to his political duties, later deleted the tweet but was nonetheless heavily criticized for his apparent lack of taste and empathy. The Democratic Party-led regional government was accused by several local members of right-wing parties, such as Brothers of Italy and Lega, of being directly responsible for the floods, allegedly due to poor maintenance of the rivers' banks.
During an interview on Rai Radio 1 on 18 May, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, the Minister of the Environment, announced that the Italian government would activate the state of calamity for all of the areas damaged by the flooding from 23 May onwards. The decision, which was set to receive an official approval by the Ministry of Agriculture, was aimed to help farm workers get easier access to indemnities and other economic measures. In the same interview, Pichetto Fratin announced the activation with immediate effect of a national economic recovery package, which would suspend the payment of taxes and loan agreements for all the citizens and businesses affected by the floods; he also previewed the introduction of a national plan of climate change adaptation, acknowledging the significant impact of climate change on the rising frequency of natural disasters in Italy and across the world.
On 20 May, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni officially annonuced that she would depart the 49th G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, early in order to return to Italy and help coordinate the emergency, stating that she "could not remain so far from Italy in such a complex moment". While departing, Meloni thanked fellow G7 leaders for their offers of aid to the victims of the floods. She landed in Rimini the following day, and visited the provinces of Forlì and Ravenna, as well as the city of Faenza, before meeting regional president Stefano Bonaccini and Fabrizio Curcio, the head of Protezione Civile, at the Prefettura of Ravenna.
Bonaccini's request to be named extraordinary commissioner to manage the relief funds, as was custom among regional presidents in Italy, was opposed by the Meloni government, in particular by Brothers of Italy and Lega; some regional presidents of the centre-right coalition, such as Roberto Occhiuto, Giovanni Toti, and Luca Zaia, sided with Bonaccini. On 7 June, Meloni hosted a meeting with Bonaccini and other administrators from the affected areas, stating that the emergency would be temporarily managed by an operative table between the national government and local institutions led by Nello Musumeci, the Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies.
On 23 May, Italy's Council of Ministers officially announced the approval of the first in response to the emergency, an estimated €2.2 billion recovery package that was aimed to public and private businesses, schools, universities, museums, and farm workers, among other categories. The law's final text was eventually published on the Gazzetta Ufficiale on 1 June, and included an estimated €1.6 billion package, a lower budget than the one originally presented by the government. A €620 million-worth recovery fund for workers affected by the disaster was the largest investment included in the package; all of the measures were financed through cuts to other welfare systems, including the Salary Integration Fund, the Social Fund for Occupation and Formation, and the set-to-be-ceased citizens' income.
24 May was declared as National Day of Mourning for the victims of the flooding, as both the Italian and European flags hung outside of the Chamber of Deputies in Rome were displayed at half-mast. On 25 May, Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, visited the flooded areas along with Bonaccini. Von der Leyen assured that the European Union (EU) would help the region, adding in Romagnol dialect, Tin bota (), which was widely used as the slogan for the ongoing reconstruction process. On 27 May, Italian President Sergio Mattarella publicly announced that he would visit the affected areas on 30 May. Throughout his trip, where he was accompanied by Bonaccini, Mattarella visited the comune of Modigliana, before reaching Forlì, and then heading to Cesena, Lugo, Ravenna, and Faenza.
After weeks of tension within the government and between majority and opposition parties, the Meloni cabinet officially appointed army corps general Francesco Paolo Figliuolo as Extraordinary Commissioner for the Reconstruction on 27 June 2023. Figliuolo, who had previously served as Extraordinary Commissioner for the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy under the Draghi government between March 2021 and March 2022, would retain his role for the following five years. In the same instance, Bonaccini, Francesco Acquaroli, and Eugenio Giani, the regional presidents of Marche and Tuscany (the other two adjacent regions affected by the floods), were all nominated as Sub-Commissioners for the Reconstruction. Bonaccini described the government's centralist choice as a wrong choice but said that he was ready to work together.
The same day of the Extraordinary Commissioner nomination, Musumeci announced that the Council of Ministers had approved a bill that aimed to simplify and standardize reconstruction plans for the territories affected by natural disasters, including floods, rockslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. During the press conference where he presented the bill, Musumeci stated: "If ten years ago I would have asked myself whether [what happened in Emilia-Romagna] would happen again, today I only ask myself 'when' [it will happen again], given climate change and the vulnerability of territories."
Humanitarian efforts
The emergency operations throughout the region involved, among other human resources, members of Protezione Civile, the Italian Red Cross, and various armed and police forces, including Italy's Army, Navy, Air Force, and Carabinieri. State-owned energy company Enel created a task-force that would co-operate with local institutions to repair and restore the electricity distribution systems left damaged by the floods. Matteo Lepore, the mayor of Bologna, shared on social media a public Google Form aimed to all of the civil volunteers who wanted to take part in the operations. Players and staff members of Cesena FC volunteered to help citizens in several areas of the city, which was directly hit by the flood. Several members of Formula One team AlphaTauri, including driver Yuki Tsunoda, actively helped on the scenes, while several other drivers, such as Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Felipe Drugovich, raised charity funds via video game livestreaming. Scuderia Ferrari and Formula One each donated €1 million to both the Territorial Security Agency and Protezione Civile.
On 19 May, the Regional Council of Emilia-Romagna officially opened a public bank account in order to raise funds for the emergency from everyone across Italy (through an IBAN code) and abroad (via SWIFT). Public donors to the charity account included professional football clubs Bologna, Cremonese, Parma, Modena, and Rimini. The Italian Red Cross opened a charity fundraising campaign, as several local institutions did the same, including the local councils of Modena, Faenza, Imola, and Forlì. Other parallel campaigns were kickstarted by the Mirror of Italy Foundation, a non-governmental organization affiliated to the GEDI Media Group, and ; this last campaign reportedly received offers by several high-profile figures born in the region, including Conferenza Episcopale Italiana president Matteo Zuppi, singer-songwriters Francesco Guccini and Cesare Cremonini, comedian , actress Martina Colombari, and politician Pier Ferdinando Casini.
On 22 May, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism deployed high-capacity pumping station teams from Slovakia and Slovenia to help Italian authorities deal with the floods all across the region; Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Poland, and Romania also responded to Italy's request for assistance. The EU's Copernicus Programme provided satellite mapping of the affected areas, following a request from Protezione Civile on 16 May.
On 2 June, New Zealand actor Russell Crowe, who was set to perform with his band, Indoor Garden Party, in Bologna on 27 June, announced via Twitter that he agreed with the organizers of the concert to donate the full revenue to the victims of the floods. On 6 June, Parma-based food company Barilla announced an official €1 million donation to Protezione Civile in order to help the reconstruction of sport facilities in the communes of Sant'Agata sul Santerno and Conselice, as well as other infrastructures.
See also
2021 European floods
Weather of 2023
Notes
References
External links
2023 disasters in Italy
2023 floods in Europe
2023 natural disasters
2023 floods
21st century in Bologna
May 2023 events in Italy
Landslides in 2023
Floods in Italy
2023 floods
Cesena
Forlì
Ravenna
Rimini |
73840240 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20African%20Great%20Lakes%20floods | 2023 African Great Lakes floods | The 2023 African Great Lakes floods are floods in April and May 2023 that have killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Background
Frequent heavy rains causing damage and casualties between March and May are common in East Africa – in May 2020 around 80 people were killed by floods in Rwanda. Floods and droughts have increased in Rwanda over a 30-year period. Rwanda's weather authority attributes the unusual rainfall patterns to climate change.
In 2023, several rounds of heavy rain saturated the ground, increasing the likelihood of flooding. Between January and April 2023, the Ministry of Emergency Management reported that weather-related disasters caused 60 fatalities, destroyed over 1,205 homes and damaged 5,000 acres of land across Rwanda. On 2 May, the Rwanda Meteorology Agency predicted above-average forecast rainfall for the next 10 days.
Uganda also experienced heavy rain beginning in March, which caused landslides that destroyed homes and displaced hundreds of people.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
At least 440 people were killed and over 2,500 others were left missing by floods in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo since 5 May. In response to the flooding, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Félix Tshisekedi announced a national day of mourning for 8 May. Two landslides hit North Kivu Province, killing ten people in Lubero and at least six people at the Songambele mine, and leaving dozens of miners missing. 100 workers were at the mine at the time of the landslide.
Rwanda
Heavy rain started around 16:00 UTC (6 p.m. local time) on 2 May 2023 and continued throughout the night, killing at least 135 people. At least one person was missing, 110 people were injured and 20,000 people were displaced. The Sebeya River burst its banks. The most affected areas in Rwanda were Rutsiro, Nyabihu, Rubavu, and Ngororero. According to François Habitegeko, the governor of Rwanda's Western Province, people were crushed by the collapse of several houses; landslides made the main roads in the area impassable and flooded fields. Most of the deaths in Western Province were near Lake Kivu. 4,100 livestock were killed as well. Floods also affected Rwanda's Northern and Southern Provinces. Landslides and flooding destroyed 26 bridges and 17-20 roads, 12 power stations, eight water treatment plants, five health centers, two health posts, and a hospital. 5,100-5,963 homes were destroyed and an additional 2,500 were damaged.
Marie-Solange Kayisire, the Minister of Emergency Management, said that relief efforts started immediately. However, continued disruptions by heavy rain hampered efforts to help bury victims of the floods and to provide supplies to victims whose homes were inundated. According to Governor Habitegeko, some people were rescued and transported to hospitals. The Red Cross assisted with relief efforts. Kayisire called on local residents to increase patrols, especially at night.
Uganda
From 24 April to 3 May, at least 18 people were killed in Uganda, including five members of a family who were killed in a landslide; three were injured and three were left missing by floods. Heavy rain caused flooding and landslides in Kasese, Mbale and Rukungiri Districts. Many houses were damaged or destroyed in the country. On 17 May, the National Environment Management Authority of Uganda said that 23 people died and 16 were injured due to landslides and floods in Ntokoro and Kigezi Districts. The Katonga River flooded and submerged Uganda's major trans-national road.
References
2023 disasters in Rwanda
2023 disasters in Uganda
2023 floods in Africa
Floods
Floods
2023
2023
2023 |
73912464 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%20Odisha%20Floods | 2022 Odisha Floods | The 2022 Odisha floods were a series of floods in Odisha, which lasted from 14 August 2022 to 7 September 2022.
The main causes for the floods were the extensive rains which were started from the 3rd week of August 2022, because of the formation of 3 depression systems over the Bay of Bengal in that month and the Monsoon rains.
In total twelve districts: - Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Subarnapur (Sonepur), Bargarh, Angul, Boudh and Sambalpur - were primarily affected by the floods.
The long term causes for the floods in Odisha are the extensive erosion, unpredictable rainfall, improper maintenance of river embankments, excessive building of dams on the rivers and unperiodic release of river water from the dams.
Impact
On 14 August 2022, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a "Red Alert" of heavy, very heavy, and extreme rainfall for seven districts in Odisha due to the new forming Depression in the Bay of Bengal. After that, extensive rainfall started across many areas of the state, causing the water in the Mahanadi river system to flow at danger levels.
Meanwhile, the dams in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were opened due to which the water present in the Hirakud Dam Reservoir started overflowing. Therefore, the Hirakud Dam Authority opened 40 gates to release the excess water from the reservoir. Due to the sudden release of floodwater from the dam, 100 houses in Sambalpur located near to the river got submerged in the floodwater.
The water released from the dam increased the water levels and the flow rate of the Mahanadi river system. In addition to the monsoon rains, the situation of the Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani River Systems and other rivers in the state worsened.
On 17 August 2022, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a "Yellow Alert" of heavy rainfall for 20 districts and an "Orange Alert" of very heavy rainfall for 17 districts. IMD warned the state government of a new forming depression over the Bay of Bengal and advised fishermen not to venture into the sea for fishing, as the winds were blowing at 45-55 km/h.
The low-lying districts in the Mahanadi River Basin - Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Khordha, Puri and Kendrapara - were flooded with 12 lakh Cusec of water, which flowed through these areas on the night of 19 August 2022.
In Jharkhand, the 16 gates of the Galudih Barrage were opened and released 6 lakh cusec of water. Due to this, excess water flowed into the Subarnarekha River and flowed further into the Northern districts of Odisha like Balasore and Mayurbhanj and flooded these areas.
Heavy rains also occurred in Bhubaneswar, causing low-lying areas of the city like Sundarpada to get submerged by the rainwater; many drains, roads and old houses were damaged.
Due to the floods, over 1.2 lakh hectares of cropland were destroyed or damaged, leading to huge losses for farmers. The most affected croplands were in the Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Boudh and Sonepur districts.
Aftermath
In total around one million people from 1,757 villages were affected, 126,000 hectares of crop land was damaged, 250,000 people were marooned, seven killed, over 14,000 houses were damaged and destroyed by the floods, 440 relief centers were established and ₹126 crore of public property got damaged and destroyed.
Due to the crop damage, prices of affected vegetables increased noticeably and supply chains were affected.
Over 900 cases of diarrhea and 88 cases of snakebite were reported from the flood-hit districts.
Several diarrhea cases were reported, as many people were forced to drink flood water as they didn't have access to any freshwater resource.
On 18 August, 2022, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik conducted an aerial survey over the Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri districts, and later announced a 15-day relief for the Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khordha, Puri and Cuttack districts and 7-day relief to Sambalpur, Bargarh, Boudh, Sonepur and Angul districts.
The Odisha Government later dispatched financial aid of ₹128.8 crore to restore the damaged and destroyed public properties and to conduct relief operations in the flood-hit areas.
To conduct relief operations, 11 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 12 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRF) and 52 teams of Odisha Fire Services were arranged in the flood-hit Districts.
References
2022 disasters in India
Floods in India |
73966761 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Haiti%20floods | 2023 Haiti floods | On 2–3 June 2023, heavy rains caused destructive flooding across Haiti. Western areas of the country were particularly hard-hit. At least 51 people were killed, 140 were injured, and 11 were reported missing as of 6 June.
Background
From late May to early June 2023, periods of heavy rain impacted Haiti, leaving soils saturated and unable to absorb much additional rain. On 2–3 June, a stationary area of low pressure produced heavy rain and thunderstorms across the country. Rains subsided the following day as the storm system waned. With the aforementioned soils saturated, widespread flooding and landslides ensued.
Impact and aftermath
Rivers overflowed their banks, inundating many communities. Landslides were also reported. Five of Haiti's ten departments were affected: Ouest, Nippes, Sud-Est, Nord-Ouest , and Centre. Damage was particularly severe around the capital city of Port-au-Prince. As of 6 June, 51 people were confirmed dead, 140 were injured, and 18 remained missing. One person drowned and 14 others were rescued when their boat capsized off the coast of Côte-de-Fer. Crops were severely affected in central regions of the country. Three rivers burst their banks around Jérémie, leaving the city partially isolated. A bridge recently constructed in the city following a catastrophic earthquake in 2021 was partially destroyed. A total of 37,375 people were affected, 13,390 of whom were displaced. At least 13,591 homes were flooded and 820 were destroyed. Five health centers were also affected
Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested international aid following the disaster. The World Food Programme began mobilizing resources and personnel on 5 June, with rations and dry food for 15,000 planned for distribution. The Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs worked in tandem for relief efforts. Relief missions costing US$720 million already in place from the 2021 earthquake were only 20 percent funded at the time of the floods. Recurrent gang violence hampered relief efforts. Léogâne Mayor Ernson Henry described residents as "desperate...[after losing] everything".
Two earthquakes followed the floods: a 4.1 on 4 June and a 4.9 on 6 June. The latter of these occurred near Jérémie, further complicating relief efforts. Four people were killed and 36 others were injured.
See also
List of natural disasters in Haiti
2022 Haiti floods
References
External links
Floods
2023 floods in North America
2023 meteorology
June 2023 events in North America
Floods in the Caribbean
2023 floods
Centre (department)
Nippes
Nord-Ouest (department)
Ouest (department)
Sud-Est (department) |
73989176 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Samoa%20floods | 2023 Samoa floods | In June 2023, Samoa was hit by heavy floods. Savaiʻi was the most affected region with widespread power outages and damaged roads and bridges. Homes were destroyed in Saipipi, and floodwaters reached a meter deep in Sapapaliʻi. The floods were a result of heavy rain, with 300mm of rain falling in 24 hours.
Following damaging floods in 2020, Samoa was aided by the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund to build flood resilience.
Samoa has been at increased risk from flooding.
References
2023 meteorology
2023 floods in Oceania
2023 in Samoa
June 2023 events in Oceania
Natural disasters in Samoa |
74133101 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957%20Kyushu%20flood | 1957 Kyushu flood | From 25 July to 28 July 1957 torrential rain brought floods and landslides to the northwest part of the Japanese island of Kyushu. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Forestry (at that time) established in Saigo, Mizuho Village , Minamitakagi District (currently Unzen City ) recorded an astonishing 1.109 meters of rain in just one 24-hour period, the highest ever recorded in Japan.
The flood
After July 21 1957, a high pressure system over the Maritime Province strengthened and the monsoon front moved south. The Baiu front ran from the Kanto coast through southern Kyushu to the southern Yellow Sea on July 24th. On the morning of the 25th, a low pressure system formed in the southern Yellow Sea above the front and moved eastward, while the front itself moved northward and became more active. Thereafter, at 15:00 on the 25th, the monsoon front was mostly stationary in central Nagasaki Prefecture, remaining there until the 26th, bringing record heavy rain accompanied by thunder.
As mentioned above, the rain gauge of the then Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Forestry in Saigo, Mizuho Village, Minamitakagi District (currently Unzen City) recorded 1.109 meters (3 feet, 7.6 inches) of precipitation over a 24-hour period. On the other hand in Kuchinotsu Town, Minamitakagi District (currently Minamishimabara City ), located about 20 km south on the southern tip of the Shimabara Peninsula, the daily precipitation was only 86 mm, (3.38 inches) a difference of more than 1000 mm. The rainfall from the 25th to the 26th was especially severe.
At 2:00 pm on July 25, Isahaya City established a flood control headquarters, but by this time sub-floor flooding had occurred in Tobu Kosei Town. At 3 p.m., the Honmeigawa River exceeded the warning water level of 3.50 meters, and an emergency siren was sounded. As the situation became increasingly dire the first evacuation order siren was sounded at 6:50 p.m., and the second evacuation order siren sounded at 7:30 p.m.
At around 8:00 p.m., debris flows were occurring frequently in the upper reaches of the Honmei River, and at around 9:30 p.m., the evacuation order siren was sounded for the third time as the Honmei River overflowed, but power was cut off in the city immediately after, disrupting communication. The heavy rains caused the Honmeigawa River to flood twice in Isahaya City. The second flood, caused by a large-scale debris flow upstream, brought in a large amount of sediment and debris which caused great damage. The muddy torrent hit the Higashi-Eisho-cho area in front of Isahaya Station, broke the levee upstream on the east side of Shimen Bridge, cut through Tenma-cho, and also destroyed the right-bank levee behind Takagi Shrine. Furthermore, debris got caught in the Megane Bridge, built during the 1830s of stone to prevent it from being washed away by floods. It stood, but the debris blocked the escape of floodwaters, causing further damage.
In Isahaya City alone more than 500 people died and according to a White Paper on Fire Services, published by the Japanese government to increase public understanding of fire prevention policies, 586 people were killed, 136 people were missing, 3,860 people were injured, 1,564 houses were completely destroyed, 2,802 houses were partially destroyed, 24,046 houses were flooded above the floor level, and 48,519 houses were flooded below the floor level. The Isahaya Flood 30th Anniversary Commemorative Book puts the number of dead and missing at 630 (539 in the Isahaya area, 53 in the Moriyama area, 37 in the Takagi area, and 1 in the Konagai area), and reports also indicate that there were 630 people dead and missing.
Kumamoto City recorded a daily precipitation of 480.5 mm, exceeding the daily precipitation of 411.9 mm during the 1953 Shirakawa flood in north Kyushu.
Aftermath
Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi flew surveyed the damage from a plane flying over the disaster area and dropped 250000 leaflets with his promise that help was on its way.
The United States donated relief supplies and sent its Air Force to Japan with a mercy airlift of food and clothing for the flood victims.
Megane bridge
Since Megane bridge had exacerbated the flooding by catching and holding debris, blocking the escape of floodwater, it was decided to blow it up and turn it into rubble for the seawall. However, through the efforts of Mayor Gihei Nomura and others it became, in 1958, the first stone bridge in Japan to be designated an important cultural property. From 1959 to 1960 construction work was carried out to relocate it to Isahaya Park.
National Isahaya Bay Reclamation Project
In 1989 construction began on the Isahaya Bay Reclamation Project whose purpose is to prevent flood damage caused by heavy rains such as the Isahaya Torrential Rain. A completion ceremony was held in 2007, its disaster prevention effectiveness are yet are unknown. Although the project is the subject of debate, the flooding of the Honmei River, which once occurred every few years, has been reduced. Storm surge damage has disappeared, and Isahaya citizens rate the water level control and flood prevention effects of the reclamation project highly.
River festival
After the great flood, the Isahaya Manyo River Festival has been held on July 25th every year on the riverbed in the middle reaches of the Honmei River.
See also
1953 Northern Kyushu flood
1953 Wakayama flood
References
1957 in Japan
20th-century floods in Asia
1957 disasters in Asia
Floods in Japan |
74164424 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooded%20the%20Face | Flooded the Face | "Flooded the Face" is a song by American rapper and singer Lil Uzi Vert. It was released on June 30, 2023, and serves as the opening track from their third studio album Pink Tape. The song was produced by Don Cannon and Harold Harper. Originally intended for Luv Is Rage 2, the track never made the final cut.
Composition
An opening track with a "cosmic-sounding beat" as well as a "soaring, vowel-emphasizing hook", "Flooded the Face" sees Uzi boasting about their success and wealth. Lyrics primarily focus on "materialistic possessions". The rapper directly tackles rumors regarding their sexuality, bragging about their body count with women. In doing so, they address speculations of them being gay, asking the listener, "how could you ever say Lil Uzi Gay?". Despite several braggadocious lines, Uzi also shows love to their girlfriend JT.
Critical reception
Ahmad Davis of Rap-Up thought the track was a "poetic intro". Likewise, Robin Murray at Clash called "Flooded the Face" (along with "Suicide Doors") "an emphatic opening", emphasizing on their "hilariously surreal word play". Slants Paul Attard described the rapper's form on the song as "classic Uzi".
Credits and personnel
Lil Uzi Vert – vocals, songwriting
Don Cannon – production, songwriting, mastering, mixing, recording
Harold Harper – production, songwriting,
Charts
References
2023 songs
Lil Uzi Vert songs
Songs written by Lil Uzi Vert
Songs written by Don Cannon
Song recordings produced by Don Cannon |
74269385 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%20Flood%20%28Fenian%29 | John Flood (Fenian) | John Flood (21 May 183525 August 1909) was an Irish revolutionary and convict exile, and later Australian newspaperman, mining secretary and politician.
Early years
John Flood was born on 21 May 1835, in Sutton, County Dublin, one of nine children of Patrick Flood, shipowner, and his wife Elizabeth (née Kemp). He was later described as a pupil of Clongowes Wood College, but the school records do not confirm this. There is also doubt about his journalistic activities in Ireland, where he may have been involved with the Irish People newspaper. He was known to have been a clerk or apprentice to a Dublin attorney, Daniel Wilson Nolan, and was described at his trial in 1867 as 'Mr Flood, the clever and dashing young attorney'. However there is no evidence for another claim, that he was articled to prominent barrister and politician Isaac Butt.
Irish Republican Brotherhood
As a leading figure in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (also known as the IRB or the Fenians) Flood was centrally involved in some of the major actions of the 1860s. He was described as 'remarkably handsome' with blue eyes and auburn hair. More importantly, 'he was highly intuitive, cool in danger, and absolutely fearless'.. Flood's first prominent role was as part of the 14-man team which engineered the escape of Fenian founder James Stephens from the Richmond Bridewell in Dublin in November 1865. Along with a childhood friend, Captain Nicholas Weldon, Flood smuggled Stephens out of Dublin harbour past the revenue cutters by boat to Scotland, then overland to London and across the English Channel to France. This escapade earned Flood the nickname 'Smuggler', and on his return to Ireland he was arrested but discharged for lack of evidence.
Flood was appointed Head Centre of the IRB in England and Scotland, and concentrated on shipping rifles and ammunition from the USA to Ireland. He attended the meeting of the Fenian Directory in London on 10 February 1867, and the following day was part of a crowd of around 1000 Fenians who attempted to storm Chester Castle to seize arms and ammunition. It was intended to ship the weapons to Ireland for use in a rebellion, but the plan was betrayed by an informer. Flood was charged with high treason, although the charge was withdrawn and he was instead tried before a special commission and convicted of treason-felony. Sentenced to 15 years' transportation, Flood travelled to Western Australia (along with 60 other Fenians) on the Hougoumont, the last convict ship sent to Australia.
Transportation to Western Australia
Flood and his shipmates passed the voyage to Fremantle 'publishing' a handwritten newspaper named The Wild Goose after the Irishmen exiled to continental armies in the sixteenth century. Seven issues were produced, and in some cases multiple copies were made as souvenirs. The paper contained poetry, humorous weather reports and replies to 'correspondents'. The ship arrived at Fremantle on 9 January 1868 and the next day Flood was assigned the job of clerk to the superintendent in the penal settlement. He was freed in an amnesty in 1871, and set off for Sydney where he started a newspaper named the Irish Citizen which commenced publication in December 1871. The paper had hardly become established when Flood was tempted by a tin rush in the New England district of northern New South Wales. The paper ceased publication in August 1872, and Flood set off fortune hunting in the Palmer River goldfield in far north Queensland.
After two years of struggling to make his fortune Flood decided to cut his losses and retreat to the port of Cooktown, 130 kilometres away. The burgeoning port had two newspapers which both started publication in March 1874. Flood was associated with the Courier from 1874 to 1878, notionally as editor but also as a partner of the proprietor. On 13 August 1877 Flood married Susan O'Beirne, born in Lusta, County Leitrim. Soon after they moved to Brisbane where their eldest child was born in August 1878. Flood became the literary editor of the Brisbane Courier newspaper where he remained from 1878 to 1881.
Queensland
In 1879 famine again broke out in Ireland, and Flood acted as joint secretary for the Queensland Fund for the Relief of Distress in Ireland. This fund was chaired by Dr Kevin O'Doherty, one of a group of men transported to Tasmania in 1848 for their role in the Young Ireland movement. In 1881 Flood moved to Gympie where he lived for the rest of his life. His first business venture was the firm John Flood and Co, mining secretaries, which provided clerical services to mining and other companies including organising meetings and issuing prospectuses. In 1888 Flood returned to the newspaper business, forming the Gympie Newspaper Co Ltd which bought the Gympie Miner, converting it from an afternoon paper to a morning one.
After failing to be elected to the Queensland parliament for the electorate of Wide Bay in 1888, Flood was victorious the following year in the elections to the Widgee Divisional Board (predecessor of shire council), serving from 1889 to 1892 and 1894 to 1897, with a term as chairman (mayor) in 1891. In 1895 one of the major figures in Irish politics came to Gympie during a fundraising lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand. Michael Davitt had been a central figure in the plan to raid Chester Castle, but evaded capture until 1870 so did not join Flood and the others on the Hougoumont bound for Western Australia.
Davitt reached Queensland in August 1895 and spent several days visiting Flood in Gympie. Flood chaired his lecture in the Olympic Hall and referred to Davitt as 'his very old comrade and his dearest friend on earth'. Flood's political involvement continued as a member of the Gympie executive of the Queensland Federation League, which supported the federation of the Australian colonies, and as Gympie President of the United Irish League.
Death and Memorial
Flood continued to operate his mining business although suffering from declining health from around 1904. He died at his home 'Roseholm', South Side, after a relatively short final illness on 22 August 1909, aged 74. A national appeal was launched to build a memorial on his grave in Gympie cemetery, which took the form of a Celtic cross standing 14 feet high, made of polished Aberdeen granite on a base of unpolished local granite. It is engraved with a round tower, an Irish wolfhound and the national harp of Ireland and includes inscriptions to Flood, his wife and their deceased children. The monument was unveiled by Irish MP William Redmond before a crowd of 2000-3000 on 24 September 1911.
References
1835 births
1909 deaths
19th-century Irish journalists
Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish rebels
Irish revolutionaries
United Irish League people
People convicted of treason against the United Kingdom
Convicts transported to Western Australia
Gympie
Australian journalists
Australian newspaper editors |
74278785 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonenbach%20flood%20retention%20basin | Jonenbach flood retention basin | When it was commissioned, the Jonenbach flood retention basin, also known as the Jonental retention basin (German: Hochwasserrückhaltebecken Jonenbach, also Rückhaltebecken Jonental), was among 21 existing and six planned basins in the Zurich canton in Switzerland. It was built to safeguard the communities of Affoltern am Albis and Zwillikon against potential floods from the 17-kilometer-long Jonenbach. The construction of the basin successfully averted two floods in 2007 and 2008. The retention basin above the flood retention dam is referred to as a dry basin or green basin, and it is primarily made up of forest land. During normal water conditions, the stream flows through the dam unhindered. However, during flood events, a portion of the water is temporarily dammed, typically for only a few hours. This construction project involved the Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air, the Civil Engineering Office, and other cantonal offices.
Location and geology
The retention basin is situated southeast of Affoltern am Albis in the Swiss canton of Zurich, near the municipal borders of Mettmenstetten and Rifferswil. The Jonenbach, flowing from the southeast, traverses the Jonental Valley. Shortly before Affoltern, the valley narrows so that a dam with a relatively low fill volume could be built here. The dam, on the other hand, is very close to the village, and the nearest residence is only about 50 meters away. The catchment area for the water in the Jonenbach above Affoltern spans approximately 21 km².
From a geological point of view, Affoltern lies within the Molasse Basin of the Swiss Plateau, which accumulated sediments composed of the eroded debris from the emerging Alps during the Tertiary period. These sediments can be classified into the Marine Molasse and Freshwater Molasse layers.
Situation before the construction of the flood retention basin
The Jonenbach had been a recurring cause of flooding during periods of high tides before the flood retention basin was built. The local fire department had to defend the community each year by deploying sandbags and pumping out waterlogged basements and garages. These floods were primarily triggered by heavy rainfall, made worse by human development that limited the natural water flow in narrow areas. However, the flood protection proposals presented before 1994 did not gain the municipality’s approval. Consequently, the municipality was unable to safeguard itself against the floods.
The municipality incurred damages of at least 11.4 million francs (approximately 7.5 million euros) in the aftermath of the two significant floods that occurred in 1994 and 1999. This figure does not account for the damages sustained in residential and agricultural areas, which were not covered by insurance. Only after these floods occurred, a project that had already proven to be a successful solution in 1982 was pursued. The project proposed the interception of floodwater from Affoltern through the construction of an earth-fill dam in a sizable retention basin.
Description of the retention basin
The retention basin represents a dry basin or green basin and predominantly comprises forested areas. Under normal conditions, during low and moderate water levels, the river’s water is allowed to flow unhindered through a culvert in the dam, which has a cross-section measuring 3.80 m × 2.70 m with an inlet restriction of 1.40 m × 0.95 m). However, when heavy rainfall leads to water volumes surpassing the capacity of the dam's bottom outlet (3), a portion of the water is retained and held back by the dam.
The maximum impoundment volume of the dam is approximately 392,000 m³ of water. As a result, the stream above the dam is dammed over a length of about one kilometer and a width of about 150 meters. This elevation of the water level, reaching 513.35 meters above sea level, corresponds to a height that is encountered on average once every 100 years. During this flood, known as HQ100, nearly 34 m³ of water per second flows above the dam. However, through the bottom outlet in the dam, only a volume of approximately 16 m3/s is discharged, which can be safely accommodated by the course of the stream below the dam. Consequently, the dam construction provides an attenuation effect of about 18 m3/s for an HQ100 event.
If the critical water level is exceeded, additional water flows out through the spillway (2) to prevent a further rise in the water level and thus flooding of the dam crest (7). This outflow is directed inside the dam through the actual culvert (1), which has a cross-section of 3.80 v 4.10 m. According to calculations, the spillway is designed to handle an HQ1000 event (a flood that is to be expected once in 1000 years on average) with an inflow of 78 m3/s or even an HQ10000 event with 116 m3/s inflow. This would correspond to a dam level of 1.35 m above the flood inlet structure. Although flooding would then also occur in the community of Affoltern, the amount of water would be significantly reduced compared to the previous situation. In the event of a further rise in the water level, known as the overload case, the discharge would take place through the Neue Jonentalstraße located east of the dam. It is designed to prevent any overtopping of the dam, even in such circumstances.
The actual dam is formed by a fill dam approximately 163 meters long, primarily composed of moraine material and clayey loam.
A sequence of the construction measures
The construction work for the retention basin commenced with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 2, 2004. The project involved the relocation of a section of approximately 900 meters of Jonentalstraße on the right flank of the valley. Additionally, modifications to the course of the Jonenbach stream were necessary.
Prior to backfilling the dam, a 141-meter-long culvert (1) was built in the central part of the dam to accommodate the Jonenbach. This concrete culvert was built in stages of 7.5 meters in length, with an outer diameter of approximately four by five meters. This was followed by the spillway (2), also made of concrete, with the almost 17-meter-high, shaft-shaped inlet structure that opens into the culvert. The intermediate space below the spillway was underpinned with concrete. Finally, the earthen embankment with a dam volume of 123,000 cubic meters was backfilled. The fill material for this was supplied in part from the nearby N4 construction site in Knonaueramt.
During excavation, a highly fissured sandstone layer was unexpectedly discovered in the area of the left abutment. This deviation from the original detailed project necessitated additional grouting measures.
The construction work was undertaken by STRABAG AG and was completed in May 2007. The project was commissioned by the Construction Directorate of the Canton of Zurich. The total cost of the flood retention basin, including the necessary relocation of Jonentalstraße and adaptation work on Aeugsterstraße, amounted to approximately 13 million Swiss francs (approximately 8.5 million euros). The structure was officially presented to the public on May 24, 2008.
Nature conservation considerations
The basin above the flood retention dam is rarely dammed and only for short periods of time. It typically fills and empties within a few hours to a maximum of one day. This limited water retention duration ensures that the basin's vegetation remains unaffected. However, the construction of a retention basin does disrupt the natural dynamics of the watercourse and sediment transport. Over the long term, this can potentially lead to bed erosion downstream and subsequently cause blockages, as well as reduce structural diversity.Investigations of the bedload balance commissioned by the Construction Directorate of the Canton of Zurich in 2014 confirm a permeability of the retention basin in normal years, while large floods can result in a retention of about 100 m³ per event.
The lowest area of the basin, located directly in front of the dam wall, is regularly flooded during minor floods. Therefore, it was designed as a purely natural area. The Mülweiher, a pond in this area, is fed by a weir in the Jonenbach located above the pond. Since this weir is not passable for fish and microorganisms, an additional bypass watercourse was created at the weir. Furthermore, a fish ladder was installed at the outlet structure of the dam, allowing fish and microorganisms to move upstream in the Jonenbach.
Flood control after commissioning
The region experienced a flood on August 8 and 9, 2007, which occurs only once in 60 to 70 years. During these two consecutive days, the basin received a total rainfall of 80 to 130 mm. The soils were already partially saturated from previous rainfall, causing surface runoff to occur. Within a few hours, the basin was filled to nearly half of its capacity, and the water level rose to 4.35 meters below the overflow edge of the spillway. At this retention, the discharge was throttled from 24 cubic meters to 14 cubic meters per second, preventing flooding in the settlement area downstream of the basin and minimizing the presence of mud and floating debris.
The event documentation of the Office for Waste, Water, Energy, and Air shows: "This runoff could be discharged without damage in the settlement area of Affoltern, only at the pedestrian bridge near the optician's store Büchi (Alte Dorfstraße) an overflow could only be prevented with additional measures of the fire department in the form of sandbags. Therefore, the discharge capacity of the channel in the settlement area is practically exhausted with a discharge of 14 m3/s. However, if the HRB [HRB=High Water Retention Basin] Affoltern am Albis had been fully dammed, around 2 m3/s more would have flowed off, which would have led to overflowing in the current channel. For this reason, the throttle opening at the HRB was temporarily reduced after the event, so that a maximum of 14 m3/s will flow in the future, even with full impoundment."
Furthermore, the same report states: "In the event documentation, the channel capacity in the settlement area was also assessed. [...] Even with a discharge of just under 12 m3/s (at the time of the inspection), 6 of the 28 cross-sections examined had insufficient freeboard and a further 7 had insufficient freeboard. Local construction measures with low effort to increase the discharge capacity are recommended. In Zwillikon, slight flooding occurred, which did not cause any major damage. The known bottlenecks will be eliminated in the medium term. Only then should the throttle opening be set again as in the 2007 flood."
As a result of the flood, a new stream was formed within the area of the retention basin, causing significant damage to the surrounding forest as it carved out a new path.
The effectiveness of the detention basin in providing protection was once again demonstrated during the subsequent April 2008 flood, although the magnitude of this flood was lower than that of 2007. Additionally, in February 2021, the detention basin successfully protected the village below from the flood, highlighting its ongoing importance in safeguarding the community. The reservoir has consistently proven its ability to shield the village from flood events.
See also
Retention basin
References
External links
Commons: Jonenbach Flood Retention Basin - Collection of images, videos, and audio files.
Heinz Hochstrasser: Flood retention & lake regulation. AWEL Office for Waste, Water, Energy, and Air. (a film about the function of a flood retention basin using the example of the Jonenbach near Affoltern am Albis, as well as a brochure: How to plan a flood retention basin - A guide for planners and authorities (with example Jonenbach)).
Andrew Faeh, Lena Petersen and André Müller: Flood from 8./9. August 2007 in the canton of Zurich.
Hans F. Wymann: Flood Affoltern am Albis 09.08.2007.
Canton of Zürich
Rock-filled dams
Basins of Europe |
74280292 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Pakistan%20floods | 2023 Pakistan floods | From March to July of 2023, floods caused by monsoon rains returned to Pakistan after nine months. They worsened at the end of June due to upcoming monsoon rains. At least 159 people were killed, including many children.
Background
Many major floods have occurred in Pakistan. Flooding in 2020 killed 410 people and caused US$1.5 billion worth of damage, with 187 deaths occurring in Karachi in 2021 and 1,739 killed across the country in 2022.
Impact
At least 159 people were killed, including 96 who died in July. There were also 264 injuries, including 151 who were hurt in July.
Balochistan
Flooding on 17 March killed ten people in Balochistan, including eight in Awaran District. On 30 April, flooding affected several houses, left four dead and four others injured. Flooding in July killed six in the province. In Pakistan, poor governance has exacerbated the issue of flooding, primarily impacting the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. This calamity has claimed the lives of over 1,100 individuals and left 33 million others grappling with its devastating consequences. Additionally, nearly 750,000 people find themselves deprived of secure and suitable housing, access to education, and essential healthcare facilities.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province killed 11 people from 24 March to 3 April, with 17 more deaths, including eight from a landslide, and nine injuries occurring in the rest of April.
From June 10 to 11, over 20 people were killed and 100 others were injured due to flooding, including 15 in Bannu District. At least 20 more deaths occurred the following month, including eight children who were killed by a landslide in Shangla District on July 6.
Punjab
On July 5, at least 19 deaths occurred in Lahore due to electrocution or collapsing roofs. Flooding from 6-9 July killed 52 others across Punjab.
See also
List of floods in Pakistan
2023 South Asian floods
References
2023 floods in Asia
floods
Floods
Floods
2023 in Balochistan, Pakistan
Floods
Floods
2023
2023 floods
2023 floods
Disasters in Balochistan, Pakistan
2023 floods |
74308955 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July%202023%20Northeastern%20United%20States%20floods | July 2023 Northeastern United States floods | The July 2023 Northeastern United States floods, also known as the Great Vermont Flood of 10–11 July 2023 in Vermont, was a destructive and significant flash flood event occurring in the Northeastern United States from July 9 to 29, 2023. Slow-moving showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall and flooding, which led to widespread damage across multiple states in the Mid-Atlantic, with the heaviest and most destructive flash flooding centered around northern New England, specifically Vermont. Across the affected areas, numerous roads and bridges were washed out, and dozens of water rescues were conducted. Widespread rainfall amounts of fell across the Northeast, with the maximum amount of rainfall occurring in Putnam Valley, New York, with . Downtown Montpelier, Vermont was flooded, as numerous state roads around the city were closed. The flash floods caused 13 fatalities across several states and $2.1 billion in damage.
Meteorological history
On July 10, areas where the flooding occurred were already saturated by recent rainfall several weeks prior, and a large area of moisture traveled from the Atlantic Ocean to the Northeastern United States, likely contributed by warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean, where moisture evaporated and produced additional rainfall over New England. The storm, producing heavy rainfall, eventually slowed over the northeastern United States due to a large high pressure area over Greenland, which stalled the storm bringing high rainfall rates.
Flash flooding occurred again on July 16 following slow-moving showers and thunderstorms which developed along a cold front, which moved parallel to a deep southwesterly flow, causing the slow motion. Most unstable convective available potential energy in the 1500 j/kg range, along with moderate convective instability, maintained by the southwesterly flow, yielded re-development of the slow-moving showers and thunderstorms, and precipitable water around the 1.8-inch values also allowed the storms to produce heavy rainfall across portions of the Northeast.
On July 21, additional flash flooding occurred after a combination of a strong convergence zone and strengthening instability led to heavy rainfall-producing thunderstorms across portions of New England. Precipitable water values in the 1.5-1.7-inch range also allowed favorable conditions for very heavy thunderstorm development. The same precipitable water values, combined with an unstable moist environment, 1500 j/kg convective available potential energy (CAPE) values, and dew points in the range caused additional thunderstorm development on July 29 producing heavy rainfall, leading to flash flooding.
Preparations and impact
New York
Prior to the floods, New York governor Kathy Hochul urged people to be aware of the weather and road conditions.
Flooding occurred at the United States Military Academy, inundating vehicles and forcing drivers to swim out of them. Multiple water rescues, mudslides, and flooded roads prompted the town of Cornwall to issue a No Travel Advisory. Portions of U.S. Route 9W and Palisades Interstate Parkway were washed out or collapsed and closed. Portions of New York State Route 218 were totally washed away by the floods. Areas near the Hudson River and in the Hudson Valley were flooded as a rare flash flood emergency was issued. A New York City-bound Amtrak train was stopped at Poughkeepsie due to reports of the train tracks south of Poughkeepsie being washed out, cutting off access to New York City, and was reversed and rerouted back to Rhinecliff. Amtrak Service was also suspended between New York City and Albany. In Saratoga County, U.S. Route 4 and New York State Route 32 were flooded with of rainfall. Train service on Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line were stopped between Croton–Harmon and Poughkeepsie because of downed trees and damaged tracks. Due to the heavy rainfall, New York governor Kathy Hochul issued a state of emergency for Orange County, where of rain fell on Highland Falls and West Point in the eastern corner of the county. Significant flooding also occurred in Stony Point, where water rescues occurred and several homes and a park were flooded. Highland Falls also experienced significant flooding, with numerous streets in Highland Falls flooded and access to Highland Falls from Interstate 87 and U.S. Route 6 were closed due to flooding. Newburgh–Beacon Ferry Service was unavailable on July 10. CSX Tracks were compromised in 10 locations, with washed-out tracks between Selkirk and New Jersey. Roads were washed out in Carmel as well.
1,000 flights across New York airports, including LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, were cancelled, and more than 200 were delayed across those two airports. Rainfall in the Bronx forced a brief delay in an MLB game between the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs. A 43-year-old woman drowned after bring swept away by floodwaters in Highland Falls.
Governor Hochul stated that damage would likely exceed $37 million, the threshold for a federal disaster declaration. New York United States Senator Chuck Schumer said on July 17 that the damage to West Point alone was in excess of $100 million according to the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
On July 16, additional flash floods affected the New York metropolitan area, this time focused on Long Island. Ground stops were imposed at LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport. The flooding also led to a crash on New York State Route 27 late Sunday morning, injuring a police officer. Heavy rain also resulted in a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets be delayed by over 3 hours. In Islip, of rain poured down in one hour, causing flooding across roadways in and around Islip and in Suffolk County.
Connecticut
On July 10, Norfolk issued an emergency declaration due to significant flooding in the area, washing out roads. Flooding and downed trees forced road closures in Greenwich, Danbury, New Milford, and Ridgefield. Homes in Kent were evacuated. Numerous flash flood warnings were issued for portions of Connecticut, including Greenwich and Stamford. Flash flooding also resulted in the closures of J.A. Minetto State Park and Indian Well State Park. Rainfall peaked at in Warren.
On July 16, additional flooding occurred across the state, where the terminal at Tweed New Haven Airport was shut down, and numerous streets were flooded in Connecticut, including Bristol, where six water rescues occurred. The Connecticut River flooded, causing damage to locations near the river, including near Glastonbury. The Pequabuck River also overflowed; causing road damage near the intersection of Connecticut state routes 72 and 229. Numerous state roads were closed as well due to flooding.
Massachusetts
On July 16, flooding caused cars to be stranded in an underpass on U.S. Route 20 in Worcester, and emergency crews pumped out water from several flooded basements in Fitchburg. Roads were washed out and yards were flooded there as well, and widespread property damage occurred. Gas lines were shut off near Fitchburg, and drains were clogged in the area as well. Pavement on roads buckled in Fitchburg, and pavement also sunk in Sturbridge. A person died due to hydroplaning in Interstate 93 in Wilmington.
On July 21, flash flooding affected the Boston metropolitan area. A baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets was suspended in the 4th inning as a result of the exceptionally heavy rain that sent water cascading down stairs at Fenway Park. Boston Logan International Airport recorded of rain in just over an hour. Further west, numerous vehicles were inundated by floodwaters across many U.S. routes and Massachusetts routes, with the flooding forcing portions of U.S. Route 1 and several Massachusetts routes to close. The heaviest rainfall occurred in Franklin County, with Conway receiving of rain and of rain fell in Montague. Vermonter train service was halted after a side track was washed out in Deerfield.
On July 29, additional flooding occurred in Massachusetts, including Roxbury, where vehicles were flooded and one person was seriously injured. Flooding occurred on portions of Interstate 93, and streets were flooded throughout the Boston Metropolitan Area, where cars were stalled in floodwaters. of rain poured down in Boston that night, and Andover received of rain.
Local state of emergencies were declared in nearly a dozen towns, including Williamsburg, where emergency crews conducted water rescues there.
New Hampshire
Numerous roads in New Hampshire were closed due to flooding. The Crayon 301 NASCAR race was postponed due to flash floods on July 16. The Forest Lake Dam in Winchester failed on July 10, causing water levels to drop by .
The Mall of New Hampshire delayed its opening hours on July 16. In Manchester, roads and basements were flooded, and mall parking lots were flooded, inundating vehicles. Pavement on roads buckled in Hillsborough due to flooding. Flash flood warnings were issued for portions of the state, and more flash flood warnings were issued in July 2023 alone than any other full year on record.
Vermont
On July 9, 2023, Vermont governor Phil Scott issued a state of emergency. On July 10, the Weather Prediction Center issued their first ever high risk for flash flooding in the NWS Burlington coverage zone. The same day, residents in Montpelier were urged to evacuate low-lying areas and areas near the Winooski River. The next day, roads were flooded and a garage was leveled in Ludlow, and basements were flooded in Barton. Portions of Interstate 89 and Vermont Route 16 were closed. Flooding also occurred in Londonderry and Weston, where both towns were inaccessible. 44 people required water rescues. About a dozen campers in Andover were rescued by swift boat after the bridge entering and exiting out of Andover was washed out. Rainfall totals reached in Calais. Vermont's Secretary of Agriculture, Food, and Markets Anson Tebbetts described the damage as being worse than that of Hurricane Irene in 2011. On July 11, water levels at the Wrightsville Dam crested, threatening to burst the dam or necessitating to open a spillway. By evening levels receded.
Thunder Road International SpeedBowl in Barre was scheduled to host the second event of the 2023 Superstar Racing Experience auto racing season on July 20, but the event was cancelled as result of the floods, with week 2 of the competition moving to Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut on the same day as the scheduled Thunder Road race. SRX will make its debut at the SpeedBowl in 2024.
Three deaths occurred; one in Barre, one in the Huntington River, and one on the Appalachian Trail near Stockbridge.
Rhode Island
On July 10, flooding closed Rhode Island Route 10, and Rhode Island State Police assisted with stalled vehicles. Flash flooding occurred in East Providence, Providence, and Cranston. Snowplows were deployed in Providence to push floodwaters.
On July 16, flooding forced closures on portions of Interstate 95, and Rhode Island Route 10, and roads in East Providence were flooded and impassable.
Pennsylvania
Flooding and water rescues occurred in Reading, along with vehicles submerged and downed wires occurring in Upper Merion Township and Conshohocken. A baseball game between the York Revolution and the Lexington Counter Clocks was postponed. Flooding washed out roads in Quakertown.
On July 15, seven people were killed due to flash flooding in Upper Makefield Township in Bucks County. Up to of rain fell down in 45 minutes in the surrounding area. Pennsylvania Route 532, the road where the accident occurred, shut down for two weeks following the flooding. On July 16, an MLB game between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres was delayed due to the rain.
North Carolina
Flooding and damage was reported in the Greensboro and Burlington areas, where a shopping center and a softball field was flooded. Trees and power lines were down as well, and 15,000 power outages occurred across the state as numerous severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings were issued. On July 15, a woman was killed in a flooded road in Alexander County.
Elsewhere
At Newark Liberty International Airport near Newark, New Jersey, 367 flights were cancelled and an additional 477 were delayed on July 16. A portion of New Jersey Route 46 closed after a landslide developed on the side of the highway.
Aftermath
The American Red Cross and the Hudson Valley Chapter opened a shelter in Highland Falls, New York. The American Red Cross and the Reading Fire Department assisted in water rescues in Reading, Pennsylvania and an emergency shelter was opened at an elementary school in the city. Due to storm damage, Bear Mountain State Park and Harriman State Park were closed. An emergency shelter was opened in Barre. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Vermont and ordered federal assistance to help with relief efforts.
On July 11, New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu toured and surveyed flood-damaged areas, including the failed Forest Lake Dam. The Federal Emergency Management Agency assessed damage around New Hampshire, including Antrim from July 11, continuing through the week of July 25 as well.
On July 12, Massachusetts governor Maura Healey toured the flooding damage in Williamsburg, and offered state assistance. Healey also spoke with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency regarding the floods.
On July 16, Connecticut governor Ned Lamont toured Bristol, Connecticut, and stated that engineers would assess road damage. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senators from New York, and Pat Ryan, U.S. representative from New York's 18th congressional district, were given an aerial tour of the United States Military Academy and the surrounding area to survey the storm damage on July 17.
On August 1, following the flooding, the United States Department of Agriculture designated seven counties in Massachusetts as disaster areas. Also on August 1, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency deployed two personnel to Vermont to aid in the aftermath of the flooding in Vermont. The day after, Massachusetts governor Healey signed a supplemental budget of $20 million to aid in Massachusetts farms which were impacted by the flooding. On August 3, U.S. senator Ed Markey visited flooded areas in Conway, Massachusetts, and announced a climate bill.
Vermont band Phish raised over $3,500,000 through benefit concerts for flood relief in their home state.
References
2023 floods in the United States
2023 meteorology
2023 in Connecticut
2023 in Massachusetts
2023 in New Hampshire
2023 in New York (state)
2023 in North Carolina
2023 in Pennsylvania
2023 in Rhode Island
2023 in Vermont
July 2023 events in the United States
Natural disasters in Connecticut
Natural disasters in Massachusetts
Natural disasters in New Hampshire
Natural disasters in New York (state)
Natural disasters in North Carolina
Natural disasters in Pennsylvania
Natural disasters in Rhode Island
Natural disasters in Vermont |
74311278 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20North%20India%20floods | 2023 North India floods | Heavy rainfall during the 2023 monsoon season resulted in severe flooding and landslides across Northern India, primarily affecting residents in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi.
A monsoon surge, coupled with a western disturbance has led to the highest rainfall in decades in some parts of the region, causing nearby rivers to overflow, with flooding and landslides washing away vehicles, destroying bridges and roads, and disrupting power and electricity.
In July, at least 105 individuals across Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, were killed over a two-week period of intense rain and flooding, with thousands of others evacuated to relief camps. The floods have led to closure of schools, disruption of flights and train operations in various parts of North India.
Another period of intense torrential rain continued in August, and at least 71 more people were killed in Himachal Pradesh, while 10 others died in Uttarakhand.
Background
The South Asian monsoon season, which spans from June to September, typically brings about 80% of annual rainfall to the region.
In recent years, India has witnessed intensified weather patterns, with the monsoon season becoming more erratic and less dependable over time. The current period of heavy rainfall is occurring closely on the heels of an intense heatwave that also affected much of northern India. While various factors contribute to flooding, experts point to climate change as a significant driver of increased occurrences of heavy rainfall.
Affected areas
The states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan experienced extensive waterlogging due to heavy rainfall.
Himachal Pradesh
The state of Himachal Pradesh was the hardest hit, with at least 330 dead, 38 missing and more than 100 injured during flooding since 1 April. More than 1,000 roads were blocked in the state as a result of downed power lines and other damaged infrastructure. Approximately 70,000 tourists were evacuated from the state, as reported by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Rescue operations were led by teams from the Indian army and the National Disaster Response Force. Several districts experienced an entire month's worth of rainfall within a single day. In Manali, roads were swept away by the deluge, leaving both tourists and their vehicles stranded.
Over the weekend of August 12-13, 2023, additional torrential rains hit Shimla, triggering landslides and destroying a temple, homes, and buildings, and killing at least 57 people. The intensity of the rains has been attributed to climate change. The landslides washed out several roads, including the Himalayan Expressway, and sections of the Kalka–Shimla Railway. The additional floods and landslides killed a total of 71 people. A massive landslide destroyed roads and buildings in the city of Shimla.
Cumulatively, since the monsoon hit on June 24, 170 incidents of cloudburst or landsliding have been reported and 9,600 houses have been damaged in Himachal Pradesh. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has stated that the losses from the combined floods of 2023 have been as high as 10,000 crore rupees, and the damaged infrastructure would take a year to repair.
Punjab
On 9 July 2023, a high alert was issued in different districts of Punjab due to incessant rains. There were a surfeit of waterlogged roads and many cars were submerged in water. The situation worsened in Patiala and Dera Bassi as fields were inundated. Many roads caved in, disrupting the traffic. The rains did not show any signs of abating as it had been profusely raining for the past three days. On 10 July 2023, an order was passed to close all schools, which reopened on 17 July.
Delhi
The capital city of Delhi saw over rain on 9 July 2023, marking the highest precipitation in a single day in July in over 40 years. Authorities took measures to relocate numerous individuals residing near Yamuna riverbanks to safer areas. In addition, residents in other susceptible regions were advised to make necessary arrangements for potential evacuations. The traffic flow across a critical bridge spanning the river was disrupted, and schools were closed. Flooding in the capital lead to at least one death.
The Yamuna river breached its all-time high-water mark, which had stood for over 45 years. The situation impacted prominent areas, including the street outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence and a major road towards Connaught Place, a renowned business center. Chief Minister Kejriwal urged the federal government to regulate the water release from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana, which contributed to the swelling of the Yamuna river. Flooding of the Yamuna river also resulted in water surrounding the Red Fort.
Sixteen thousand individuals were provided shelter in relief tents arranged by the Delhi government. The state's governor convened with the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to discuss the flood situation. Kejriwal mentioned that an advisory would be issued for private offices to encourage remote work. Due to the flood-like situation, three water treatment plants in Delhi were temporarily shut down. As a result, water was rationed. Furthermore, heavy vehicles, with the exception of those engaged in essential services, were prohibited from entering Delhi.
Kashmir
Due to damage to a national highway, the Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage was suspended. As a result, thousands of pilgrims were stranded in nearby areas. At least four people were killed in the state.
Haryana
For the first time in history, Haryana was put under a flood warning. Farmers are preparing to lose up to 30% of their rice yield.
Rajasthan
Over 2,800 people were evacuated in anticipation of floods.
Uttarakhand
Heavy rainfall in mid-August caused flooding which killed ten people in Uttarakhand, including a boy and his parents. A total of 75 people were killed throughout the state between April and August.
Uttar Pradesh
At least 12 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh during flooding in July.
See also
Floods in India
2013 North India floods
2023 South Asian floods
2023 Raigad landslide
References
External links
2023 disasters in India
2023 floods in Asia
2020s in Chandigarh
2020s in Delhi
2020s in Haryana
2020s in Himachal Pradesh
2020s in Jammu and Kashmir
2020s in Punjab, India
2020s in Rajasthan
2020s in Uttar Pradesh
2020s in Uttarakhand
July 2023 events in India
North India
Climate change in India |
74340187 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20South%20Asian%20floods | 2023 South Asian floods | Flooding affected parts of South Asia since March of 2023, killing many and destroying buildings.
Background
Monsoons hit South Asia every year, mostly between June and September. Every year, floods affect the Indian subcontinent, collapsing buildings and causing landslides. Climate change in South Asia has exacerbated these storms.
Countries affected
Bangladesh
Cyclone Mocha destroyed 2,522 houses and damaged 10,469 others in May. Three people died of indirect causes and 12 others were injured.
Flooding in August killed 57 people, left several missing, displaced around 45,000 residents and affected 1.2 million others, as well as damaging over 2,700 shelters.
India
In India, a total of 2,038 people were killed, 1,584 others were injured and 101 others were left missing due to flooding-related incidents between 1 April and 17 August. During this period, there were 518 deaths in Bihar, 330 more in Himachal Pradesh, 165 in Gujarat, 138 in Madhya Pradesh, 107 deaths each in Karnataka and Maharashtra, 90 more in Chhattisgarh and 75 in Uttarakhand.
Twelve people were killed and 23 others were injured in Rajasthan by Cyclone Biparjoy after it hit in June. At least 4,600 villages were affected by the storm.
Two people were killed by a landslide caused by flooding in Assam from 17 to 21 of June, which affected up to 100,000 residents in 20 districts.
Since 24 June, at least 229 people were killed and 38 others were left missing by flooding in northern India due to monsoon rains, including 105 in July and 81 more in August.
Nepal
Since June, at least 38 people died and 33 others were left missing after floods across Nepal, which damaged at least 283 homes.
Pakistan
From March to July of 2023, at least 159 people were killed and 264 others were injured by floods in Pakistan, including 68 deaths in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 52 in Punjab, and 20 in Balochistan.
Sri Lanka
Although the impact of Cyclone Mocha on Sri Lanka was significantly reduced by its landfall between Bangladesh and Myanmar, seven people were injured, another was reported missing, and nearly 2,000 people were affected in Southern Sri Lanka due to the cyclonic storm's indirect influence.
See also
Weather of 2023
2020 South Asian floods
2022 South Asian floods
References
2023 floods in Asia
Floods
2023
2023
May 2022 events in Asia
June 2022 events in Asia
July 2022 events in Asia |
74362361 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%20Asian%20floods | South Asian floods | South Asian floods may refer to:
2007 South Asian floods
2017 South Asian floods
2019 South Asian floods
2020 South Asian floods
2021 South Asian floods
2022 South Asian floods
2023 South Asian floods |
74367986 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20South%20Korea%20floods | 2023 South Korea floods | Heavy rainfall during the 2023 East Asian rainy season resulted in severe flooding and landslides across South Korea, primarily affecting residents in the provinces of North Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang. At least 47 people were killed and three are still missing as of 22 July 2023. The downpour is the heaviest in South Korea in 115 years and marked the third heaviest rainfall on record in South Korea.
Background
The South Korean monsoon season usually begins in June and ends in the beginning of August. The country normally experiences heavy monsoon rains and its mountainous topography increases its vulnerability to landslides; however, the reported casualties this season are higher than usual. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the annual monsoon season began on 25 June 2023 and ended on 26 July 2023, with an average precipitation of .
Flooding expert Cheong Tae Sung of South Korea's National Disaster Management Research Institute said that the fact that the rains occurred in the rural parts of the country, which are harder to monitor and reach, could be a reason for the higher death toll. He additionally stated that climate change was a possible cause, as rain in South Korea has been coming in more intense bursts rather than spread out over a longer period of time due to warming, making it harder to prepare for floods. Scientists have also mentioned that the climate warming situation has likely resulted in more floods across the world as extreme floods have also hit India, Japan and China.
Impact
Many people were injured when torrential rains caused landslides and the overflow of a dam in North Chungcheong, and prompting the evacuation of over 9,200 homes and over 14,400 people nationwide. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, over of farmland were damaged or flooded and 825,000 livestock were killed.
On 17 July, Yonhap News Agency reported that 628 public facilities and 317 private properties were damaged by the heavy rain. On 19 July, Yonhap reported that 1,101 public buildings and 1,047 private buildings were damaged by the floods, especially around South Chungcheong Province. On 22 July, the reported damage increased to 6,064 public facilities and 2,470 private properties, as reported by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters. Yonhap also reported that 471 homes were submerged and another 125 were damaged.
At least 22 people were killed in North Gyeongsang and four others were killed in South Chungcheong Province. On 15 July, a landslide occurred in the village of Baekseok-ri, Hyoja-myeon, Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang, which killed five seniors. One is currently considered missing.
Gungpyeong No. 2 Underpass incident
In Osong, a town near Cheongju, 14 people were killed when their vehicles became trapped in the Gungpyeong No. 2 Underpass after the banks of Miho River broke on 15 July. Fire officials estimated that the tunnel had filled with water in two to three minutes, trapping 15 vehicles in the underpass. Nine hundred rescuers, including divers, were involved in the tunnel search.
A flood warning had been issued four hours before the accident, leading some to criticize the local authorities and the provincial government for not closing the tunnel. On 28 July, 36 local government and fire officials were referred for investigation in connection with the incident.
Dam overflows
In Hwasun County, the Dongbok Dam, which provides water supply for nearby Gwangju city, had an overflow of some 800,000 tons per hour. The Hwasun County recommended evacuation to its 10 low-altitude villages. This incident is a repetition of a similar event from 2020, where another overflow caused 30 homes to be flooded. Because of the dam's limited flood control capability (it is primarily a water supply dam), residents have called for redesign of the dam.
Cultural heritage sites
Fifty Intangible Cultural Heritage sites were damaged by the torrential rain including Joseon-era hanok houses in North Gyeongsang Province, the Manhoe Historic House in Bonghwa County, which suffered damage as a result of a landslide, and the Choganjeong pavilion in Yecheon County. Other damaged sites included Gongsanseong Fortress and Mungyeong Saejae.
Government response
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo called for the deployment of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to conduct search and rescue operations due to the disruption of rail services in South Korea. President Yoon Suk Yeol pointed to climate change as a possible cause, stating that "this kind of extreme weather event will become commonplace … we must accept climate change is happening, and deal with it." He added: "We can no longer call such abnormal weather abnormal." He also called for the need to upgrade systems to monitor water levels. Yoon designated thirteen areas "special disaster zones", which would make them eligible for financial support in relief efforts. At a press conference, the Ministry of Unification requested that the North Korean government notify the South Korean government of any plans to release water from the Hwanggang Dam.
Since 15 July, general trains and KTX service in affected areas has been suspended. Korail, the railroad operator, announced the affected trains will be resuming operation as soon as the checks for structural damage have been completed. On 17 July, President Yoon visited North Gyeongsang Province. On the same day, his government launched an audit looking into the handling of the flooding, particularly in the underpass incident. On 27 July, the National Assembly passed a bill for preventing flood damage, revising the River Act.
See also
2020 Korean floods
2022 South Korean floods
Climate change in South Korea
References
Floods
2023 floods in Asia
Floods
Floods
Landslides in 2023
2023 floods
2023
Landslides in Asia
History of North Chungcheong Province
History of North Gyeongsang Province |
74370731 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%20Korean%20floods | South Korean floods | South Korean floods may refer to:
2014 South Korea floods
2022 South Korean floods
2023 South Korean floods |
74390859 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July%202023%20Western%20Kentucky%20floods | July 2023 Western Kentucky floods | In a two-day period from July 18 to July 19, 2023, significant flooding occurred across western portions of Kentucky, southern Illinois, southeastern Missouri, and northwestern Tennessee caused by stalled heavy thunderstorms which brought high rainfall rates to numerous locations across western Kentucky. The flooding event also inundated locations previously hit by the 2021 Western Kentucky tornado. Numerous homes were flooded across western Kentucky, and several flash flood emergencies were issued for locations in western Kentucky and southern Illinois as well.
Meteorological synopsis
Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a mesoscale convective system along a low-level convergent axis on the afternoon of July 18 across portions of southeast Missouri. Favorable precipitable water values around 1.7-1.9 inches, along with wind shear around 50-60 knots, and most-unstable convective available potential energy (CAPE) in the 2000 values, yielded conditions for the developed thunderstorms to intensify and produce heavy rainfall.
The next day, a moderate risk of excessive rainfall was issued by the Weather Prediction Center, and a flood watch was issued for Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, and Missouri. Convection initiated in the vicinity of the Tri-state area in the early morning hours of July 19, and precipitable water values increased from the previous day to 1.8-2.3 inches, and a strong boundary layer moisture convergence from an isentropic ascent, combined with the same CAPE values from the previous day, allowed a strong low level jet and training convection to rapidly increase in coverage across central Missouri and head southeastward along a stationary front, causing heavy rainfall. Another mesoscale convective system developed several hours later, leading to additional high rates of rainfall. Convection continued to form on the afternoon of July 19 as 850-millibar inflow at 20-30 knots and favorable thermodyamics led to additional rainfall across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and northwest Tennessee.
Impact
Numerous homes were flooded in Mayfield and Wingo. Cars were submerged on flooded roads in Graves County. Portions of I-69, the Purchase Parkway, and KY 80 were flooded. Flash flood warnings were issued for western Kentucky, southern Illinois, southeastern Missouri, and northwestern Tennessee, including Carbondale, Illinois, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Paris, Tennessee. Rare flash flood emergencies were issued for Mayfield, Paducah, Fancy Farm, and surrounding areas, and included areas impacted by the 2021 Western Kentucky tornado. A flash flood emergency was also issued for LaCenter, Kentucky, and Mounds, Illinois, and as far north as Karnak, Illinois. Crop losses also occurred in western Kentucky. 19,433 power outages occurred at one point during the flooding event. 1 person was injured and six water rescues were completed in Graves County.
Near Mayfield, of rain fell, setting a new record rainfall in Kentucky. of rainfall fell in Paducah, Kentucky, which was the second—highest daily record there. The event was also considered a 1 in a 1,000-year event.
Aftermath
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency for Mayfield and surrounding areas, and toured the flooded areas. Local emergencies were declared in Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, and Lee counties in Kentucky, and also in the cities of Arlington, Bardwell, Clinton, Cumberland, and Mayfield. Western Kentucky University offered free early move-ins to summer housing for flood victims. Damage assessments by the Kentucky Emergency Management Agency were completed in 47 buildings, including 41 homes and 6 businesses. A shelter was opened for displaced residents following the disaster.
References
2023 meteorology
2023 floods
2023 in Illinois
2023 in Missouri
2023 in Tennessee
Kentucky
July 2023 events in the United States
Natural disasters in Kentucky
Natural disasters in Illinois
Natural disasters in Missouri
Natural disasters in Tennessee |
74397097 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laingsburg%20Flood | Laingsburg Flood | The 1981 Laingsburg Flood was a catastrophic event that occurred on 25 January 1981, in the town of Laingsburg, Western Cape, South Africa. The flood killed at least 104 residents, and the bodies of 72 people were never found. A total of 184 houses were destroyed.
Flood Waters
The Buffels River catchment, which includes the Buffels, Wilgenhout, and Baviaans rivers, lies in the rain shadow of the Langeberg, Swartberg and Witteberg Mountains. Occasionally, a High-Pressure System offshore of the Western Cape can push moist air from the coast over the mountains, resulting in increased rainfall in the Buffels River catchment. This weather phenomenon led to increased water flow in the three rivers within the catchment, which converged at the outskirts of Laingsburg.
The heavy rainfall over the area was caused by a typical black south-eastern synoptic situation that developed over the south-western parts of the country during the weekend of January 24 and 25, 1981. In this situation, a strong high south of the continent feeds moist, warm air into a low-pressure area over the country’s southern parts. Such a low-pressure region is also reflected in the upper air as a cold cut-off low that extends well into the upper troposphere.
On January 25, 1981, such an event occurred when unprecedented rainfall in the catchment area caused the combined Buffels River overflowing its banks. The rain started on the weekend of 24 and 25 January 1981. The Buffels River overflowed its banks around 08:00 on Sunday, January 25, 1981.
At the same time, two rivers named Baviaans and Wilgerhout integrate with the Buffels, meaning there was a much higher volume of water accumulated at one time. The water level started to rise in town at about 12:00; by 14:00, the town (CBD) was almost fully covered. This caused flood waters and mud to sweep through Laingsburg, with some areas experiencing water levels reaching 10 meters above the usual flow level.
The river current was estimated at its peak at 8000 cubic meters per second.
Damage
The flood destroyed two-thirds of Laingsburg's infrastructure, destroying 184 houses and 23 commercial buildings, including the town's old-age home. The flood claimed 104 lives, with 72 bodies never recovered.
In a report published in January 1982, the flood damage identified the position of Laingsburg relative to the confluence of the Buffels, Wilgehout, and Bobbejaans Rivers, and the narrow poort downstream of the confluence makes it particularly ~ vulnerable to damage from large floods. Laingsburg is situated on a natural flood plain on the inside bend of the Buffels River.
A geographical factor that contributed to the damage caused by the flood was the effect of the east-west orientation of the topography to the south of the town. The confluence of the two large tributaries and the Buffels River was immediately upstream of the poort through the ridge, and the ridge directed the flow in the tributaries towards the southern part of the town on the opposite bank. The combined effects of all three rivers and the poll's constriction of the poort which accounted for much of the damage in the southern part of Laingsburg between Swartberg St and the river.
The deposition of sediment is considered the widespread form of flood damage in the drier regions of South Africa. Rivers in the Cape Midlands and the Karoo carry high sediment loads in high floods. The sediment-carrying capacity of flowing water is susceptible to the velocity of the water. When the river overflows its banks, the velocity decreases rapidly, particularly where it flows through a built-up area. Heavy sediment deposits can be expected in the vicinity of houses nearest to the enlarged river channel, where the flowing water's velocity is rapidly decreasing. The slower-moving water can no longer carry the sediment loads associated with the mid-stream velocities and deposition takes place. Sediment deposits in Laingsburg were up to 3 m deep in many places and the total sediment volume deposited was about 200 000 m³.
Another factor that caused much damage in Laingsburg was the large amount of floating debris. This consisted mainly of trees washed down the river from upstream, but it also included debris from buildings in the town itself. The debris caused physical damage to the buildings and aggravated sediment deposition.
Many buildings in Laingsburg collapsed due to high water levels alone. These were mainly the older buildings. Newer, more soundly constructed buildings were not seriously damaged except those subjected to high scouring velocities.
Aftermath
The first flood reports emerged after SADF Super Frelon Helicopters flew over the town at 09:00 on Monday morning the 26th of January 1981.
References
1981 disasters in Africa
20th-century floods in Africa
Floods in South Africa |
74437891 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Nova%20Scotia%20floods | 2023 Nova Scotia floods | The 2023 Nova Scotia floods are a series of floods in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Areas in Nova Scotia received 250mm (9.8 inches) of rain in a 24 hour period, causing dramatic flash floods.
On July 22, 2023, a state of emergency was declared in the province, scheduled to last two weeks, ending on August 5. The floods greatly affected the municipalities of Halifax, East Hants, West Hants, as well as the counties of Lunenburg and Queens with estimates of up to 300 milimetres of rain in parts of the province.
Aftermath
Following the flooding, 4 people were reported missing. The body of a missing man was found in West Hants on July 24 and unidentified remains of a missing person were found in nearby Kings County. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced on July 25, 2023, that the remains of two children were found in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, which included the unidentified body that was found the previous day, bringing the death toll to 3. The remaining missing person, an unidentified youth under 18 years of age, remained missing with the search suspended on July 31. Remaining high water impeded the search area, and plans were made to resume the search once the search area drains, however the body was discovered on August 1st by a citizen walking their dog, approximately 75 kilometers away from the site of the disappearance.
Many roads, highways, driveways, and bridges were damaged or washed out. The province announced that 500 sections of roadway and 48 bridges across the province were damaged to varying degrees. The only train line connecting the Port of Halifax to the rest of the country was damaged, with a section south of Truro, Nova Scotia, being washed out. The train line was repaired and operational by Thursday July 27th.
References
Floods, 2023
Nova Scotia
Floods in Canada
Nova Scotia Floods
Floods |
74444006 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Afghanistan%20floods | 2023 Afghanistan floods | In July 2023, Afghanistan experienced severe flooding resulting from heavy seasonal rainfall, leading to the loss of lives and dozens of missing persons over a three-day period. The flash floods were triggered by intense rains affecting seven provinces in the country, causing significant damage to residential houses and hundreds of acres of agricultural lands. The highest number of casualties occurred in the western Kabul and Maidan Wardak provinces.
Agricultural land encompassing hundreds of square miles was severely damaged and washed away by the floods. Additionally, the floods caused the closure of the highway connecting Kabul and the central Bamiyan province.
Shafiullah Rahimi, spokesman for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, stated that 74 people were injured and at least 41 remain missing. Personnel from various government entities, including the ministries of defense, public welfare, and the Red Crescent, as well as provincial and other officials, responded to the flood-affected areas to conduct rescue operations.
References
2023 in Afghanistan
2023 natural disasters
July 2023 events in Asia
2023 |
74463523 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20history%20in%20Chehalis%2C%20Washington | Flood history in Chehalis, Washington | The city of Chehalis is located in Washington state and rests upon the Chehalis River. With a connection of creeks, minor tributaries, and basins within or near the city, coupled with the nearby confluences of the Newaukum River south of Chehalis and the Skookumchuck River in neighboring Centralia, the community has suffered from numerous floods. Due to the city being located in the Chehalis Valley along with the Cowlitz River, cresting and overflow of the river has led to flooding in the Chehalis area.
Water inundation from heavy rains and excessive snowmelt has led to a considerable number of historic flooding events in the area, with accounts traced as far back as early Native American settlement and since the beginnings of the city of Chehalis.
Native American flood history
Historical accounts and spiritual lessons passed down through the history of Native American people living in and around the Chehalis River tell of major floods in the basin. Chronicles of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe speak of floods that reached the pinnacle of Mt. St. Helens leading to the beginnings of the tribe. The Chehalis people have traditional stories of floods that led to the transformation of humans and animals and how they interacted between one another and their habitat.
Flood events in the 19th century
Chehalis was founded in 1873 and officially incorporated in 1883. The first newspaper in the town would begin operations that same year.
In the 19th century, two significant floods were recorded in the local newspapers. A flood in December 1887 was stated to have been due in part to heavy rains after a dry summer. Two Chehalis residents died and some local areas were underwater by as much as six feet. River traffic, sawmill operations, and railroads were delayed. Two back-to-back minor floods occurred in December 1897, severely damaging a railroad bridge in nearby Claquato.
Flood events in the 20th century
The 20th century recorded over two dozen notable flooding events in and around the Chehalis community. An episode of rising waters in 1906 on the Cowlitz River would affect the area and a larger event of excess rise to the Chehalis and Newaukum rivers in November 1909 would inundate the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds and cause significant economic losses to lumber milling in the city. A few months later in 1910, another flood event caused minimal damage.
In December 1915, the city was hit by a flood from a storm reported as the "Worst in City’s History". The Chehalis and Skookumchuck rivers overflowed and additional rain a few days later caused the banks of the Cowlitz River to be overwhelmed. Damages were reported as limited, but several roads and bridges were washed out and sawmills shut down their operations. Four years later, in January 1919, a deluge was declared as, "Present Flood Probably Worst in City’s History". The three major rivers in the area overflowed and landslides would disconnect travel and communities in the area. The flood was reported to have broken the record for highest depth. A smaller inundation would be recorded in December 1921 that would come within two feet of the record.
Chehalis was submerged in a month-long rain event, totaling over 22 inches, in December 1933. The heavy rains affected most of Western Washington including roads between Portland and Tacoma. Passage between the Twin Cities was closed, and railroad traffic and postal services were disrupted in Chehalis. The city's Alexander Park would be submerged. Flood records were broken and damages were estimated to be as high as $50,000 in the county. Heavy rainfall events in 1936 and 1937 led to additional, moderate flooding, and a 1939 flood submerged the Chehalis–Centralia Airport. A Cowlitz River overflow in 1946 would affect the city.
The Chehalis and Newaukum crested in 1948 after heavy rainfall and would lead to the closure of the airport. The 1948 weather pattern that led to the flood was a widespread disaster for the state. A 1949 rainfall event affected the city as the Cowlitz overflowed. Heavy rains in 1951 and 1953 led to moderate, local flooding. A December 1955 inundation occurred due to a quick rise in the water of the Chehalis River. A wind event, described as a "twister", would hit the area days after. A minor flood would be reported in 1959.
As part of the Christmas flood of 1964, a severe storm in January 1965 led to widespread floods. The event, described by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as one of the 20th century's worst flood disasters, was ushered in by a weather pattern that dropped 6 inches of rain during the course of a week in the city. Local roads were submerged after the major tributaries crested. The cresting of the Chehalis and Skookumchuck in December 1970 and January 1971 produced moderate floods, with the 1971 incident asserted the worst since 1937.
A major flood occurred in January 1972, becoming the first flood to submerge the new highway, Interstate 5. Almost 5 inches of rain fell over several days leading the Chehalis River to set a flood stage record. While no deaths were reported, schools were closed, dozens of people were evacuated from the city, and the local Yardbirds Shopping Center was under two feet of water. The fairgrounds suffered damages estimated at $250,000 after a levee built in 1952 failed. A cresting of the Chehalis River, twice in January 1974, caused $10 million in losses after a period of heavy rain. Another heavy rain event led to the quick overflow of rivers in the area in 1975. The fairgrounds were spared from major losses due to new pumps that were installed after the 1972 flood, but heavy damages occurred at the Stan Hedwall and Alexander parks after they were submerged. Roads in Chehalis were closed and evacuations required for areas of the city. A smaller flood in 1977 would lead to a closure of a main artery between Chehalis and Centralia.
A major flood disaster developed in November 1986. Caused by 8 inches of rainfall over several days, the city saw damages to two schools and a total of 10 feet of water at the fairgrounds after a levee was breeched. The flood led to a contamination cleanup at a closed industrial site near Millett Field and the surrounding neighborhood. The remediation would not be completed until 1996. The highway would be covered with floodwaters again during a major flood disaster in January 1990. Severe damage was recorded at the fairgrounds and the airport after heavy rains led to the overflow of at-capacity reservoirs in the city. A following flood due to a Western Washington weather event in November of that year led to lowland flooding in the community. A similar flood occurred in April 1991.
100-year flood of 1996
A 100-year flood, part of a widespread flooding event in the Pacific Northwest, with the Chehalis River carrying 49,000 cubic feet of water per second, transpired in February 1996. Setting crest and flood stage records, the Chehalis and Skookumchuck rivers overflowed after 4 inches of rain in one day. The level of water inundation would surpass that as listed on 100-year floodplain maps. A state of emergency was immediately declared and I-5 was closed after it was covered in 6 feet of floodwater. Other roads in the area were closed as well, and there were multiple school and business closures. The flood event led to city ordinances directing that existing homes in the Chehalis floodplain be raised 12 inches. Several hundred homes would report significant damages.
Flood events in the 21st century
In the 21st century, several floods of various levels of classification have inundated Chehalis. Minor flooding was reported in 2001 and 2003, leading to road closures.
A record flood in December 2007 closed I-5 in the city for several days as the highway was covered in several feet of water. The Chehalis River would set a flood stage record of 74.78 feet. Numerous areas in the city were impassable and the local shopping district, which included national restaurant chains and businesses, was submerged. The event was due in part to the Great Coastal Gale of 2007, with questions regarding the severity of the disaster connected to global warming and a combination of poor floodplain development and logging practices. The total cost of damages was estimated by a state commission to be $930 million.
Another major flood, based on heavy rain and a warm weather event that led to sudden snowmelt, materialized over a year later in January 2009. Several regions within Chehalis were immersed and the interstate and railroads were shut down once again. Less severe floods transpired during record daily rainfalls in December 2010 and November 2012. Heavy rain led to a moderate flood event in December 2015 that submerged several homes and businesses in the area.
A stretch of I-5 between Chehalis and Centralia was closed for several hours after a major flood event in January 2022. The closure was a measure of precaution - though the highway was never flooded, several exits and on-ramps were partially submerged. The flood was based on excessive snowmelt and heavy rainfall, leading to a retroactive emergency proclamation from the state governor. The Newaukum River broke its crest record set in 1996 and floodwaters reached as far into the city as the Lewis County Courthouse. Five miles of railroad track used by the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and Museum were washed out. The severity of the flood led to the Red Cross opening a shelter at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds and the deployment of the Washington National Guard to help with sandbag operations. Several weeks after the 2022 flood, over 100 structures of various homes and businesses within the Chehalis River Basin had reported damage, with an estimated financial loss of over $2 million.
History of flood mitigation
During World War II, the United States Department of War and the United States Army Corps of Engineers built levees around the Chehalis–Centralia Airport and in 1942 installed a levee pump. During severe flooding from the Great Coastal Gale of 2007, the pump failed, forcing an intentional break of the levee which led to increased damages to the surrounding community. An electric two-pump station was completed in 2018 with funding provided by the Chehalis River Basin Authority at a cost of $1.14 million. The pumps, able to siphon as much as 12,000 gallons per minute, worked flawlessly during the January 2022 flood event.
Chehalis Basin Strategy
A Chehalis Basin Strategy partnership was formed in 2014 to mitigate flooding and to restore aquatic habitat, particularly for local Chinook salmon. The alliance is a conglomerate of regional governments in and around Lewis County, in association with Native American tribes, environmental groups, scientists, and local citizens The group offered proposals that outlined several flood control reduction measures, with downstream levee improvements particularly at the Centralia-Chehalis Airport, and a flood retention dam in Pe Ell which is planned to limit catastrophic damage from 100-year floods within the Chehalis River Basin.
The projects are to be carried out in three phases. The first phase began in 2012 and declared achieved in the early 2020s with a combined 140 flood and habitat projects completed at a cost of $152 million. The second stage was implemented soon thereafter and is focused on long-term solutions and strategy for flood control and financial backing of future tasks. The final phase is planned to begin in the mid-2020s and will target construction, additional financing, and devising long-term structural government oversight.
References
Chehalis, Washington
Natural disasters in Washington (state)
Environmental issues in Washington (state)
Water in Washington (state)
Floods in the United States |
74513013 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20China%20floods | 2023 China floods | Several floods struck China starting in July 2023, most of them caused by heavy rainfalls in different areas. The most notable floods were the 2023 Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Heavy rain and Northeast china heavy rain, which left at least 81 dead and 34 missing.
Abnormal Rainfall
Sichuan Province
As of July 4, 461,000 people were affected in 69 counties (cities and districts) of 16 cities (states) in Sichuan, including Chengdu, Deyang, Mianyang and Guangyuan. Heavy to heavy rainfall occurred in most areas of Chongqing, and many rivers in Jiangjin, Qijiang, Fengjie, Wanzhou and other places experienced over-alarm and over-guaranteed flooding.From 8:00 p.m. on July 3 to 8:00 p.m. on July 4, 24 districts and counties in Chongqing experienced torrential rain, and extraordinarily heavy rainfall occurred in Wanzhou District, with the maximum daily rainfall occurring in Baiyan Village of Changtan Township of Wanzhou, amounting to 251.5 millimeters.
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Heavy rain
Weather warning
Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in Jinjiang, Fujian, on July 28, then rapidly weakened once inland and dissipated shortly thereafter. Later that afternoon, National Meteorological Center of CMA issued a red alert—the highest level warning for heavy rainfall—this was only the second time a red rainfall warning had been issued—since the warning system was formally implemented in 2010. The first time was on September 29, 2011. The Hebei Provincial Meteorological Bureau upgraded its warning to a red alert for torrential rains.
Some parts of Baoding, Xiong'an New Area, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, and Handan were expected to see especially torrential rains (250-450mm), with local accumulations potentially reaching more than . The average rainfall in Beijing was ; the largest rainfall occurred in Xincun in Shidu, Fangshan District, ; The maximum hourly rain intensity occurred in Qianling Mountain, Fengtai District, at on July 31.
Impact
At least 5,000 people were urgently transferred from the mountainous area of Mentougou District. The Beijing Flood Control Headquarters activated the city's flood control red early warning on July 30. Tiananmen Square, the Palace Museum, the Summer Palace, and the Badaling Great Wall were temporarily closed. The China Central Television reported that 31,000 individuals fled their homes in high-risk regions in Beijing. Mentougou District flooded the Yongding River due to heavy rain, and the surrounding main roads were temporarily controlled.
Heavy rainfall caused at least 9 deaths and 6 missing in the province, and more than 540,000 people were affected. Seven flood storage and detention areas were successively used to transfer 840,000 people. Among them, Baoding recorded , and Dingzhou City recorded of rainfall.
In early August, flood control systems were used to redirect 1.8 billion cubic meters of water from Beijing and Tianjin to low-lying areas of Hebei Province. More than 850,000 residents were told to evacuate, including 134,000 in Zhuozhou and 113,000 in Gaobeidian. While inspecting relief efforts local Communist Party secretary Ni Yuefeng commented that Hebei should "serve as the capital's moat", prompting criticism online.
Response
Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and the President of China, urged local officials to make every effort to find individuals who are missing or trapped. The Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party allocated 44 million yuan of special funds. Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for all-out efforts during rescue and relief operations and stressed that ensuring people's lives and safety is a top priority.
The Ministry of Finance also allocated RMB 842 million in agricultural disaster prevention and mitigation and water conservancy disaster relief on July 31. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced $60 million in flood relief money to help the region's farm sector.
Northeast China flood
Jilin
Torrential rains and the flooding they caused in Jilin province have killed at least 14 people including senior municipal officials. Most of the fatalities were reported in the small city of Shulan.
Heilongjiang
Flooding is still occurring in the Songhua River basin, causing 85 rivers to exceed emergency levels. In Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang, more than 162,000 people were evacuated, while over 90,000 hectares of crops were damaged by floodwater. In the city of Shangzhi, more than 42,575 hectares of crops were destroyed by the worst rainstorm the city has faced in more than six decades, Xinhua reported.
Controversies
ZhuoZhou the floods were unannounced
Residents in many areas said that the reason for the seriousness of the damage in their areas was that the government did not issue a notice asking residents to evacuate prior to the release of the Beijing Reservoir, and that hundreds of residents in various areas were stranded due to flooding and faced water and power cuts.
See also
List of floods
1975 Banqiao Dam failure
July 2012 Beijing flood
2021 Henan floods
2021 China floods
References
External links
2023 disasters in China
July 2023 events in China
August 2023 events in Asia
2023 floods in Asia
Floods in China
2023 in Beijing
History of Hebei |
74516596 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%20China%20floods | 2012 China floods | The 2012 China floods were a series of floods late spring of 2012 and continued during the summer. They have caused high human and economic losses.
Since early May 2012, China was affected by torrential rains. In Gansu, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces, they resulted in rivers breaking their banks and multiple landslides. By June 10, 2012, 5.89 million people have been affected and the estimate of the direct economic loss was CNY¥ 15.03 billion (around US$2.38 billion).
In July, the areas of southwestern China, including Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and northeastern China including Beijing, Hubei and Liaoning were worst-affected.
The July 2012 Beijing flood was the result of the rainfall heaviest in 60 years. The Beijing disaster prompted China to invest billions of dollars in protection against rainfalls, and Xi Jinping called for building "cities like sponges."
See also
2012 Pacific typhoon season
References
2012
2012 disasters in China
2012 floods in Asia |
74522238 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Slovenia%20floods | 2023 Slovenia floods | In August 2023, major floods occurred in large part of Slovenia and neighbouring areas of Austria and Croatia due to heavy rain. Amongst others, the level of rivers Sava, Mur and Drava was exceptionally high. Several settlements and transport links in Slovene Littoral, Upper Carniola and Slovenian Carinthia were flooded. Due to the amount of rain, the streams in Idrija, Cerkno and Škofja Loka Hills overflowed. Due to the event, the National Flood Protection and Rescue Plan was activated. Slovenia had already experienced heavier rains in the second half of July. This extra water in the system meant that floods and major river overflows were caused by downpours that crossed Slovenia on the night of 3–4 August. The first rivers flooded in Upper Carniola and Posočje. These floods began on 3rd August at around 20.00h. The Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) also warned that there was a possibility of sea flooding. The floods were similar to those that occurred in 1990, 1998 and 2004.
According to ARSO, the worst flooding was in the foothills of the Julian Alps, from Idrija through the Ljubljana basin to Slovenian Carinthia, where fell, on Loibl fell in 48 hours. A red hydrological warning was also applied to rivers. ARSO issued a red warning for north-eastern, north-western and central Slovenia due to prolonged downpours, which was put into effect at midnight on 4 August.
Victims
At least seven people were killed during the floods. Two elderly Slovenes drowned in flooded rivers, and two Dutch men, aged 52 and 20, who had hiked to Mount Veliki Draški vrh, were also killed. The police stated that they had probably been struck by lightning. A man was found in a river in the eastern part of Slovenia, and a person helping fell into a cesspool. In Klagenfurt a man fell into the Glan.
Overview
According to data from the Administration for Protection and Rescue, 168 fire brigades took part in 1039 interventions within 12 hours. In so doing, they pumped water from flooded buildings, covered triggered avalanches, and removed debris and vehicles that had been swept away. In Kamnik, Komenda, the municipalities of Maribor, Ptuj, Kranj, Celje and Ljubljana, and in the municipalities of Duplek, Starše and Slovenj Gradec, sirens sounded to warn against danger from flooding and landslides. Full-scale interventions were announced in several municipalities, particularly in the municipalities of Kamnik and Komenda.
Gradaščica and Sora were flooded, and a flood wave was also expected to occur in Savinja, Pšata and Kamniška Bistrica. In the settlement of Bistričica, an elderly person was allegedly carried away by torrential flooding, but the exact cause of death is not yet known. The General Police Directorate is said to have received several reports of fatalities.
Due to flooded roads and several landslides on the surrounding roads towards Idrija and Škofja Loka, Žiri was cut off. Both the Sora and Račeva rivers flooded in Žiri, and more than 100 buildings were damaged. Two residential buildings were evacuated in Baška grapa. The evacuation took place in Sorška gaj in the Lipnica valley. Displaced residents were moved to the Medvode Sports Hall; evacuations were also carried out. All transit connections to the Kanomlja valley have been cut off, and rescue service interventions in the wider Idrija area were complicated by impassable roads.
In Tolmin, Cerkno and Idrija, waterways flooded several houses. Residential and other buildings were also flooded in the municipalities of Vodice and Škofja Loka. Moste and Rečica ob Savinji were completely flooded. Luče, Mežica, Dravograd, Laško, Mozirje, Gornji Grad, Škofja Loka, Šoštanj, Florjan, Topolšica, Celje, Begunje na Gorenjskem and Poljče were also flooded. The worst flooding was in the Poljanska and Selška valleys. According to Klemno Šmid, the commander of the Gorenjska civil defense, "Gorenjska is completely under water". In Ljubljana, the Sava and Gradaščica rivers flooded in its upper reaches. In the Polhov Gradec Hills, settlements were mainly threatened by landslides. In Ljubno ob Savinji, the rising river washed away three houses, people were evacuated to the local elementary school. An evacuation was ordered in the center of Celje.
As a result of the floods, the Gorenjska highway and the Styrian highway were closed on two sections on 4th August, at 4:00 p.m. Due to this, traffic is also allowed on the highways for vehicles without a vignette. The Kranj–Jesenice, Ruše–Pilberk railway connections, the Bohinj railway tunnel and the Velenje line are also closed. Due to flooded roads and railways, public transport is difficult. Several roads, both regional and local, were also closed, mainly due to collapse of the carriageway, landslides, deposits of sand and mud or high water on the roadway. A bridge was washed away on Otliške Vrh and the Slovenian Army is studying the possibilities of erecting a pontoon bridge. Most of the roads in Zgornje Savinjsko were also closed.
The Ministry of Defense activated the Vihra plan, which includes the assistance of the Slovenian Army in the intervention. Helicopters were dispatched to several flooded areas. The army also dispatched armored vehicles. The European Union has expressed readiness for the possible activation of the mechanism for civil assistance.
Around people lost electricity in the flooded areas. Boil water orders and notifications were issued as a precautionary measure. Due to the floods in Begunje in Gorenjska, operations were disrupted, and the hospital administration began to search for suitable places to relocate patients.
Amazing solidarity was shown by the people of Slovenia as on the first day of the floods certain groups and organizations have self-organized gathering and distributions of aid (food, water, personal hygiene products, ...) for the victims of floods. Beside professional humanitarian agencies like International Red Cross (IRC) and Slovenska Karitas there was IPO Slovenija which was one of the first to start and at the end in 30 days managed to gather and distribute record-breaking 415 tons of aid to the victims of floods.
Flooding in neighboring areas
Austrian Carinthia, Styria
Floods and landslides occurred in southern Austria. In the morning of 4 August 2023 about 4000 households were without electricity according to utility company Energie Steiermark. In Carinthia roads to multiple villages were disrupted, particularly in the Völkermarkt district. In Sankt Paul im Lavanttal, 70 households have been evacuated as a precaution for fear of flooding.
Water was being pumped out of a dam in the Viktring district of Klagenfurt, Carinthia, after concerns are raised over its stability and could break.
Croatia
The flood crest created by the rainfall in Austria and Slovenia entered Continental Croatia in the night of 5–6 August, causing localised flooding and breaking records at several gauges. The villages of Drenje Brdovečko and Autoput were among the flooded areas.
In the Drnje municipality near the confluence of Mura and Drava, a century-old high-water record was broken by more than half a metre (2 ft). Mura reached a level of at 5 am local time. Croatian Armed Forces deployed 150 soldiers to assist with flood defences. Upriver of Mura's confluence, Drava's flood wave was flattened through a system of dams and reservoirs, but this was not possible on Mura.
In the morning of 7 August, Drava unexpectedly broke a channel near the Mura confluence. Water flowed through a railway embankment and flooded a large area with a wave, including Lake Šoderica in Legrad municipality. The lake was scoured and the weekend houses around it inundated. In the Drnje municipality near Koprivnica, the settlement of Hlebine was in danger, and the Roma village of Autoput was flooded. The Botovo gauge, downriver of Šoderica, reached late in the afternoon of 7 August. The village of Drnje and Torčec were successfully defended. Torčec was under threat of the Gliboki stream, which was fed by Drava waters through Lake Šoderica. On 9 August, Drava's flood crest was in Virovitica-Podravina County, and agricultural areas and weekend houses were flooded in three villages.
River Sava also caused damages. Part of the village of Drenje Brdovečko near Zaprešić, northwest of Zagreb, was flooded on early 5 August. Some areas near Zaprešić, including Brdovec, lack embankments and had to be defended by sandbags. One of the bridges over Sava was flooded and closed to traffic. Sava crested in Zagreb on the same day. The Sava–Odra–Sava diversion canal near Jankomir was opened in order to protect Zagreb. Four people had to be rescued from the canal bed, which is otherwise commonly used for recreational purposes. In the city, part of the parkland between Lake Jarun and Sava was flooded by groundwaters. The Sava course downriver of Zagreb, after Rugvica, is vulnerable due to the almost flat terrain, and was defended by sandbags and flooding retention areas such as Lonjsko Polje. The Rugvica gauge exceeded .
As of 9 August, the flood crest still has to reach eastern Slavonia.
Meteorology
Using high resolution data from ECWMS Reanalysis v5 a study from the University of Bologna found hints to a secondary peak in cyclogenesis during the summer, additionally to spring. There is a cyclone track via the Ligurian sea, northern Italy and the northern Adriatic Sea.
The storm was named Petar, and moved from the Mediterranean via Italy, Slovenia, Austria, northwards to Germany, Poland and the baltic sea.
See also
Weather of 2023
References
17. "4th victim found in river Sava". www.rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 5. August 2023 at 14.21h.
Floods in Slovenia
Slovenia
Floods
Slovenia floods
Natural disasters in Austria
August 2023 events in Austria
Weather events in Croatia
August 2023 events in Croatia |
74522326 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%202023%20mid-south%20U.S.%20floods | August 2023 mid-south U.S. floods | In a three-day period from August 2–4, 2023, significant flooding occurred across northwestern Tennessee, southwestern Kentucky, and southeastern Missouri in the United States. Two flash flood emergencies were issued, and water rescues and evacuations were prompted, including rescues at a mobile home park in Union City, Tennessee. Downtown Hickman, Kentucky, was impacted by a mudslide which led to a road closure for a road leading to the town.
Meteorological history
In the early morning hours of August 2, convection developed across northern Missouri in an increased low-level convergence zone, precipitable water values around 2 inches, and a moist, moderately unstable airmass with most-unstable convective available potential energy (CAPE) around 2000 j/kg. The strengthening low-level convergence zone paralleled a west-northwesterly flow aloft, allowing training convection to occur. The convection then merged into a mesoscale convective system several hours later with the convection spreading from southwestern Iowa to southeastern Missouri with abundant moisture and convective instability, along with a strong low-level convergence zone, sustaining the convection, causing heavy rainfall across portions of eastern Missouri and southern Iowa. Shortly thereafter, the mesoscale convective system then expanded into eastern Nebraska, caused by a low level jet, as additional convection developed with a thermodynamic advection occurring. The low level jet then moved to the east and weakened, which caused the convection to dissipate.
Thereafter, on the evening hours, a frontal boundary over central Kansas, along with a humid and moist airmass and instability in southern Missouri, allowed convection to develop and produce heavy rainfall across central Missouri, and west of the Greater St. Louis area as a high risk of excessive rainfall was issued. Training showers and thunderstorms developed across portions of southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois along an elevated convergence axis zone as it moved southeastward towards southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky.
On August 3, mesoscale convective vortex was present along the training convection which caused flash flooding across southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and northwestern Tennessee as the mesovortex moved southeastward. Areas along a isentropic lift above a surface front received heavy rainfall across western Kentucky, southern Illinois, and southeastern Missouri, and high precipitable water values between 2-2.4 inches and convective instability between 1000-2000 j/kg also supported heavy rainfall. Late in the morning, a second mesoscale convective system moved through areas that had already received flash flooding, causing additional heavy rainfall as the MCS weakened and moved southeastward. Additional factors, including a convergence boundary, precipitable water values around 1.8 inches, and moisture/convective instability all contributed to rainfall rates around per hour and causing flash flooding.
In the early morning hours of August 4, additional showers and thunderstorms developed in a corridor extending from central Missouri to northern Alabama due to an increased convective instability, a surface stationary front located over Memphis, Tennessee, and a deep-layer mean flow which resulted in repeating rounds of thunderstorms that moved southeastward over the same areas which had already received heavy rainfall. The convective activity led to flash flooding across Union City, Tennessee, and soon moved into portions of northern Alabama, causing flooding across roadways in the state and in Oneonta, Alabama.
Impact
Water rescues and evacuations occurred at a mobile home park in Union City, Tennessee, where more than two dozen people were rescued, including by boat. Union City was also flooded. Search-and-rescue operations were conducted in Obion County, Tennessee. Businesses, including a Lowe's store, were flooded in southwest portions of Union City. Flooding forced Obion County Schools to cancel classes on August 4. The National Weather Service in Memphis, Tennessee called the flooding in Union City and surrounding areas "catastrophic". A portion of Interstate 40 was closed. of rain fell in Union City, which prompted a flash flood emergency. Firefighters in Rives pumped out floodwaters, and utilized drones to display the flooding situation. Roads in Dyer, Jackson, and Trenton were flooded, and Jackson, Madison, and Gibson counties in Tennessee had roads were flooded as well. Flooding also occurred in Weakley, Crockett, and Greene counties in Tennessee. Memphis was also under a flood advisory.
Flash flood emergencies were issued for Union City, and Hickman, Kentucky. Mudslides also occurred in downtown Hickman, sliding onto roads, which led to closures, including a closure on Kentucky Route 94, a road which led to downtown Hickman. Several evacuations occurred in Fulton County, Kentucky.
Portions of Missouri received heavy rainfall, including Columbia, Missouri, receiving on August 3, breaking a 113-year record. Portions of Sikeston and Chaffee flooded, with the latter location including nearby a high school. Roads were flooded across numerous counties in Missouri. The Missouri River 340 ended as a result of heavy rain, which caused the river's water level to rise, posing a hazard. Hundreds of power outages occurred across the state. Water rescues and flooded roads also occurred in Kirksville, inundating vehicles and stranding drivers. Gerald received nearly in 30 minutes according to the Gerald-Rosebud Fire Protection District, flooding basements and cars and prompting a water rescue. U.S. Route 50 was flooded.
In Alabama, roads, including U.S. Route 231 and Alabama State Route 75, in Oneonta were flooded, forcing emergency management to rescue several people from their cars. Floodwaters also entered businesses in Oneonta.
Aftermath
The Obion County Emergency Management Agency will partner with an agency in Kentucky to provide temporary housing for flood victims. Shelters were opened in Union City, Tennessee as well. The Tennessee Highway Patrol assisted with the Obion County Sheriff and Union City law enforcement. Flood recovery efforts also started in Sikeston, Missouri. The Salvation Army responded to the floods, assisting flood victims.
References
Natural disasters in Kentucky
2023 meteorology
Natural disasters in Tennessee
Natural disasters in Missouri
2023 floods in the United States |
74591121 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Himalayan%20floods | 2023 Himalayan floods | Floods and landslides on August 14 in the Indian Himalayan Region killed at least 72 people. Losses were estimated at $1.2 billion, and several hundred roads were closed. Portions of Himachal Pradesh received rainfall amounts of more than .
Preparations
India's weather department stated that moderste to heavy rainfall was expected across the Himalayan Region on August 14, and issued a red alert for heavy rainfall for Uttarakhand.
Impact
Heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, where 19 people were killed in Mandi district. Fourteen people were killed in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, after two landslides and a cloudburst. In Solan, roads were flooded and homes were washed away, killing seven people, and at least 700 flooded roads were closed in Himachal Pradesh district. All schools and colleges were closed following the floods. In Uttarakhand state, two people were killed. At least twenty people are still missing. In total, 72 people were killed due to the floods.
Portions of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand received up to in 24 hours.
Aftermath
Rescue teams, including personnel from the Indian Air Force, were dispatched to flooded areas. 2,000 people were rescued, and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, chief minister of Himachael Pradesh, estimated the losses at $1.2 billion.
References
Floods in India
2023 floods in Asia
2023 disasters in India
Disasters in Uttarakhand
Disasters in Himachal Pradesh |
74595083 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%20Midwestern%20U.S.%20floods | 2013 Midwestern U.S. floods | In April 2013, persistent heavy rains caused widespread flooding, primarily impacting the Midwestern and Great Lakes regions. In a span of two days on April 17 and 18, heavy rainfall associated with a slow-moving storm system caused widespread flooding across rivers and areas, where rainfall amounts over caused rivers to swell and crest, including the Mississippi River and the Red River, with the latter river dealing with melting ice caps. The Grand River crested to a record level, prompting water rescues and evacuations in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A local state of emergency was declared for the city of Des Plaines, Illinois after the Des Plaines river swelled to . The governors of Illinois and Missouri declared state of emergencies, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared a federal emergency and a disaster declaration for 46 counties in Illinois. Five fatalities occurred: two each in Illinois and Indiana, with a fifth in Missouri. Three others were injured, all in Illinois.
Meteorological synopsis
An upper-level trough which was situated over the Great Lakes and Midwest regions moved into the Northeastern United States before being replaced by a strong ridge of high pressure over the Southeastern United States. This resulted in moisture being transported to the Great Lakes and Midwest regions, and upper-air weather soundings conducted by the National Weather Service Lincoln, Illinois, showed precipitable water values around 1.50 inches.
On April 17, a cold front approached the Midwest, pushing eastward towards the transported mass of moisture. However, the frontal boundary became parallel to a southwesterly upper flow and stalled over the Mississippi River. Trained thunderstorms along a quasi-stationary boundary front produced heavy rainfall across the Midwest before the storms headed eastward. The day after, an outflow boundary associated with the cold front caused additional thunderstorm development across the same areas that were saturated the day before. This resulted in flooding across east-central Illinois and western Indiana before an upper-level trough pushed the cold front eastward.
Preparations
Volunteers and construction workers built emergency sand dikes and earthened levees in the Fargo, North Dakota–Moorhead, Minnesota, area. More than 400,000 sandbags were set up in the Moorhead area. Residents in Fargo, North Dakota began filling more than 750,000 sandbags to aid in protection from the floods. Prior to the flood event, a severe drought occurred across areas near the Red River.
In Missouri, areas along the Mississippi River placed sandbag levees and makeshift barriers. Prison inmates were driven to Clarksville to assist in building a floodwall of gravel and sand. The Missouri National Guard assisted with sandbag preparation efforts near Dutchtown.
In Solon, Iowa, sandbags were set up, and three pumps were delivered by the Department of Public Works. In Naperville, Illinois, North Central College cancelled classes and was closed on August 18. In Chicago, Major League Baseball decided to postpone a Cubs game against the Texas Rangers. Near Vincennes, Indiana, floodgates were installed to prevent the nearby Wabash River from overflowing, and added sandbags along portions of the river.
Impact
Illinois
In Des Plaines, at least 800 homes and businesses were impacted, and 60 water rescues occurred. Residences were evacuated around Big Bend Lake in Des Plaines, and the Des Plaines River swelled , breaking the 1986 crest level record by 0.02 inches, and prompting a local state of emergency for Des Plaines.
In Chicago, of rain fell, which would add to the city's rainfall total to –which was recorded as the wettest April on record in Chicago. Portions of the Kennedy, Edens, and Eisenhower expressways were shut down, and a flash flood warning was issued for the city of Chicago. A portion of Interstate 74 shut down in Peoria and Tazewell counties. Chicago emergency management received more than 1,500 calls of flooding.
In Clarendon Hills, homes and yards sustained "devastating" damage, while in downtown Naperville, streets were flooded and schools were cancelled the next day on April 19 because of flooding concerns. A branch of the DuPage River spilled over a levee protecting the river flooding, and a hospital in Morris evacuated 44 patients after floodwaters entered the basement of the hospital. In Utica, a mobile home park was evacuated, while in Marshall County water rescues occurred. A levee breached in Lincolnshire, prompting 49 homes to be evacuated, and in Marseilles, 1,500 people were evacuated after a compromised levee flooded homes and infastructure. Several homes were also evacuated in London Mills as numerous homes were inundated by floodwaters. The parking lot at Scott Air Force Base was flooded. In Peoria, the city broke their 24-hour rainfall record, while Galesburg set a daily rainfall record on April 18, with . The Illinois River near Peoria crested to , which broke a crest record set 70 years prior, and 20 to 30 homes and businesses near the river were evacuated.
Two deaths occurred, one in Oak Brook and the other in Cora. Two injuries occurred when two homes collapsed into a basement in Peoria. One person in Chicago was hospitalized after their vehicle, along with two parked cars, was swallowed into a sinkhole. 550 flights were cancelled at O'Hare International Airport, while an additional 30 were cancelled at Midway International Airport. Floods damaged thousands of homes and structures across the state, and damages totaled in excess of $265 million.
Michigan
The Grand River crested to a record 21.85 feet, breaking a 1985 river crest record, forcing evacuations and flooding downtown Grand Rapids. of rainfall fell in Grand Rapids on April 18, breaking the previous rainfall record set in 1909. Sandbags were set up in downtown Grand Rapids along the Grand River, and 1,000 people were evaucated from the Plaza Towers. The Grand Rapids Public Museum was shut down after floodwaters surrounded the museum, despite sandbags that were set up around the building. The Grand River also flooded areas of Lowell and Ada Township and prompted evacuations in Wyoming for 25 homes. Buck Creek was flooded, leading to evacuations across Grandville, and minor flooding occurred along the Saginaw River. Parts of Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge was flooded, and water topped the dike at Misteguay Creek in Saginaw County. Homes and businesses along the Tittabawassee River were flooded. Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell declared a local state of emergency after low-lying areas in the city were inundated, forcing people to evacuate.
Indiana
Roads were flooded in downtown Indianapolis, and schools were closed in Zionsville and Lebanon. Two car crashes occurred on Interstate 465 and Interstate 65 after rain caused vehicles to hydroplane. A water rescue occurred in Brownsburg, and vehicles were inundated and stranded in Carmel and Westfield. The thunderstorms accompanying the heavy rain caused a lightning strike which damaged a US Airways plane on the runway at Indianapolis International Airport, according to airport officials, and another lightning strike damaged three homes in Hamilton County. Numerous creeks and rivers, including the Wabash River, crested above major flood levels. Flooding forced sandbags to be placed along the Little Calumet River and cancelled a flood-fighting drill in Gary. Two fatalities occurred when they were swept away by floodwaters along a crested Cicero Creek.
Missouri
In Ava, children and a bus driver were rescued after their school bus was surrounded by floodwaters. De Soto was flooded, resulting in nearly 5,000 power outages across the city. Near St. Louis, 114 barges were loosened, with some hitting Jefferson Barracks Bridge, forcing the bridge to close. Nearly 300 state roads were closed according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Six levees north of St. Louis along the Mississippi River were overtopped. A woman was killed after she was swept away by a swelled Joachim Creek.
North Dakota
The Red River overflowed due to leftover melting snow caused by the heavy rainfall, which posed a flood threat to Fargo. However, temporary levees prevented significant flood damage. Fargo mayor Dennis Walaker recalled after the flood event, "Four floods in the last five years. That's extremely unusual."
Aftermath
Illinois governor Pat Quinn, Missouri governor Jay Nixon, and Michigan governor Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency, with Snyder extending the emergency until May 25. The Missouri National Guard was dispatched to the Mississippi River in Clarksville and Dutchtown, and Nixon activated the Missouri State Emergency Operations Plan, providing emergency service via state agencies to coordinate with jurisdictions. Illinois governor Quinn designated 44 counties in Illinois as disaster areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declared a federal emergency and a disaster declaration for 46 counties in Illinois. On December 18, 2014, two law enforcement officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol were honored by the Missouri Department of Public Safety after rescuing two people from flooding.
References
Floods in the United States
2013 floods
2013 floods in the United States
2013 natural disasters
Natural disasters in Illinois
Natural disasters in Indiana
Natural disasters in Michigan
Natural disasters in Missouri
Natural disasters in North Dakota
2013 meteorology
April 2013 events in the United States |
74626261 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August%202014%20United%20States%20floods | August 2014 United States floods | In a three-day period on August 11–13, 2014, flooding occurred across Michigan, New York, particularly Long Island, and portions of Maryland. Numerous water rescues and evacuations occurred across expressways and residential areas, and caused three fatalities and one injury. Additionally, several rainfall records were broken across the three primarily affected states, and a flash flood emergency was issued for portions of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area.
Meteorological synopsis
A slow-moving low-pressure area moved across the eastern United States, bringing flooding to southeastern Michigan which caused two deaths. The upper-level trough then pulled moisture plume from the Atlantic Ocean. The trough, combined with the moisture plume, then stalled over northern portions of the Mid-Atlantic, bringing high rainfall rates.
Impact and aftermath
Michigan
Daily rainfall records were broken in Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw, with Detroit recording its second-heaviest rainfall event on August 11, where of rain fell at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Vehicles were submerged on portions of Interstate 696 and Interstate 75. In suburban portions of Detroit, peak rainfall amounts of were recorded. The American Automobile Association received over 700 calls for assistance in 12 hours, and heavy rainfall caused river levels to rise. At Baker College near Allen Park, floods stranded 60 students and forced a portion of Interstate 94 to close. Detroit Zoo closed as a result of flood damage there. 32,000 power outages occurred during the flood event, and flood damage totaled $1.8 billion.
New York
On the Southern State Parkway, 47 vehicles were inundated by floodwaters, trapping 52 people. The Southern State Parkway and Long Island Expressway were closed, and the Long Island Rail Road experienced significant delays. Flights were delayed at Macarthur Airport. fell in Islip, setting a new 24-hour rainfall record for New York. Portions of Interstate 495, New York State Route 27 and New York State Route 135 closed. A baseball game at Yankee Stadium between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles was postponed. One fatality and one injury occurred after a weather-related crash on the Long Island Expressway. A state of emergency was declared for Suffolk County, and for the town of Brookhaven, and Islip mayor Thomas Croci signed a state of emergency declaration. Flood damage in the state totaled $35.2 million.
Maryland
In Maryland, flash flood emergencies were issued in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, with the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and parts of the Baltimore Beltway closed due to flooding. Portions of Interstate 295 closed between the Baltimore Beltway and Westport, Maryland. Baltimore/Washington International Airport received of rain, which, in the Baltimore, Maryland area, was the second-wettest day on record.
Elsewhere
In Millville, New Jersey, basements were flooded and some collapsed. Near Branford, Connecticut, vehicles were submerged by floodwaters on Interstate 95. Significant flooding also occurred in Portland, Maine, where of rain fell, becoming the wettest day in the city not related to a tropical cyclone.
References
2014 floods
Natural disasters in Michigan
Natural disasters in New York (state)
Natural disasters in Maryland
2014 meteorology
2014 in New York (state)
2014 in Michigan
2014 in Maryland
August 2014 events in the United States |
74632930 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floods%20in%20Lucknow | Floods in Lucknow | Lucknow is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located on the banks of the Gomti River, which is a tributary of the Ganges River. Lucknow has a history of being affected by floods due to heavy rainfall, river overflow, and breaches in the embankments. Below is a list of some of the major floods that have occurred in Lucknow:
1923 flood: In 1923, Lucknow experienced a disastrous flood with an estimated discharge of 75,000 cusecs. As a result, many low-lying areas were badly affected. This was one of the earliest recorded floods in the city's history. It was caused by heavy rainfall in the monsoon season, which made the Gomti River overflow its banks and inundate many parts of the city. The flood affected the old city, the civil lines, and the cantonment areas. It damaged property, crops, and infrastructure, and forced many people to take shelter in higher places. The flood also disrupted the communication and transportation systems, and posed a threat to public health and safety.
1960 flood: The 1960 Lucknow flood was a natural disaster that occurred in the city of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India, in October 1960. It was caused by the overflow of the Gomti River, a tributary of the Ganges River, after heavy rainfall in the Himalayan region. After the 1923 flood, the Buttergani area was protected by the construction of a marginal embankment. However, in 1960, this area was badly flooded as water spilled through two breaches, allowing about 30,000 to 40,000 cusecs of water into the low-lying areas. The flood submerged almost half of the city under several feet of water. It was one of the worst floods in Lucknow's history. The flood affected various parts of the city, including the old city, the civil lines, the cantonment, and the main shopping centre. It also caused damage to the electricity supply, the zoological gardens, and many historical monuments. Elephants, bicycle rickshaws, and boats were used as means of transport in the flooded areas. The government deployed army units and helicopters to rescue the marooned people and provide relief materials. The water level dropped very slowly, and no estimate was made of the total damage. The flood also coincided with a tidal wave that ravaged the mouth of the Ganges in Bangladesh, killing more than 3,000 people on October 16, 1960. The Gomti River, on which Lucknow is situated, is a northern tributary of the Ganges River.
1971 flood: The 1971 Lucknow flood was a natural disaster that occurred in the city of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India, in September 1971. Like the 1960 flood, it was caused by two breaches in the embankment of the Gomti River, which flows through Lucknow before joining the Ganges River. The breaches were caused by the high water level of the river, which was six feet (about two metres) above the danger mark due to heavy rainfall in the monsoon season. The flood submerged many parts of the city under three or four feet (one to 1.2 metres) of water, affecting the main shopping area, some residential areas, and the zoological gardens. The flood also disrupted the electricity supply, the communication and transportation systems, and public health and safety. At least 13 deaths due to drowning were reported from Uttar Pradesh on September 7, taking the death toll in two months of rains and flooding in the state to 268. In Lucknow itself, a quarter of the city's area was under water on September 8. The government deployed army and civilian engineers to plug the breaches in the embankment and rescue the marooned people. More than 25,000 people were evacuated from the city in 24 hours and housed in 18 camps opened by the state government. Elephants, boats, and helicopters were used as means of transport and relief in the flooded areas. The flood also affected the animals in the Lucknow Zoo, some of which had to be placed on raised platforms or protected by sandbags and boulders. In 1971, there was the second-highest flood at Lucknow with a discharge of 107,000 cusecs.
2008 flood: The 2008 Lucknow flood was a natural disaster that occurred in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India, in August 2008. It was caused by the overflow of the Gomti River after heavy rainfall in the monsoon season. The flood submerged several parts of the city, affecting more than 100,000 people and killing at least 15. The flood also damaged property, crops, and infrastructure. The state government declared Lucknow as one of the 11 districts affected by floods and deployed army units and helicopters to rescue and provide relief to the affected people. The rainfall increased the water level of the Gomti River, which rose above the danger mark of 8.5 metres (28 ft) at Lucknow. The river also received water from its tributaries, such as Sai, Kathana, and Kukrail. The flood situation was worsened by the inadequate drainage system of the city, which could not cope with the runoff from the urban areas. The encroachment of floodplains and wetlands by illegal constructions also reduced the natural capacity of the river to absorb excess water. The flood affected various parts of Lucknow, especially the low-lying areas along the banks of the Gomti River. The worst-hit areas were Daliganj, Nishatganj, Aminabad, Chowk, Thakurganj, Alambagh, Rajajipuram, and Indiranagar. The flood water entered many houses, shops, offices, schools, hospitals, and religious places, forcing people to evacuate or take shelter on rooftops or higher grounds. The flood also disrupted the power supply, water supply, communication, and transportation systems in the city. Many roads and bridges were damaged or submerged by the flood water, making them impassable for vehicles and pedestrians. The flood also posed a threat to public health and safety due to water-borne diseases and electrocution. Mariyam experienced the devastating flood of 2008 in her native city of Lucknow. She described the impact of the disaster on neighbours, who had to cope with the loss of their homes and belongings, the disruption of essential services, and the risk of diseases and injuries.
2021 flood: This flood was a recent calamity that affected Lucknow and its surrounding districts. The flood was caused by continuous rainfall for several days, which increased the water level of the Gomti River and its tributaries. Many areas of the city were flooded, including roads, bridges, railway tracks, and residential colonies. The flood also affected the power supply, the water supply, and the health services. The authorities deployed boats, helicopters, and drones to evacuate people and provide relief materials.
See also
List of floods
List of deadliest floods
Brahmaputra floods
References
Lists of floods
Floods in India
History of Lucknow |
74677991 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia%20floods | Slovenia floods | Slovenia floods may refer to:
2010 Slovenia floods
2023 Slovenia floods |
74719381 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%20New%20Zealand%20floods | 2022 New Zealand floods | The 2022 New Zealand floods occurred between 18 and 21 August 2022 in both the North and South Island. Effects of the flooding included landslides, damaged homes and roads, including highway blockages due to fallen trees and floodwater. Over 500 households were evacuated. The cause of the high amount of rainfall has been attributed to an atmospheric river. The estimated total cost of the disaster was $67.84 million.
History
18 August
On the third day, 230 homes in Nelson had been evacuated. Emergency minister Kieran McAnulty pledged $200,000 to help communities affected by the flooding via a mayoral relief fund. A sailboat had near Auckland, and there was a slipped home in Tāhunanui. Between Tuesday and Friday of the flooding, Nelson experienced of rain, more than twice the August monthly average rainfall of . During that same period, Paradise Peak had experienced of rain, and Dawson Falls recorded over . Within 24 hours, parts of the South Island had over of rain. Between Tuesday and Thursday, Nelson had of rain.
19 August
On the fourth day, the total number of evacuations in Nelson reached 411 households, a displacement of 1,200 people. In Waitara, school children were sent home in the case that a bridge of the town closes, which would leave families split on each side of the river. Parts of the Marlborough Sounds had been cut off.
20 August
On 20 August, the total number of evacuations reached 570. This was an increase of 100 overnight in Nelson and Tasman. The rain had stopped in Nelson, and some people were allowed back into their homes. The water levels of the Waimea and Wairoa Rivers begun to lower, although the Maitai River had risen overnight. Residents of Richmond were evacuated from their homes after a creek burst its banks. A part of State Highway 6 in Atawhai and Hira was opened for two hours to allow residents in to leave the area. State Highway 60 between Appleby and Richmond was closed. and State Highway 63 was also closed. The road between Takaka hill and Collingwood was blocked due to a slip on Birds Hill. There were also road closures in Marlborough. Collingwood lost phone, cellphone, and internet coverage. Nelson airport temporarily closed in Nelson due to flooding, but it had reopened by 8am. At 10:30am MetService removed all weather warnings and watches except for a weather watch in Fiordland. Residents of Marlborough and Redwood Valley were asked to conserve water. Marlborough had a leak in their potable water supply. The Nelson water treatment plant's water supply had been damaged, so residents were urged to conserve water.
Aftermath
In October 2022, it was reported by the Insurance Council that there were 3,165 weather-related claims in August, reaching $48 million. Of this, 1,1917 claims, valued $22 million, were made in the Nelson and Tasman districts.
A year after the flooding, in August 2023, the New Zealand government and the Nelson Council, decided to buy out 14 homes that became unlivable due to the flooding. The total cost was around $12 million, where the New Zealand government paid half. The Nelson Council will vote on whether they will pay the other half in on 14 September.
Over 40 locations in the country had record or near-record levels in rainfall for the 2022 Winter.
References
2022 meteorology
2022 disasters in New Zealand
Weather events in New Zealand
August 2022 events in New Zealand
Floods in New Zealand |
74730383 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick%20Vincent%20Flood | Patrick Vincent Flood | Patrick Vincent Flood, DD, O.P., (1844-1907) was an Irish Dominican priest who served as Archbishop of Port of Spain, Trinidad (1889–1907).
Born in Lagan, Co. Longford on 14 September 1844. Flood joined the Dominicans in St. Mary's Priory, Tallaght, Dublin, aged 16 in 1860. He proceeded to Esker Friary, Co. Galway where he professed in 1861 and continued studying philosophy in Esker from 1862 to 1863. Sent to Rome to study his theology at the Minerva, he was ordained a priest in 1867, and a year later took his Doctorate of Divinity. Returning to Ireland, he served in Cork and Waterford, before being appointed Prior of Galway, and later Prior of Newry.
Flood was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Antilles (to succeed Rev. Dr. Hyland, also an Irish Dominican) and Titular Bishop of Hephaestus, in 1887 and ordained in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin. He succeeded as Archbishop of Port of Spain in 1889 a position he held until his death on 17 May 1907.
References
1844 births
1907 deaths
Irish Dominicans
Irish expatriate Roman Catholic bishops
Roman Catholic archbishops of Port of Spain
Dominican bishops
People from County Longford |
74734305 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September%202023%20southwestern%20U.S.%20floods | September 2023 southwestern U.S. floods | In a period of three days on September 1–3, 2023, flooding occurred as part of a seasonal monsoon season across portions of the Southwestern United States, including California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and the Las Vegas Valley. Muddy terrain during the Burning Man festival stranded more than 70,000 people.
Meteorological synopsis
Across the Desert Southwest, training showers and thunderstorms developed as they headed northward by an almost-undirectional flow, which was situated between a low-pressure area across California, and a retreating ridge of high pressure to the east of the low. Southerly flow between the low and the high pressure ridge caused moisture to be driven northward, surface-based convective available potential energy values of 1000–2000 j/kg yielded conditions for heavy rainfall-producing convective systems, and weak shortwaves combined with shear between also provided thunderstorm development. On September 1, the Weather Prediction Center also stated in a mesoscale precipitation discussion that repeated rounds of thunderstorms were possible across the southwestern United States.
Impact
Nevada
Interstate 15 near the California—Nevada border and south of Jean was shut down due to flooding. At least 24 water rescues occurred and more than 30 vehicles submerged in floodwaters as crews from Las Vegas Fire & Rescue assisted with search and rescue efforts. One death, possibly due to drowning from floodwaters, occurred near Las Vegas in West Valley, Nevada. A downpour also temporarily delayed a UNLV—Bryant college football game at Allegiant Stadium. Portions of the Las Vegas Strip flooded, including a channel outside of the The Linq as the city of Las Vegas was under a flash flood warning. The Nevada Department of Transportation closed travel lanes on Nevada State Route 447. Debris closed all but one lane on U.S. Route 93 northbound.
More than 4,000 power outages occurred, and 108 flights were cancelled, along with 673 delayed flights at Harry Reid International Airport. A ground stop was also briefly issued for the airport.
Burning Man
Torrential rainfall flooded the Burning Man festival, which was closed throughout the remainder of the scheduled event afterwards as thunderstorms also flooded the Black Rock Desert. Diplo and Chris Rock, who attended the festival, fled from the festival site through mud caused by the floods. Mud across roads near the festival closed vehicle traffic stranding at least 73,000 people after the festival ended. According to Pershing County sheriff Jerry Allen, some vehicles have caused damage to the playa. Allen urged attendees to avoid driving out of the festival. The burning of the Man was delayed and one person died. Former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal took a six-mile (10 km) hike, describing the journey as "harrowing".
California
More than 12 water rescues occurred in Imperial County, as several roads in that county were also closed due to debris and flooding. Portions of California State Route 78 in Imperial Valley were closed, and the California Highway Patrol, United States Coast Guard’s San Diego sector, and the Imperial County Fire Department assisted with flood rescue operations. More than fell across portions of Imperial County and east of Palo Verde. Road closures also occurred in Coachella Valley, and the Riverside County Emergency Management Department coordinated with numerous emergency management departments to address damage and concerns.
Arizona
Several streets were flooded in a Yuma neighborhood as the city received up to in two hours. Yuma, Mohave, Pima, and La Paz counties were under a flash flood warning, and a funnel cloud was reported near San Luis. Cities in western Arizona, including Kingman, Bullhead City, and Fort Mohave were also under flash flood warnings.
Utah
Mudslides forced closures on portions of U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 191 in Carbon County. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for portions of western Utah.
References
2023 floods in the United States
Floods in California
Floods in the United States
Natural disasters in Arizona
Natural disasters in Nevada
Natural disasters in Utah
September 2023 events in the United States |
74745542 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962%20Vall%C3%A9s%20floods | 1962 Vallés floods | The 1962 Vallès floods took place on September 25, 1962, mainly in the comarca of Vallès Occidental and to a less extent in Vallès Oriental and Barcelonés. The flood was caused when the Llobregat and Besòs rivers overflowed due to heavy rain. The official death toll was 617, but estimates imply between 800 and 1000 deaths.
Causes
Meteorologic
After a long period of drought, on September 25, 1962, a precipitation of 212 liters per cubic meter occurred during a time period of less than three hours. This increased rapidly the flow of the final parts of Llobragat and Besós rivers and of their tributaries. The rain affected mainly the comarca of Vallés Occidental, but they were also heavy in Vallès Oriental, Baix Llobregat and Maresme.
Geographic
The bed of the Arenes stream remains dry for much of the year, with a fall of about 60 l/m2 being necessary for water to circulate. The hot air chimney that rose in a cold air mass, triggered peak flows greater than 1000 l/m2.
Geologic
The geological characteristics of the area, with sedimentary and clayey terrain, meant that the bed of the stream was full of clay, pebbles and gravel. Also, a large number of trees and stones that were near the river helped to increase the catastrophe. Nowadays, the bed has become populated again, raising the concern of the neighbors.
Urban planning
The economic development of Vallès in the 40s and 50s of the 20th century led to a population increase, which meant the construction of buildings close to the rivers, both homes and industries, with a marked lack of urban control. These marginal neighborhoods created in the face of the great problem of housing with poor construction quality were the most affected.
Impact
The flood that affected the populations of Terrassa, Rubí, Sabadell, San Quirze, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Ripollet, Mollet del Vallès and Sant Adrià de Besòs caused between 617 and 1000 deaths, thousands of injured and economic damage of 2650 million pesetas being the largest natural catastrophe in the history of Spain.
Terrassa
The area of Terrassa is crossed by numerous torrents and two streams, usually dry, the function of which is to transport water from the Sant Llorenç del Munt and Sierra del Obac massif into the Llobregat river and through this stream to the Mediterranean Sea. The Palau stream, which originates in the north of the town, passed through the Ègara rambla through a collector that joined the Arenas stream. This stream crossed the city without channeling and formed, at Les Fonts, the Rubí stream. People knew about the damage that occurred when the rivers receded, but the problem was that construction was allowed in their surroundings, making the catastrophe exponentially worse. On the Rambla d'Ègara - then Caudillo Avenue - the installer was blocked by the materials dragged by the Palau stream. The Renfe bridge that served as a dam collapsed and the water reached more than two meters high, taking away everything in its path. On the Rambla d'Ègara alone, 72 people lost their lives and 17 were reported missing. The flood devastated the factories located in the upper part, demolished several houses and dragged cars to the Rambleta. On the other hand, the Arenes stream diverted its course in the blocks of the Sant Llorenç groups and flowed through an old channel, devastating the current Ègara neighborhood on the right bank, the triangle of death where it caused more than a hundred victims and demolished a large part of the houses. The total number of victims (and missing) is 372.
Rubí
In the area of Rubí, more than 250 deaths were caused by the flood. The Escardívol neighborhood was entirely destroyed.
Sabadell
In Sabadell, the waters of the local streams and the Ripoll river rose until they reached the homes and industries located within or on the side of the river course. The flood took away the houses it found in its path. The Torre-romeu neighborhood, located in the northeast of the city, on the other side of the Ripoll and built largely on the river bed, was one of the most affected neighborhoods in Sabadell. Can Puigener was another of the neighborhoods that suffered the most from the flood. Also in the neighborhoods of Plana del Pintor or Campoamor the rain affected many houses. The industries located in the course of the river were also heavily damaged.
The next day, September 26, it was estimated that the flood had affected 80% of Sabadell's sizing and industrial leftovers industries, representing 40% of Spain's capacity. All factories were affected. Tintoreria Castelló had inaugurated the building a few days ago and the machinery, which was new, was completely destroyed. Acabats Estruch, S.A., Tints i Aprestos Casanoves Argelaguet, S.A., Ramon Buxó i fills, Indústries Casablanques, S.A., Llorens i Torra, S.A., Grau, S.A., Sabadell Tèxtil, S.A., among others were some of the industries affected in Sabadell.
The floods in Cerdanyola del Vallès were not as severe since the Sec river and the Major river, the two rivers that flow through the town, did not receive the same amount as the Riera de les Arenes or the Ripoll river, thus, despite the numerous material losses, no fatalities were recorded. The families that lost their homes, basically in the Montflorit neighborhood, were relocated through the help they received from the City Council.
Ripollet
In the locality of Ripollet, there were 12 victims and some factories and 36 homes were destroyed. Ripollet, suffered two more floods on November 4 and 7 of the same year, before having recovered from the first flood.
Mollet del Vallès
In the municipality of Mollet del Vallès the storm, lasted between an hour and a half and three hours, reaching at some point maximum intensity of six liters per square meter per minute. Despite causing a lot of material and personal damage, it did not cause fatalities.
Sant Quirze del Vallès
The population of Sant Quirze del Vallès, then San Quirico de Tarrasa, was affected by the overflowing of the Sec river, that when flowing through Los Rosales neighborhood caused several victims and material damage.
Montcada i Reixac
The locality of Montcada i Reixac lost 30 people and had damages of approximately 200 million pesetas. After the floods, the population carried out an economic and urban reconstruction of the city.
Reaction
Immediate measures
The entire Vallès area was declared in a state of emmergency, with the consequent help of all types of public and private organizations such as the Red Cross, the Spanish army, administrations, associations, unions and the voluntary civilian population through material support or with the opening of accounts for aid to the affected Catalan population.
50th anniversary
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary, on September 25, 2012, various events were organized and material was recreated to remember this event, also seeking popular participation through a website to collect all possible information and testimonies.
See also
1938 Yellow River flood
North Sea flood of 1953
1957 Valencia flood
1959 Uruguayan flood
2007 Tabasco-Chiapas flood
List of floods
References
External links
Video of the Ayuntamiento de Tarrasa for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary
1962 in Spain
Vallès Occidental
Floods in Spain
1960s floods in Europe
September 1962 events in Europe
1962 disasters in Europe
1962 meteorology |
74760540 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Rio%20Grande%20do%20Sul%20floods | 2023 Rio Grande do Sul floods | In September 2023, heavy rainfall and strong winds from an extratropical cyclone resulted in the deaths of at least 47 people in Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil, 940 injured, and caused $1.3 million in damage. Flooding also impacted several municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, including Bento Gonçalves, Caxias do Sul, Ibiraiaras, Lajeado do Bugre, Nova Bassano, Santo Expedito do Sul, and São Jorge. The floods also prompted a state of emergency to be declared in the state by governor Eduardo Leite.
Background
The flooding was caused by the warming atmosphere resulting from climate change, which increases the likelihood of extreme rainfall. Global temperatures have risen by approximately 1.2 degrees Celsius since the onset of the industrial era.
In 2022, torrential rain led to landslides and mudflows near the city of Recife in the country's northeast, resulting in the deaths of at least 100 people. That same year, floods in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, killed 231 people and caused 1 billion R$ ($193.8 million USD) in damage.
In February 2023, flooding and landslides in Brazil's São Paulo state killed 40 people as of rain fell in São Sebastião.
Impact
Within a span of 72 hours, over 200mm (11 inches) of rainfall deluged the state from an extratropical cyclone, resulting in floods and landslides. The heaviest rainfall in the 72-hour period was in Passo Fundo, receiving . Officials reported that thousands of individuals were compelled to evacuate their residences. In Muçum, local media sources indicated that hundreds were rescued from their rooftops as 85% of the town became inundated and 16 deaths occurred. The floods affected more than 354,711 people, with 940 injuries, 46 missing, 25,855 of them displaced and an additional 3,800 homeless.
Response
Rescue teams employed helicopters to access regions isolated by floodwaters. The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, declared a state of emergency as he assessed damage across the state.
References
2020s floods in Brazil
2023 disasters in Brazil
2023 floods in South America
September 2023 events in Brazil
History of Rio Grande do Sul |
74764941 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20%28play%29 | Flood (play) | Flood is a 1955 Australian play by Eunice Hanger. It was one of her best known works.
The play was runner up in the famous 1955 playwriting competition run by the Playwrights' Advisory Board which was won by Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and The Torrents.
The Bulletin said "The play is at its best when it is documentary. Eunice Hanger is not afraid to organise the gathering into yerse-speaking groups in order to comment on the increasing danger and to visualise the havoc wrought in the town... With judicious pruning there is a good play here —a genuine outcrop in Queensland soil, enriching the whole Australian field."
Adaptation
The play was adapted for ABC radio in 1956 by Catherine Shepherd.
Premise
A family is threatened by rising flood waters in a small Queensland country town.Janie Morrison, the daughter of a country school-teacher, is engaged to be married to a young doctor, Eric Mulray, but a few years earlier Eric was partly responsible for the accident that made a semi-cripple of Janie's brother. This and other dramas are brought out in the flood.
References
External links
Flood at AustLit
1950s Australian plays
1955 plays
1950s Australian radio dramas |
74782449 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Hong%20Kong%20rainstorm%20and%20floods | 2023 Hong Kong rainstorm and floods | In the evening of 7 September 2023, a heavy rainstorm struck the city of Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta area, including parts of Guangdong, China and Macau. The record rainfall caused widespread flooding and landslides in the cities, four dead and dozens injured.
History
On 5 September 2023, Typhoon Haikui made landfall in China's Fujian province, subsequently moving into Guangdong, before its remnants stalled over the Pearl River Delta for over two days. As the low pressure trough associated with Haikui's remnants interacted with the south-westerly monsoon, the Pearl River Delta started experiencing extreme rainfall beginning on the night of 7 September.
By 7 pm on 7 September, Sha Tau Kok in the North District recorded more than rainfall. Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) issued a flood warning for Northern New Territories at 7:50 pm. Heavy rainfall then spread to the entire city, forcing the HKO to issue the Amber rainstorm signal, and later the Red signal in less than half an hour. At 11:05 pm, the highest warning level, Black rainstorm signal, was issued due to worsening situations. It was the first time the warning was issued in two years.
According to the HKO, between 11:00 p.m. of 7 September and 12:00 a.m, of 8 September, the HKO headquarters recorded mm of rainfall within one hour, the highest hourly rainfall rate ever in Hong Kong since records began in 1884.
The torrential rainfall continued overnight and into the morning of 8 September, gradually subsiding by afternoon. The Black rainstorm signal lasted over 16 hours, the longest duration ever since the rainstorm warning system was implemented in 1992. The HKO headquarters accumulated over of rainfall within 24 hours, a 24-hour rainfall rate trailing only the record set in May 1889. This also makes Typhoon Haikui the wettest storm in Hong Kong's history, breaking the record of Severe Tropical Storm Sam in 1999. Meanwhile, parts of Hong Kong Island, including Stanley, Chai Wan, Shau Kei Wan and North Point accumulated over of rainfall within just 12 hours, the area around Tai Tam even accumulated over .
Impact
Flooding were reported across the city, with Wong Tai Sin as one of the hardest hit. Shopping mall on Lung Cheung Road and MTR underground station in the neighbourhood became deluged by water. Kwun Tong line was partly closed due to the severe flooding in the railway tunnel.
Vehicles were trapped due to the widespread flooding, including a flooded bus in Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island. In some parts of New Territories, chest-deep water forced residents to flee villages.
As downpour continued, landslides rocked the city. In the neighbourhood of Shau Kei Wan, giant boulders as large as a bus tumbled down a section of the road, some 50 meters of the road was completely covered with mud and rocks standing up to three meters high. Luxury houses in Redhill Peninsula near Tai Tam Bay were also exposed with illegal structures following the soil slip. Ruptures of underground water pipe created sinkholes in several part of the city, causing minibus and car plunging into the holes.
Shek O and another nearby coastal village were isolated for a day due to a collapsed section of the Shek O Road, with the Government evacuating some residents through boats.
Controversies
Reservoir discharge
The Hong Kong Government released a brief statement sixteen minutes into Friday, confirming the Shenzhen Reservoir will discharge water from about midnight, and warned that "[t]here may be a risk of flooding in some parts of the New Territories". The discharge began at 12.15 a.m., whilst villagers scrambled to prepare and battle the torrential rain. Chris Tang, the Security Secretary, claimed the widespread flooding "seemed to have no direct correlation with the water discharge from Shenzhen". Villagers living near the Sham Chun River questioned Tang as neck-deep river water engulfed the houses after the discharge.
Government's response
As flooding persisted into the morning, all schools in the city had to be shut down on 8 September. However, the Government only "reminded" employers that all non-essential employees "should not be required to report for duty", under a non-binding "extreme conditions" announcement unlike arrangements for typhoons.
The Hong Kong Government first described the historic rainfall as "once-in-a-century", but then upgraded the narrative to "once-in-500-years", or a 0.2% chance. It caused uproar from the public as an attempt to deflect the blame, after the authorities were questioned and criticised for the preparedness for such an emergency. Observers and critics attacked the government’s response for "too little, too late", while lawmakers and analysts urged the government to carry out a full review of the emergency system and capabilities.
See also
Hong Kong rainstorm warning signals
Climate of Hong Kong
Other recent severe rainstorm events in China:
2020 China floods
2021 Henan floods—severe flooding caused by Typhoon In-fa
2023 North China floods—severe flooding caused by Typhoon Doksuri
References
Weather events in Hong Kong
2023 floods in Asia
Landslides in 2023
2023 in Hong Kong |
74804991 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September%202023%20northeastern%20U.S.%20floods | September 2023 northeastern U.S. floods | In a three-day period on September 11, to September 13, 2023, slow-moving thunderstorms associated with a low-pressure area caused flash flooding across multiple states across the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. A stationary front, combined with a convergence zone, caused significant flooding, prompting the National Weather Service to issue multiple flash flood warnings and two flash flood emergencies, one for the city of Leominster, Massachusetts, and the other for the Baltimore, Maryland, area. Several minor injuries occurred during the severe weather event, and hundreds of homes and vehicles were flooded. Evacuations also occurred after concerns of a compromised dam near a neighborhood of Leominster, and all schools in the city were closed the day after the floods. Massachusetts governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency for Leominster and North Attleborough following the floods.
Meteorological synopsis
On September 11, a stationary frontal boundary, combined with a low-pressure area in eastern New Jersey and a convergence zone extending across Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, brought slow-moving showers and thunderstorms to the Northeastern United States, bringing heavy rainfall across portions of the region. Favorable thermodynamics also supported thunderstorm development, and surface-based convective available potential energy in the 1000-1500 J/kg values were also in place across a small portion of the region. Matthew Belk, a National Weather Service meteorologist, stated that the flood was a "200-year event".
Impact
Massachusetts
Streets and numerous homes were flooded in the city of Leominster, and the downtown area there was also flooded, where buildings were flooded and a few partially collapsed. A sinkhole also opened near a Cadillac car dealership, damaging vehicles there. Massachusetts governor Maura Healey described the flooding "catastrophic", and a flash flood emergency was issued for Leominster and Fitchburg. Residential areas in neighborhoods near Leominster were asked to immediately evacuated as concerns were raised over the Barrett Park Pond Dam, which was compromised and was already in poor condition. Homes near Route 117 near Fall Brook, a neighborhood of Leominster, were "significantly damaged". School buildings near Leominster also suffered damage, and more than 15 roads, including portions of the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), Route 13 and Route 2, were closed due to flooding and road damage. At least of rain fell in several hours in Leominster, and an evacuation order was also issued for low-lying areas near Fall Brook and the North Nashua River. Several minor injuries also occurred, as many vehicles were submerged in floodwaters. MBTA Commuter Rail service was also affected, with trains and buses being terminated, diverted, or originating at a different station, including trains along the Fitchburg Line. Leominster mayor Dean Mazzarella stated, "Find a high spot somewhere. Find a high spot and stay there until this is over.", and also claimed that at least of rain fell. More than $40 million in damages occurred to city infastructure.
Flood damage also occurred in North Attleborough, where 200 homes were flooded, including basements, and vehicles were submerged. Several roads were closed, and the emergency operations center was activated there. Two Boston Red Sox games were postponed due to the rainfall. Nearly 2,400 power outages occurred across the state. A tornado warning was also issued for Bristol, Norfolk, and Plymouth counties after the storm which prompted the warning in Rhode Island moved into southern portions of the state.
Connecticut
On September 13, streets were flooded in West Hartford, submerging a car, as a flash flood warning was issued for Hartford. Roads were also flooded in Farmington, prompting law enforcement to place signs and barricades across the flooded area. At least eight people were rescued in Danbury as cars were submerged in floodwaters. Route 317 was closed near Roxbury, and a Holiday Inn hotel was damaged by floods. Flash flood warnings were issued for several counties in the state, and a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the Hartford area as streets and buildings were flooded there. Flooding also occurred in Bristol, where flooded roads submerged at least three cars. One of the storms which produced heavy rainfall spawned an EF1 tornado near Danielson, and Killingly, downing trees and causing minor damage to two homes, and a tornado warning was also issued for that area.
Rhode Island
An apartment complex consisting of 24 apartments were affected by floods on September 11 in Cranston, where two dogs died and two cats went missing. Flooding impacted a shopping plaza, damaging businesses and prompting 25 people to be rescued from floodwaters. The West River overflowed, forcing a road to close after the roadway was under of water. Flooding also occurred in Cumberland, and North Providence. Floods caused delays on the Providence/Stoughton Line. The tornado which impacted areas near Danielson and Killingly, Connecticut crossed the border into Rhode Island, where trees and power lines were down in Foster.
Maryland
On September 12, a flash flood emergency was issued for the entire Baltimore area as of rain fell. Several roads and highways, including portions of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and US 29 were closed due to floodwaters on the roadway, and flooding also stranded drivers on several roads in the city. More than 1,500 power outages occurred across the state. Flash flood warnings and a tornado warning was issued for parts of the state as the storms moved through.
New Jersey
More than 1,500 power outages occurred, and a water rescue took place after a woman and her dog were in a submerged vehicle in Perth Amboy. Several streets were flooded in Hoboken as a flood watch was in effect for northeastern parts of the state. Before a Monday Night Football game between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, a shelter-in-place warning was issued at MetLife Stadium.
Aftermath
All schools in Leominster were closed on September 12, the day after the floods, due to flood damage that occurred in the school buildings. Boat rescue and emergency response teams were dispatched to areas in northern Massachusetts following the floods. Looting also occurred in flooded businesses in Providence, Rhode Island. Massachusetts governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency for Leominster and North Attleborough as she toured the flood damage in those locations. The American Red Cross assisted flood victims in Cumberland and North Providence, Rhode Island, and two schools opened as shelters to flood victims in Leominster.
References
2023 in New Jersey
2023 in Massachusetts
2023 in Rhode Island
Natural disasters in New Jersey
Natural disasters in Massachusetts
Natural disasters in Rhode Island
2023 meteorology
September 2023 events in the United States |
74830449 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan%20floods | Sudan floods | Sudan floods can refer to: |
74842098 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981%20New%20Zealand%20floods | 1981 New Zealand floods | Between 11 and 16 April 1981, the Waikato experienced flooding due to high levels of rain and wind. It mostly affected the Thames-Coromandel area and Paeroa. Over 2,250 evacuations took place. Insurance payouts cost $7,000,000 (). Over 200 homes were flooded.
Worst areas affected by the flooding were around Paeroa, Thames, Waikino, Hikutaia, Wharepoa, Puriri and Matatoki. Between 7 and 10 thousand hectares of farmland were flooded between Paeroa and Thames. At the time, it was the worst flooding recorded in the Coromandel.
History
On 5:39pm 12 April a civil emergency was declared in the Paeroa Borough and Ohinemuri County, and ended on 21 April. Another civil emergency was declared between 13 April and 16 April. On the night of 12 April over 15,000 sandbags were piled against a stopbank of the Ohinemuri River. They were also used to make dams around shops.
The Waikato experienced torrential rain on 12 and 13 April, causing flooding throughout the region. On the night of 12 April, "Highway 25 south of Coroglen and south of Whangamata was closed on the night of the 12th as was Highway 2 between Paeroa and Waihi at Queen's Head." Between 13 and 14 April, west Auckland had no power. On the 13th, 11 boats, mostly large yachts were found on the rocks of the Auckland waterfront.
"Paeroa recorded 197.9 mm (19.79 cm) of rain in 24 hours from the 12th to the 13th. Paeroa recorded 375.8 mm (37.58 cm) of rain in 72 hours from the 11th to the 14th (which has a return period of over 100 years). Paeroa recorded 346.5 mm (34.65 cm) of rain in 48 hours (which has a return period of 90 years)."
Impact
Auckland recorded wind of 113km/h, and the Waikato experienced wind of 92.6km/h. Effects include power lines and trees being blown down. In Auckland, firemen were called out 120 times after rooves had been blown off. Part of the Mission Bay seawall collapsed. Takapuna had stormwater issues. At least 30 boats went missing from the Waitematā Harbour. Te Puru, Tararu, Kaueranga, Kirikiri, Matatoki, Hikutaia, Komata, Waitoki, Mangaiti, Waiorongomai, Tairua, and Ohinemuri rivers went into high flood. Main road between Auckland and the Bay of Plenty flooded.
In the Waikato, a recreational boat sunk. There was a landslide which closed Kopu-Hikuai Road. Slips and washouts also caused the closure of the highway between Paeroa and Waihi. Road sealing was ripped up in many parts of the Karangahake Gorge highway, and had debris scattered over it.
In 24 hours the Coromandel Ranges received at least 500mm of rain. The Ohinemuri River went 10 metres or more above normal level. The Kauaeranga River catchment measured 870mm of rain in 72 hours which has a return period of over 150 years. Extensive flooding of Opoutere farmland.
Roofs were blown off on 6 houses in Hahei, and another house was partially destroyed. A house was completely destroyed in Otama due to high winds. There was also flooding in Hikutaia which caused people to evacuate from their homes. In Paeroa all businesses and schools were closed, and the main street alongside a few side streets were covered by a few centimetres of water. A lot of silt was left on pastures.
External links
Video of the flooding
References
1981 in New Zealand
1980s floods
Floods in New Zealand
Thames-Coromandel District
History of Waikato
Environment of Waikato
1980s disasters in New Zealand |
74886785 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20southern%20New%20Zealand%20floods | 2023 southern New Zealand floods | The 2023 southern New Zealand floods were caused by heavy rain that struck the southern part of New Zealand's South Island on 21 September 2023. This storm caused flooding in several places across the Southland and Otago regions including Gore and Queenstown. 100 homes were evacuated in Queenstown and Tuatapere's water treatment plant was damaged. A state of emergency was declared in the Southland Region. In addition, a state of emergency was declared in Queenstown on 22 September, which recorded its wettest day in 24 years.
Flood event
On 21 September, MetService reported that an active wet front was moving up the South Island through the Southland and Otago regions. The meteorological service issued 14 severe weather warnings and watches. In addition, the Fiordland Region reported 100mm of rain in 12 hours. That morning, 72mm of rain fell in the Southland town of Gore, causing significant surface flooding. This flooding overwhelmed the stormwater and wastewater network in Gore and Mataura. That afternoon, Mayor of Gore Ben Bell declared a state of emergency for the Southland Region.
Though an evacuation centre was established in Mataura Community Centre, Mataura Community Board chair Nicky Coats confirmed that the evacuation was not carried out since the rain had subsided. Due to heavy rainfall, the Roxburgh Dam in Central Otago released more water into the Clutha River on 21 September, raising the water level.
The Otago resort town of Queenstown also experienced flooding and landslides, leading to the evacuation of several homes. Some Queenstown residents had to be rescued from their cars. Emergency Management Southland also reported that the Tuatapere water treatment plant had been inundated by floodwater by 7:30 pm, leaving the town with eight hours' of drinking water. Residents were instructed to conserve water and to avoid showering, washing dishes, or flushing the toilet. In response, the Southland District Council dispatched three water tankers to provide Tuatapere with drinking water.
Heavy rainfall also caused landslides at several Queenstown locations including Reavers Lane, Fernhill, the Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd, Bob's Peak, and Wilson's Bay St Peter's College in Gore was also completely flooded. In response to the flooding, Emergency Management Southland established community emergency hubs at Gore's Croydon Lodge and the Mataura Community Centre. Police also rescued several individuals from trapped cars in Gore and Queenstown. According to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Queenstown recorded its wettest day in 24 years on 21 September, with 87mm of rain falling during that period. Similarly, Wānaka experienced its wettest day in 17 years, recording 98mm of rain on 21 September.
Similar events
The southern New Zealand floods coincided with an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Queenstown in mid-September 2023, which marked the township's first gastroenteritis outbreak in 40 years.
By 24 September, another atmospheric river was reported to be approaching the eastern North Island. MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey forecast that the Gisborne District/Tairāwhiti and parts of the Bay of Plenty would receive two months' worth of rain within the next 48 hours. He also predicted that the atmospheric river would make its way northwest across New Zealand, touching Auckland.
Impact
Southland
On 21 September, power utility company Powernet reported widespread electrical outages across Southland as a result of the rain and flooding. On 22 September, St Peter's College principal Tara Quinney reported that all but two of the school's ground floors had been inundated by floodwater. The school also closed early on Friday, which marked the last day of the Term 3 school term. Quinney confirmed that cleanup efforts would take place during the school break. Catholic Dioceses of Dunedin property manager Craig Paterson said that the school needed to replace flood-damaged carpets but doubted they would be ready by the end of the school break.
Flooding also cause power outages in several Southland locations including Avondale, Carmichael Road, Dunearn, Fairfax, Gropers Bush, Heenan's Corner, Lora Gorge, Myross Bush, Northope, Oreti, Oreti Plains, Riverton / Aparima, Roslyn Bush, Te Anau Downs, Waikana and Winton. In addition, flooding led to the closure of State Highway 1 between Gore and Mataura, and State Highway 6 between Parawa and Kingston. In addition, sections of State Highways 94, 96, and 99 were affected by surface flooding.
Otago
About a third of Queenstown's cemetery was damaged by logs and slash dislodged by the flooding. To allow for its reopening, fencing was placed around the damaged area. Queenstown cemetery is located near Bob's Peak, which is below the Skyline Queenstown resort. According to Skyline chief executive Geoff McDonald, heavy rain had pooled on the top forestry track on 21 September, creating a waterfall and landside that carried mud, stacked logs, and forestry debris down Bob's Peak into central Queenstown. For the past two years, Skyline had been clearing wilding pines on the hillside to create a firebreak around the gondola and Queenstown's Red Zone.
To get to Queenstown, people from the West Coast had to take a 1,000km detour due to flood debris on State Highway 6 (Haast Pass). Waka Kotahi's Otago and Southland systems manager Robert Choveaux confirmed that the highway would remain close for the near future and estimated that 20,000 cubic metres of debris needed to be removed before its reopening.
On 22 September, the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) launched its first "mop up action" after the rain cleared. A geotechnical engineer and drone were used to assess damage to the township. Despite the flooding, local authorities confirmed that Queenstown was open to tourists. The QLDC evacuated 55 people from Queenstown's Reavers Lane, and categorised 10 homes as "red-stickered" and two homes as "yellow-stickered" as a result of the flood damage. By 24 September, 15 of these evacuees were still unable to return home due to flood damage and landslides.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council established an evacuation centre at the Queenstown Memorial Hall, which was subseuquently moved to the local Holiday Inn. Due to a communications failure, the Council accidentally directed 100 evacuees to the locked St Peters Church. Vicar Dr Michael Godrey told the Otago Daily Times that the QLDC had failed to inform him that they had designated the church as an evacuation centre.
Responses
Southland
On 22 September, clean-up efforts by council workers, contractors, and emergency services commenced throughout the Southland region.
Environment Southland catchment operations manager Randal Beale described the September 2023 flooding event at the Mataura River stop bank as less severe than the February 2020 flooding event. While the Mataura River had peaked at 2,400 cumecs in February 2020, Baele estimated that the river would peak at 1,500 cumecs in Gore at about 9pm on 22 February.
Gore Mayor Bell confirmed that council staff and the fire service had managed to save 20 buildings in his town from flooding through pumping. Bell and the Gore District Council stated that the roads were safe to travel but advised motorists to look out for flood debris. Gore fire chief Steve Lee stated that local volunteer firefighters and neighbouring brigades had spent the past 24 hours responding to the flooding. The Ngā Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust assisted with emergency food donations in the Southland region.
By 23 September, Emergency Management Southland group controller Simon Mapp had lifted the regional state of emergency, with Southland moving into a local transition period. State Highways 1, 6, 93 and State Highway 99 between Lorneville and Wallacetown were reopened but several rural roads around the region remained closed. Local authorities issued a precautionary boil notice for Gore after turbidity levels spiked at the local Hilbre Avenue water treatment plant. While Tuatapere's water conservation notice was lifted on 23 September, the town's boil notice remained while further checks and tests on its water supply were carried out. In addition, several agencies and civil society groups including Civil Defence, the Southland Rural Support Trust, Federated Farmers, DairyNZ, and Beef+Lamb NZ stepped into provide support to affected residents.
Otago
On 22 September, Mayor of Queenstown-Lakes Glyn Lewers declared a state of emergency for Queenstown.
That same day, Minister of Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty reported that parts of the Gore District had been cut off by flooding and stated that Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) were prepared to provide assistance to both the Gore District and Queenstown. In response to a southerly front bringing snow moving through Central Otago and the Canterbury Region, Waka Kotahi (the New Zealand Transport Agency) advised against travel through roads and highways in those regions.
Volunteers from the University of Otago also assisted with clean-up efforts in Queenstown. On 23 September, Mayor Lewers lifted Queenstown's state of emergency, with the resort town entering into a "transition period" for the nexy 28 days. The QLDC also cordoned off the area between Brecon St and Reavers Lane, where the two debris flow from Bob's Peak were experienced. In addition, Brecon Street was reopened to pedestrial traffic. Skyline Queenstown resort reopened its gondola on 24 September but did not restore access to mountain bikes.
Notes and references
2023 floods in Oceania
2023 disasters in New Zealand
Floods in New Zealand
Weather events in New Zealand
Floods
2023 meteorology
History of Otago
History of Southland, New Zealand |
74898059 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%20Otago%20flood | 2015 Otago flood | On 3 June 2015, a low weather system brought heavy rain to the coastal Otago Region particularly South Dunedin. South Dunedin experienced heavy flooding, which was exacerbated by the area's high water table and the breakdown of the Portobello pumping station. 1,200 homes and businesses were damaged by flood damage. The Dunedin City Council (DCC) described the 3 June 2015 flood event as a "one in a 100 year" flood, with about 175mm of rain falling during a 24-hour period. The DCC subsequently drew criticism for the poor state of the city's storm water infrastructure.
Background
Geological history
The South Dunedin plain was first formed about 18,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Period. At the time, the sea level was about 120 metres lower than today and the coastline stretched out as much as 35 km offshore further from its present extant. Following the Last Glacial Period, sea levels rose, reaching their present level about 7,000 years ago. The Otago Harbour was a former stream valley that was flooded during this period. During the post-glacial sea level rise, the South Dunedin plain was covered in ocean. A dune barrier was later formed between St Clair and Lawyers Head through the flow of fine sediment from the Clutha River and other smaller catchments. After the barrier formed, fine sediment accumulated in the waters at the head of the Otago Harbour, causing the sea in that area to became increasingly shallow. The gradual sediment accumulation led to the formation of a coastal wetland known as the South Dunedin plain, which also became a landbridge between the mainland South Island and the Otago Peninsula.
Human settlement and land reclaimation
At the time of European settlement during the mid-19th century, the South Dunedin plain still consisted of salt marshes, wetlands and lagoons. The local vegetation consisted of tussock, rushes and flax. Local Māori people referred to this wetland system as Kaituna (which translates as "eating eels") due to the significant presence of eels in the area. A shallow lagoon also terminated through the salt dunes near contemporary St Clair. This flat coastal area functioned as a drainage basin for the hilly, catchment area that formed the rest of Dunedin. European settlers referred to this area as "The Flat." Since most of Dunedin is hilly, houses were initially built on the slopes of the extinct Dunedin Volcano. As the city's population grew during the Otago Gold Rush, European settlers began reclaiming swampy land in "The Flat." The land was filled using sand from the coastal dunes of St Kilda. Consequently, much of South Dunedin was built on land consisting of soft, sandy sediment that was only slightly above the water table (which was up to 17 cm lower than the present day).
During the late 19th century, marram grass was planted and sand-catching structures were also built along Ocean Beach, creating high sand dunes south of present-day Victoria Road that runs across St Kilda and St Clair. To accommodate the expansion of housing in South Dunedin, drainage of the wet lands through the dunes was blocked off to prevent storm tides from coming in through these dunes. During the 1960s and 1970s, further land reclamation occurred between Andersons Bay Road and Portsmouth Drive through the use of dredging spoil excavated from Otago Harbour. This reclaimed land was used predominantly for commercial activity and including a pumping station on Portobello Road. Land reclamation, human settlement, and the laying of asphalt and concrete for building roads and buildings in South Dunedin has disrupted the natural drainage basin by preventing water from seeping into the ground. In 2019, Stuff journalist Charlie Mitchell estimated that 60% of South Dunedin was impervious, with some pockets reporting 100%.
Natural disaster risks
During the 1923 New Zealand Storm, heavy rain on 21 April led to extensive flooding in Caversham, New Zealand, South Dunedin, and St Kilda between 22 and 23 April. In addition, low-lying portions of the central and northern areas of Central Dunedin and North East Valley also experienced flooding in 1923. South Dunedin is also at risk of earthquake shaking and liquefaction due to several geographical faults including the Akatore Fault, which is situated between the Taieri Plains and Taieri Mouth. Due to its coastal location, South Dunedin is also vulnerable to sea level rise caused by climate change.
Socio-economic demographics
South Dunedin has also historically experienced a high degree of socio-economic deprivation, with parts of the suburb ranking in the bottom 10 percent of the deprivation index. While the median personal income in South Dunedin is NZ$20,100, some pockets reported a record low median income of NZ$14,000. Due to its low-quality housing stock, South Dunedin also reported a high level of residents living in rental homes including low-income earners, people experiencing mental health and emotional issues, and recent migrants. Due to its flat landscape, South Dunedin also reported a significant number of residents using wheelchairs.
Flood event
On 3 June 2015, the coastal parts of the Otago region in the South Island experienced heavy rainfall and high tide, which raised the level of height of the ground water and led to flooding. During the 24 hour period leading to 3pm on 3 June, Dunedin City Council (DCC) civil defence manager estimated that 90-95 mm of rain had fallen in the Dunedin area. The DCC described the June flood event as a "one in a 100 year flood," with about 175mm of rain falling in the 24 hour period between 4 am on 3 June and 4 am on 4 June, exceeding the "one in a 100 year flood" level which was 120mm over 24 hours.
The worst affected suburbs were South Dunedin, Kaikorai Valley, the Brighton coast, the Taieri Plain, North Road and parts of Mosgiel. In response to the rainfall and flooding, residents erected sandbags to protect their properties and businesses. St Clair and Bathgate Park primary schools also sent their pupils home in response to the flooding.
By 12:40 pm, Pine Hill had recorded over 60mm of rain in the past 24 hours. Heavy rain also caused several rivers and streams in North Otago, Dunedin, South Otago and upper Taieri Plain including the Silver Stream, Kaikorai Stream, the Water of Leith, and Lindsay Creek to rise rapidly. Flooding was reported in Kaikorai Valley road, the Gordon Road spillway, and parts of the Taieri Plain and North East Valley. In addition, heavy rainfall caused leaks at several Dunedin Hospital properties, with a blocked city main causing flooding at the Hospital's Lower Ground loading dock.
By noon, MetService duty forecaster Emma Blake reported that 70mm of rain had fallen in coastal Otago during the morning. The meteorological service maintained a heavy rain warning for Dunedin and the Clutha District until 2am on 4 June but forecast that rain would slowly begin easing overnight. Blake forecast that Dunedin would receive a further 80 to 100 mm of rainfall.
The rain eased on 4 June, with Dunedin receiving a total of 175 mm of rain over the past 24 hours. South Dunedin was the hardest hit area, with Labour Member of Parliament for Dunedin South, Claire Curran, describing the suburb as a "major disaster area."
Impact
Dunedin
The heavy rainfall and flooding strained Dunedin's stormwater and sewage systems and road network. By 10:30 am on 3 June, the DCC Water and Waste Network Contracts Manager Mike Ind confirmed that stormwater and sewers in the Hillside Road and Surrey Street areas had reached capacity. By 4pm on 3 February, nine roads around the wider Dunedin area had been closed. New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) urged people to avoid traveling on roads and highways around Dunedin. The NZTA also advised people to avoid travelling on the Dunedin Southern Motorway between Dunedin city centre and Mosgiel. In addition, foul sewer contamination had led to the closure of Hargest Crescent road area. Radio New Zealand later revised the number of affected roads to 15.
By 3 June, Radius Fulton rest home on Dunedin's Hillside Road had been evacuated due to flooding. While some of Radius Fulton's 94 residents managed to seek shelter with family, the rest home had to arrange alternative accommodation for 78 residents. Multiple slips were also reported in the Otago peninsula including Taiaroa Head, which obstructed travel in the area. Two drivers also escaped after their cars were swallowed up by a sinkhole in the Otago peninsula.
East Taieri
In response to surface flooding, power utilities company Aurora Energy cut power to 160 homes in the East Taieri area until the floodwaters subside and power could be safely restored, affecting 517 consumers. By 4 June, Auroa Energy had restored power to the affected homes.
South Otago
Surface flooding was also reported in the Clutha District, leading to the closure of several roads including Lakeside Road at the railway underbridge, Akatore Road at Big Creek, Papatowai Highway at Caberfeidh Hill, Karoro Creek, Mt Wallace Road, Back Road, Springfield Road, Allison Road, and Remote Road.
Central Otago
Flooding also occurred on parts of State Highway 8 between the Lindis Pass and Cromwell in Central Otago.
Tasman-Nelson region
Over 50mm of rain fell in the Tasman–Nelson region of the upper South Island between the mornings of 2 and 3 June 2015, resulting in properties and paddocks being flooded. In addition, Cable Bay near Nelson experienced heavy rain and flooding.
Responses
Emergency response
In response to the flooding, emergency services established an operations centre at the civil defence bunker in Dunedin Central to coordinate their response to the various flooding events across Dunedin. On 4 June, Fire Service personnel also commenced pumping activities throughout South Dunedin. The Southern District Health Board (SDHB) also established an emergency operations centre to ensure that staff were able to travel safely to and from work. The SDHB also assisted several age residential care facilities in Dunedin including finding placement breaks.
During the June flood event, Civil Defence Controller Ruth Stokes confirmed that Civil Defence's Dunedin call centre had received over 3,000 calls over the last 24 hours. On 4 June, Civil Defence visited over 200-flood damaged properties. On 4 June the Fire Service also responded to 345 events, with 90% being in the South Dunedin area. 20 additional Police officers were deployed in South Dunedin to deter looting. In addition, Fire Service Area Commander Lawrence Voight confirmed that firefighters had responded to 130 calls for assistance.
The New Zealand Army was also placed on alert in Mosgiel in the event that the Silver Stream burst its banks. On 3 June, an Army Unimog was used to evacuate children from the flood-stricken Abbotsford School. The Army also helped volunteers sandbag 100 homes in the coastal Dunedin suburb of St Kilda in response to flooding. Houses in South Dunedin's Cutten Street were evacuated with New Zealand Red Cross volunteers visiting households to conduct wellness chats.
Local government
On 3 June, the Civil Defence Welfare Committee and Dunedin City Council also established a welfare centre at South Dunedin Presbyterian Church to provide advice and assistance to affected residents. The New Zealand Red Cross, Police and DCC also visited residences and properties in flood-affected areas of Dunedin to provide safety and welfare checks. The DCC and emergency services also discouraged motorists from driving in flood-affected areas to avoid creating "bow waves" that push flood waters into properties.
On 4 June, Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull established a mayoral fund to assist flood victims. He stated that the DCC's priority was to get people's flood homes dried and habitable, which would take a few days. The Council also settled displaced residents in motels. Since several roads in the Dunedin area had been damaged by the flood, the DCC and Civil Defence appealed for volunteers to assist with sandbagging, sweeping streets and cleaning homes.
Schools and colleges
As a result of the flooding, all primary and intermediate schools in Dunedin, and early childhood centres affiliated with the Dunedin Kindergarten Association (DKA) closed on 3 June. In addition, Taieri College in Mosgiel and King's High School and Queen's High School in South Dunedin closed. However, Otago Polytechnic's Dunedin campus remained opened.
Aftermath
Damages
In 2017, a University of Otago study estimated that at least 800 homes in the South Dunedin area had been flooded. In 2019, Stuff journalist Charlie Mitchell estimated that around 1,200 homes and businesses in South Dunedin had been damaged by water. The insurance company IAG New Zealand estimated that total flood damage amounted to NZ$138 million (including NZ$28 million in insurance payouts, NZ$64 million in economic damage, and NZ$18 million in social damage).
Criticism of the Dunedin City Council
The Dunedin City Council attracted criticism from local residents including Neil Ivory for failing to maintain drain systems, which worsened the impact of the flooding in parts of Dunedin. In response, DCC road maintenance Peter Stranding said that the city's stormwater system had reached saturation point and could only cope with a certain level of rain. He stated that the mud tanks were full to capacity and discharging onto Dunedin's roading network.
On 21 June 2016, the DCC admitted during a public meeting that a faulty pumping station had made the flood in South Dunedin 20cm deeper. DCC chief executive Sue Bidrose told members of the public that the flooding was caused more by heavy rainfall than an overwhelmed stormwater system. In response, the Council had repaired the pumping station, cleared all drains and mud tanks in South Dunedin, and adopted new procedures to deal with heavy rain. Mayor Cull drew criticism for not attending the public meeting since he was visiting China. In response to allegations from the South Dunedin Action Group that the DCC was planning to abandon South Dunedin and blame it on climate change, Bidrose stated that the Council had invested NZ$5 million in the South Dunedin community hub, NZ$500,000 in a local hockey turf, and was planning to expand the local Gasworks Museum.
In September 2016, the DCC and Otago Regional Council (ORC) launched a series of eight public meetings to discuss the impact of the 2015 flood in South Dunedin and to discuss future planning. Attendees were shown a presentation on the environmental history of South Dunedin and the impact of climate change. Local government officials including ORC director for engineering, hazards and science Gavin Palmer and DCC chief executive Bidrose fronted these talks.
Climate change adaptation
On 20 November 2015, a report released by Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright on rising sea levels estimated that 2,800 homes and businesses in South Dunedin were at risk from sea level rises of half a metre caused by climate change. Of this figure, 2,700 homes lay less than 50cm of the high tide mark, with over 70% being situated lower than half that elevation. Due to climate change, rising global temperatures were forecast to melt ice caps, causing sea levels to rise and creating more storms and flooding. In response to the report, Mayor Cull described rising sea levels as a serious issue facing South Dunedin due to its high population density and older, poorer population.
In response to the 2015 Otago flood, the DCC launched a series of workshops in March 2021 to seek community feedback on the future of the South Dunedin coastline between St Clair and St Kilda.
On 25 February 2023, Victoria University of Wellington emeritus professor of public policy Dr Jonathan Boston identified Dunedin as vulnerable to rising sea levels in the near future due to climate change. In the wake of the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, Boston advocated a managed retreat strategy for flood-prone and low-lying areas including South Dunedin, which would involve property buyouts and cooperation between central and local governments.
On 23 June 2023, the DCC's South Dunedin Future programme manager Jonathan Rowe confirmed that the Council was discussing plans to deal with climate change-related challenges facing South Dunedin including rising groundwater, rising sea levels, and increased rainfall. Rowe confirmed that the DCC was considering managed retreat as an option. He clarified that it did not mean abandoning the suburb but potentially strategically evacuating from some areas and intensifying development in other areas. While St Clair Action Group co-chair Richard Egan expressed support for the DCC's planning process for South Dunedin, Ray Macleod of the Greater South Dunedin Action Group criticised managed retreat as amounting to an abandonment of the community.
On 5 September, Mayor of Dunedin Jules Radich confirmed that the DCC had commenced talks with the New Zealand Treasury to secure funding to purchase properties in flood-prone parts of South Dunedin as part of the Council's climate adaptation strategy.
Notes and references
Further reading
2010s floods in Oceania
2015 floods
2015 disasters in New Zealand
Floods in New Zealand
Weather events in New Zealand
Floods
2015 meteorology
History of Otago
History of Dunedin |
74917834 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%20Bayelsa%20State%20floods | 2022 Bayelsa State floods | The 2022 Bayelsa State Flooding took place between September and November 2022 in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. It displaced at least 1.3 million people as confirmed by the Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency.
Causes
Release of water from Lagbo Dam in Northern Cameroun to avoid bursting and overstretching of the dam and its surroundings was one of the main cause of the flood. Also the consistent weeks of rainfall led to flash floods, discharges and overflowing of rivers in the state which led to submerging of farmlands and residential living areas.
The governor, Douye Diri accused the federal government of negligence during the floods after the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq said that the state was not one of the worst hit.
This claim was countered by the governor and the united nations who described the state flood as one of the worst hit and needing urgent attention.
Effects on climate change
The flood affected the major East West road and the Patani axis in Delta State leading to closure of the road for commutants during the period of the flood. The flood was similar to the one that happened in the state in 2012 where communities were submerged in the state.
Due to the massive nature of the floods and the disaster, close to 6,000 IDP camps were established in the state at Oxbow lake and at the Igbogene centre.
References
2022 floods in Africa
Bayelsa State
Floods in Nigeria
2022 disasters in Nigeria
Climate change in Nigeria |
74938622 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September%202023%20New%20York%20floods | September 2023 New York floods | On September 29, 2023, heavy rainfall led to flooding across portions of the New York metropolitan area and areas in New York City, United States. New York governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for five boroughs in New York, including portions of Hudson Valley and Long Island, and New York City mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency for the city. New Jersey governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for all 21 counties in the state, and Hoboken, New Jersey mayor Ravinder Bhalla also declared a state of emergency.
The flooding suspended train service across numerous lines in Brooklyn, and every line on the New York City Subway was affected. Metro-North Railroad service was suspended on three lines, and several boroughs and numerous streets were flooded throughout the region. A ground stop was imposed on LaGuardia Airport, where nearly 60 flights were cancelled. The heavy rainfall was caused by a stalled low-pressure area as showers and thunderstorms developed on September 29.
Meteorological synopsis
A moderate risk of excessive rainfall was issued by the Weather Prediction Center, and a flood watch was issued for portions of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. A weak low-pressure area developed off the East Coast of the United States, absorbed the remains of Tropical Storm Ophelia, then stalled, dropping heavy rainfall across areas that were already under a flood watch after Ophelia had moved through the same region days earlier. Convection developed on the morning of September 29 after an upper-level trough approached from the Ohio valley and interacted with a strengthening cold front offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
Widespread heavy rainfall occurred in a concentrated area from the New York metropolitan area to southern New York to southern Connecticut to western Massachusetts along a low-level convergence axis. Favorable precipitable water values around 1.6 inches, elevated convective instability, and southeasterly low-level winds between 20-30 knots supported several rounds of heavy rain across the concentrated area. The mesoscale low-pressure area then moved east on the afternoon of September 29, where the convergence axis and elevated instability again produced heavy rainfall across Long Island, and weak instability values in the hundreds and moisture transport also contributed to rainfall rates of per hour across southern Connecticut and western Massachusetts.
Impact
The National Weather Service in New York City issued a considerable flash flood warning for Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens as more than of rain fell throughout the region. Flood warnings also covered more than 18 million people across the New York metropolitan area.
New York governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for five boroughs in New York, including boroughs in Hudson Valley and Long Island, and New York City mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency for the city. The New York Army National Guard was deployed. Several highways, including portions of FDR Drive, Hutchinson River Parkway, Major Deegan Expressway (I-87), Cross Island Parkway and Grand Central Parkway, were closed. Traffic was stopped on the Prospect Expressway (NY 27) near Kensington as vehicles were inundated by floodwaters.
Every line on the New York City Subway was affected, with four routes completely suspended, 12 partially suspended, and an additional eight services significantly delayed, which included no train service on the 2, 3, 4, 5 routes in Brooklyn, and no service on the B and G routes at all. Metro-North Railroad service was suspended on the New Haven, Hudson and Harlem lines, and a terminal at LaGuardia Airport was shut down due to flooding. A ground stop was also imposed at the airport. Departures were delayed at John F. Kennedy International Airport due to heavy rainfall, with total rainfall of . Of that total, of rain fell there on just September 29, setting the preliminary record for the highest rainfall in one day. NYC Ferry and Amtrak service was also delayed.
Minor roof collapses and flooded basements occurred across the region. Sewers and roads were overwhelmed by flooding in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the mayor of Hoboken, Ravinder Bhalla, declared a state of emergency. Later, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for all 21 counties in the state and ordered all state offices to close. A Major League Baseball game between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field in Queens was postponed, and a separate Mets game against the Miami Marlins was suspended in the ninth inning due to rain. A National Hockey League preseason game between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders at UBS Arena was postponed. Schools across the Bronxville Union Free School District were let out early due to the heavy rainfall that fell across portions of Bronxville and Westchester County, and an elementary school in Brooklyn was evacuated due to a boiler smoking possibly related to the flooding. More than 150 schools across New York were inundated by floodwaters, and more than 105 school buses were delayed, which affected more than 250 schools. Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island were closed indefinitely. Several attractions were closed, including Wildlife Conservation Society zoos; a female sea lion also briefly escaped from its enclosure in the Central Park Zoo. Electrical damage caused by the heavy rains forced an evacuation and temporary closure of Woodhull Medical Center. 28 people were rescued from floodwaters.
Numerous locations across received more than of rain, with Central Park recording of rainfall, Midtown Manhattan recording of rain, Fordham recording of rain and Howard Beach recording of rain. The heaviest rainfall, however, was in Brooklyn where Park Slope received of rain, with Valley Stream in Nassau County recording of rain. Parts of Brooklyn received of rain in just three hours.
Nearly 300 flights were cancelled and 400 were delayed at LaGuardia Airport, while 200 flights were cancelled and more than 400 were delayed at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Possible link between excessive rainfall and climate change
According to The Independent, "flooding is blamed on climate change". Reuters states that extreme weather events are becoming "a new normal".
The commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Rohit Aggarwala, drew a relationship between the 2023 floods and climate change, linking the floods with previous weather events. Aggarwala stated, "This changing weather pattern is the result of climate change, and the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond."
Daniel A. Zarrilli, a special adviser to Columbia University on the institution's climate and sustainability practices, warns that, "That storm with the scenes of water rushing over roads and sidewalks were similar to those in 2021 when Hurricane Ida inundated the city and left 11 people dead in Queens." He indicates that the 2021 hurricane was a warning sign of further weather events to come.
Ryan Maue, the former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, quoted Tommaso Alberti, a researcher at Italy’s Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia saying, “that the extreme event that hit New York ‘aligns with climate change projections’. He added that while natural variability can deliver major storms, ‘human-driven climate change is the primary driver, underscoring the urgent need for climate mitigation and adaptation efforts’.
See also
Floods in the United States (2000–present)
References
New York
2023 meteorology
2023 in New York (state)
2023 in New York City
2023 in New Jersey
2023 in Connecticut
New York floods
Natural disasters in New York (state)
Natural disasters in New York City
Natural disasters in New Jersey
Natural disasters in Connecticut |
74939633 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Western%20Cape%20floods | 2023 Western Cape floods | The 2023 Western Cape floods were a series of floods affecting the Western Cape province of South Africa as a result of heavy rainfall on 24-25 September 2023. The flooding resulted in at least 11 fatalities, the closure of over 200 roads, and over 80,000 being left without electricity.
Background
On 23 September 2023, the South African Weather Service issued a level 6 warning for parts of the Garden Route District Municipality. The alert warned of damaging wind and waves as well as severe thunderstorms in the area from 24 to 25 September.
Over the two-day period from 24 to 25 September, the town of Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands District Municipality, and the city Cape Town received 193mm and 143mm of rain respectively.
Impact
By Tuesday 26 September, at least 11 people had been killed in the floods. Eight of those people, including 4 children were electrocuted when floods damaged electricity connections in their informal settlements. The remaining three people were killed after being washed away by the flood waters. The number of people without electricity as a result of the flooding had reduced from over 80,000 people to approximately 15,000. As of 29 September, one person remains missing after being washed off a bridge while in his car in the town of Kleinmond.
Agriculture
In the immediate aftermath of the floods, the Western Cape Government estimated that damages to the agricultural sector in the province stood at R1.4 billion.
Events
The Rocking the Daisies music festival, initially scheduled for 6-8 October, was postponed to 17-19 November after the floods affected venue preparation.
The 32nd Hermanus Whale Festival was cancelled for health and safety reasons after water infrastructure in the area was damaged. Hermanus residents were supplied with water by tankers.
See also
Weather of 2023
References
2023 floods in Africa
2023 in South Africa
Floods in South Africa
2023 disasters in South Africa
September 2023 events in Africa |
74939846 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalisco%20flood | Jalisco flood | The Jalisco flood, locally referred to as the Autlán de Navarro flood, was a devastating inundation that struck the region of Autlán de Navarro in the Mexican state of Jalisco. This flood, which began on September 25, 2023, at approximately 7:20 AM, was a result of heavy and relentless rainfall across Autlán de Navarro and its surrounding areas.
Event
On September 25, 2023, the small community of about 200 inhabitants of Autlán de Navarro in Jalisco, Mexico was devastated by flash flooding. The flooding was triggered by a sudden rise of the El Jalocote stream. The surge resulted in eight confirmed deaths, three missing persons, and significant property damage. Five houses, a school, and multiple roads were also damaged. With the aid of search and rescue dogs, drones, and a medical helicopter, firefighters and emergency responders are still in progress to find the remaining missing people.
Heavy deforestation and a fire that occurred earlier in the year combined with unusually high rainfall in the region may have impacted the wooded area around the stream and contributed to the severity of the flash flooding event, although this connection has not been definitively proven.
References
2023 meteorology
2023 floods in North America
September 2023 events in Mexico
Natural disasters in Mexico
History of Jalisco |
74941179 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20northeastern%20U.S.%20floods | 2023 northeastern U.S. floods | 2023 northeastern U.S. floods may refer to:
July 2023 Northeastern United States floods
September 2023 northeastern U.S. floods
September 2023 New York floods |
74969757 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Flood%20%282020%20film%29 | The Flood (2020 film) | The Flood is a 2020 Australian drama film written and directed by Victoria Wharfe McIntyre.
Plot
Jarah Banganha goes in search of revenge.
Cast
Alexis Lane as Jarah Banganha
Shaka Cook as Waru Banganha
Dean Kyrwood as Shamus and Paddy MacKay
Dalara Williams as Maggie Banganha
Karen Garnsey as Pam Bradfield
Peter McAllum as Gerald Mackay
Simone Landers as Binda Banganha
Aaron Jeffery as William 'Minto' Minton
Production
The Flood is Victoria Wharfe McIntyre's first full-length feature.
Reception
Writing in The Australian David Stratton gave it 3 1/2 stars stating "Beautifully photographed by Kevin Scott, The Flood is in many ways spectacular, but it’s also very bitter in its depiction of the injustice and violence meted out to Indigenous Australians in the not-too-distant past, though it ends on a note of reconciliation. With her cartridge belt slung over her shoulder, the vengeful Jarah is a formidable heroine indeed. All the production values, including the beautifully illustrated credit titles, are first-class." The Sydney Morning Herald's Brad Newsome gives it a 2 1/2 star review concluding "Jimmie Blacksmith taking an axe to Ruth Cracknell it ain’t. Still, it’s always great to see a susbtantially Indigenous cast with a female lead, there are some gorgeous shots of the cast and the landscape, as well as some fine performances (notably Cook, who went on to join the Australian cast of Hamilton). Worth a look."
Awards
10th AACTA Awards
Best Supporting Actor - Aaron Jeffery - nominated
References
External links
2020 films
2020 drama films
Australian drama films
2020s English-language films |
74972223 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Nagpur%20flood | 2023 Nagpur flood | The 2023 Nagpur Flood was a flooding event that occurred in the city of Nagpur in the Indian State of Maharashtra on September 24, 2023. The flood caused deaths and economic destruction with several hundred people being evacuated in various parts of the city.
Cause
The flood was caused due to 109 mm heavy rains in the city, causing the Nag river to overflow into nearby areas, flooding homes, schools commercial areas and hospitals. An ill-planned storm water drainage system and encroachment along the Nag river that blocks the flow of the river. Additionally, unchecked growth of Eichhornia weed in the Ambazari lake, caused by sewage intrusion, flowed with the current and blocked major discharge points along the Nag river which also contributed to the flooding.
Aftermath
There were four recorded deaths and more than 400 people were evacuated from their homes by rescue and relief teams including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). An estimated 10000 houses were affected. A relief fund of ₹10,000 was announced for affected families and ₹5,00,0000 for affected business owners. A bridge on the Nag river collapsed, blocking a major highway in the city. The retaining wall of Nag river had collapsed at various locations.
References
2023 disasters in India
2023 floods
Floods in India
September 2023 events in India
2023 floods
Nagpur division
2023 floods in Asia |
74980524 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Sikkim%20flash%20floods | 2023 Sikkim flash floods | On 4 October 2023, heavy rains caused the glacial South Lhonak lake in Sikkim, a state in northeastern India, to breach its banks, causing a glacial lake outburst flood. The flood reached the Teesta III Dam at Chungthang at midnight, before its gates could be opened, destroying the dam in minutes. Water levels downstream in the River Teesta rose by up to , causing widespread damage.
It is the deadliest flood in the area after the 1968 Sikkim floods when around 1000 people were killed.
Course of events
Background
The South Lhonak Lake is a moraine-dammed lake fed by the meltwater of the Lhonak glacier. It was first seen in CORONA satellite images from 1962 as a supraglacial lake. Landsat MSS images show that it became a separate lake by 1977, with a surface area of . In four decades, as the glacier retreated , the lake swelled in size, covering nearly by 2008. It was identified as potentially at risk of causing glacial outburst floods, and in 2018 pipelines were carried up by yak and installed to pump water out of it. Sentinel-1A images from 28 September 2023 showed the lake covering an area of .
Before the flood, scientists and authorities were working on installing an early warning system for glacial floods from the lake.
The flood
In early October 2023, a cloudburst caused Sikkim to receive more than double its normal rainfall; between 3 and 4 October alone, the state received five times the usual precipitation. The South Lhonak burst its shores, causing a flash flood. Satellite images from the Indian Space Research Organisation's RISAT-1A show that the lake's surface area shrunk by more than . Based on a warning from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at midnight, the operators of the Teesta III Dam at Chungthang rushed to open the dam's gates, but were too late; the flood quickly destroyed the dam, as well as the bridge to its 1200-MW hydroelectric powerhouse, which was submerged.
Water levels downstream in the River Teesta subsequently rose by , flooding many areas in Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong, and Namchi districts in Sikkim, and Kalimpong, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts in West Bengal. The flood also went onwards to Bangladesh, where it affected hundreds of villages along the Teesta River and Char areas.
Fifteen bridges across the state were washed away, and the north of the state, including the capital Gangtok, was cut off from the rest of India as parts of National Highway 10 collapsed. Three thousand tourists were stranded across the state. Towns and cities like Chungthang, Dikchu, Singtam, Rangpo, Melli, and Teesta Bazaar were very heavily damaged.
Relief operations
The government of Sikkim declared the flood a disaster, and the Indian central government released ₹48 crore ($5.76 million) in disaster relief funds. Additionally, the state government announced an ex-gratia compensation of ₹4 lakh ($4804) to the families of those who died, as well as an immediate payment of ₹2,000 ($24) to those in relief camps. The National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Army are involved in the ongoing relief operations. Two thousand four hundred people were evacuated from flood-hit areas, and 7,600 others were in relief camps. Ten thousand more were evacuated in West Bengal.
Fourteen people were believed to be trapped inside the tunnels of the destroyed Teesta III Dam; a 60-strong team of the National Disaster Response Force — including scuba divers — was assembled to rescue them.
Casualties
At least 40 people were killed and 22 injured, while 75 were reported missing as of 6 October. Among the missing were 23 Indian Army personnel, of whom seven were subsequently found dead and one rescued alive. One of the dead soldiers was found floating in the Teesta in Nilphamari, Bangladesh; the Border Guard Bangladesh handed over the body to the Indian officials through a flag meeting. One child was killed and six injured in the neighbouring state of West Bengal when a mortar shell carried downstream from Sikkim exploded after being picked up by locals.
Notes
References
2023 disasters in India
2023 floods in Asia
2023 flash floods
2020s in West Bengal
October 2023 events in India
2023 flash floods
Disasters in West Bengal
Floods in India |
75041707 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993%20Perth%20flood | 1993 Perth flood | The 1993 Perth flood (also known as the Great Tay Flood) was caused by the River Tay, Scotland's longest river, rising to above its normal level, with a flow of . It occurred on 17 January 1993, in Perth, Scotland, after heavy snowfall, from blizzards experienced six days earlier, had melted. The flood almost broke the record for the height of the Tay's waters (set in 1814, when it rose above normal). A flood had occurred three years earlier, in February 1990, but the peak flow of the 1993 event was estimated to have been around 30% higher.
An estimated of farmland was flooded, along with large-scale damage to residential and commercial properties. Over 1,500 people had to abandon their homes.
The flood caused damage amounting to around £10 million. The city installed flood defences, which were completed in 2001, at a cost of around £25 million.
References
External links
"Floods North Muirton Perth Scotland" – YouTube, 2014
1990s floods in Europe
1993 floods
1993 disasters in the United Kingdom
January 1993 events in the United Kingdom
Perth, Scotland
Natural disasters in Scotland |
75127321 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%20Akosombo%20dam%20spillage%20flood | 2023 Akosombo dam spillage flood | The Akosombo Dam Spillage Flood is a flood that occurred in the south-eastern part of Ghana. This is due to a controlled spillage of the Akosombo Dam and the Kpong Dam by the Volta River Authority to address rising water levels.
Background
The Akosombo Dam has a 150 billion cubic meters storage capacity with a maximum operating level of 276 feet. Due to the effects of climate change, Ghana has been experiencing rising levels of rainfall, causing the water levels to rise beyond the maximum operation capacity. Without the spillage exercise, this could lead to dam failure. The spillage exercise started on 15 September 2023, at 183,000 cfs/day. This was increased on 9 October 2023 due to continued rise of the water level.
Impact
The spillage led to the displacement of 8,000 people in 8 communities along the Volta River downstream, with Mepe being the most affected. The numbers have since increased to 31,000 as of 19 October 2023.
References
Floods in Ghana
2023 disasters in Ghana |
75178649 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adamawa%20State%20Flood | Adamawa State Flood |
Adamawa Floods
Adamawa State, situated in Nigeria, is a region characterized by its susceptibility to flooding, primarily attributed to its geographical features and climatic conditions. The state, experienced a significant inundation, affecting over 30,000 square kilometers of land, and potentially jeopardizing the safety of approximately 6,600,000 people.
Specifically within Adamawa State, estimated 1,000 square kilometers of land submerged. This resulted in a potential exposure of 260,000 individuals to the flooding's impact. The primary contributors to this were identified as heightened water flows originating from the Cameroonian highlands, compounded by heavy rainfall.
Reportedly, the flood's aftermath was marked by a considerable toll on human lives. Reports indicate 25 confirmed fatalities, with an additional 58 individuals left critically injured. Moreover, it also displaced 131,638 people further underscored the gravity of the situation. This flooding also led to the submergence of 153 communities, and affecting the social and economic landscape of the region.
The Adamawa Flood of September 2022 serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of the area to such natural disasters, highlighting the pressing need for effective disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies within the region.
The Adamawa State Flood of 2022 was a natural disaster that occurred as a result of heavy rainfall, river overflows, and dam spills in Cameroon during the rainy season. According to the report from NEMA National Emergency Management Agency this event led to severe flooding in thirty-one out of the thirty-six federal states of Nigeria which Adamawa was Among the affected states.
Impact
According to the source Over 30,000 square kilometers of land were inundated, posing a potential risk to approximately 6,600,000 people.
In Adamawa State alone, 1,000 square kilometers of land were reportedly submerged, with 260,000 individuals potentially exposed to the flooding.
As a result of the increased water flows from the Cameroonian highlands, coupled with heavy rainfall, were identified as the primary causes of the flooding.
The flood resulted in 25 reported fatalities and left 58 people critically injured.
With Additional 131,638 individuals were displaced, and 153 communities were submerged as of September 2022.
Humanitarian Response
A collaborative multisectoral Rapid Needs Assessment was initiated to address knowledge gaps and coordinate humanitarian efforts in response to the flood.
<ref></ref
North-East Nigeria Flood Incidents (October 2023)
In October 2023, the North-East region of Nigeria was said to experienced a series of flood incidents, primarily attributed to water releases from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. This event resulted in significant infrastructure damage, displacing more than 8,504 households and 33 individuals died, predominantly women, children, and the elderly.
Ongoing Monitoring
The circumstances surrounding this flooding was reported to be continue to be closely monitored, and further updates on the situation are anticipated.A team from the National Emergency Management Agency, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency conducted an assessment tour to the Bakin Kogi river in Jimeta to monitor water levels for potential flooding. The water level was found to be 8.0 meters at 10.00 am on 30th August 2023. The team then contacted the Marine Unit of Nigeria Police Force for assistance in responding to the flood emergency.
September 1 Flooding in Adamawa State
On September 1, 2023, Adamawa State in Nigeria experienced a flooding event.
Flood Alert in Nine Nigerian States (September 2023)
On October 7, 2023, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) issued a flood alert to residents of nine states in Nigeria. These states include Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Delta, Edo, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Taraba.
The alert was based on information indicating a sudden increase in flood waters along the flood plains of River Benue, primarily affecting Adamawa, Taraba, and Benue states. The rapid release of waters from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon was identified as the primary cause.
Impact and Response
According to NEMA The flooding in 2023 resulted in the displacement of numerous inhabitants, risking croplands and vital infrastructure. In total, 159,157 individuals were affected, 28 lives were lost, and 48,168 people were displaced in 13 states across Nigeria.
References |
203089 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooded%20grasslands%20and%20savannas | Flooded grasslands and savannas | Flooded grasslands and savannas is a terrestrial biome of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) biogeographical system, consisting of large expanses or complexes of flooded grasslands. These areas support numerous plants and animals adapted to the unique hydrologic regimes and soil conditions. Large congregations of migratory and resident waterbirds may be found in these regions. The relative importance of these habitat types for these birds as well as more vagile taxa typically varies as the availability of water and productivity annually and seasonally shifts among complexes of smaller and larger wetlands throughout a region.
This habitat type is found on four of the continents on Earth. Some globally outstanding flooded savannas and grasslands occur in the Everglades, Pantanal, Lake Chad flooded savanna, Zambezian flooded grasslands, and the Sudd. The Everglades, with an area of , are the world's largest rain-fed flooded grassland on a limestone substrate, and feature some 11,000 species of seed-bearing plants, 25 varieties of orchids, 300 bird species, and 150 fish species. The Pantanal, with an area of , is the largest flooded grassland on Earth, supporting over 260 species of fish, 700 birds, 90 mammals, 160 reptiles, 45 amphibians, 1,000 butterflies, and 1,600 species of plants. The flooded savannas and grasslands are generally the largest complexes in each region.
See also
Coniferous swamp
Dambo
Fen
Flood-meadow
Freshwater swamp forest
Mangroves
Marsh
Marsh gas
Muck (soil)
Peat
Peat swamp forest
Salt marsh
Shrub swamp
Water-meadow
Wet meadow
References
External links
Grasslands
Wetlands
Terrestrial biomes |
203468 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding%20algorithm | Flooding algorithm | A flooding algorithm is an algorithm for distributing material to every part of a graph. The name derives from the concept of inundation by a flood.
Flooding algorithms are used in computer networking and graphics. Flooding algorithms are also useful for solving many mathematical problems, including maze problems and many problems in graph theory.
Different flooding algorithms can be applied for different problems, and run with different time complexities. For example, the flood fill algorithm is a simple but relatively robust algorithm that works for intricate geometries and can determine which part of the (target) area that is connected to a given (source) node in a multi-dimensional array, and is trivially generalized to arbitrary graph structures. If there instead are several source nodes, there are no obstructions in the geometry represented in the multi-dimensional array, and one wishes to segment the area based on which of the source nodes the target nodes are closest to, while the flood fill algorithm can still be used, the jump flooding algorithm is potentially much faster as it has a lower time complexity. Unlike the flood fill algorithm, however, the jump flooding algorithm cannot trivially be generalized to unstructured graphs.
See also
Flooding (computer networking)
Water retention on mathematical surfaces
Flood fill
Graph traversal
Spanning tree
Spanning Tree Protocol
External links
Flooding edge or node weighted graphs, Fernand Meyer
Water Retention Utility |
209210 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%20Flood | Texas Flood | Texas Flood is the debut studio album by the American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, released on June 13, 1983 by Epic Records. The album was named after a cover featured on the album, "Texas Flood", which was first recorded by blues singer Larry Davis in 1958. Produced by the band and recording engineer Richard Mullen, Texas Flood was recorded in the space of three days at Jackson Browne's personal recording studio in Los Angeles. Vaughan wrote six of the album's ten tracks.
Two singles, "Love Struck Baby" and "Pride and Joy", were released from the album. A music video was made for "Love Struck Baby" and received regular rotation on MTV in 1983. Texas Flood was reissued in 1999 with five bonus tracks including an interview segment, studio outtake, and three live tracks recorded on September 23, 1983 at The Palace in Hollywood, California. The album was reissued again in 2013, with two CDs in celebration of the album's 30th anniversary. Disc 1 is the original album with one bonus track, "Tin Pan Alley". Disc 2 is selections from a previously unreleased concert recorded at Ripley's Music Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 20, 1983, originally recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio program.
Texas Flood received positive reviews, with critics praising the deep blues sound, and Vaughan’s songwriting, while some criticized the album for straying too far from mainstream rock. A retrospective review by AllMusic awarded it five out of five stars.
Background
Vaughan and Double Trouble had performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1982 and caught the attention of musician Jackson Browne. He offered the band three days of free use in his Los Angeles recording studio. During Thanksgiving weekend, they accepted Browne's offer and recorded a demo. It was heard by record producer John H. Hammond, who had discovered artists such as Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen among many others. He presented the demo to Greg Geller, head of A&R at Epic Records, and arranged a recording contract.
Recording and production
Since the first day of production largely involved setting up equipment, Texas Flood was recorded in two days, with no overdubs. In early 1983, subsequent to the band's signing with Epic, they were given an advance of $65,000 to re-master the recordings. The album was mixed and mastered in New York City. The recordings were released as Texas Flood in June 1983.
Bassist Tommy Shannon recalls of the sessions, "It really was just a big warehouse with concrete floors and some rugs thrown down. We just found a little corner, set up in a circle looking at and listening to each other and played like a live band." Vaughan used two Fender Vibroverbs and a 150-watt Dumbleland Special owned by Browne. Engineer and co-producer Richard Mullen says of his production techniques:
Touring
Vaughan and Double Trouble toured North America and Europe in June–December 1983 to support Texas Flood. On July 15, 1983, they performed at the Rooftop Skyroom Bar in Buffalo, NY, then July 20 the El Mocambo in Toronto and a film was released in December 1999 by Sony named Live at the El Mocambo on DVD. A performance from Austin City Limits was also released on the video Live from Austin, Texas. On August 22, 1983, the band performed a sold-out concert at The Palace in Hollywood. The show was broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and three tracks were included on the reissue of Texas Flood. The tour continued on through Europe and the band appeared at the Reading Festival in England. They went back to the United States and opened 17 shows for The Moody Blues.
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score =
| rev2 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| rev2score =
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = B+
| rev4 = The Great Rock Discography
| rev4score = 6/10<ref name="GRD"></ref>
| rev5 = MusicHound Blues| rev5score = 3.5/5
| rev6 = Rolling Stone| rev6score =
| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide| rev7score =
| rev8 = The Village Voice| rev8score = B
| rev9 = Classic Rock| rev9score =
| rev10 = The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings| rev10score =
}}Texas Flood was released on June 13, 1983, with two singles released from the album—"Pride and Joy" and "Love Struck Baby". "Pride and Joy" peaked at #20 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Texas Flood" was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Performance and "Rude Mood" was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. The album was mostly well received by critics. A five-star AllMusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine described it as a "monumental impact" and said it "sparked a revitalization of the blues". Despite many positive responses, it also received some negative notices with Rolling Stone criticizing Vaughan for a lack of originality and claiming that he didn't possess a distinctive style.Texas Monthly gave the album a positive review, calling Vaughan "the most exciting guitarist to come out of Texas since Johnny Winter". In a less enthusiastic review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau felt that the album lacked "momentum and song form", which he averred to be the essence of rock and roll. It was the lack of these characteristics that was, he said, the reason his attention wandered "after the kickoff originals 'Love Struck Baby' and 'Pride and Joy.'" The album peaked at #38 on the Billboard 200 chart immediately after its release. It went platinum in Canada and double-platinum in the United States, selling over 2,000,000 units.
On Dec. 21st, 2020 it was announced that the album was a 2021 inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame in recognition of its historical significance.
Track listing
Original release
Note: Many releases of the album erroneously attribute songwriting credits of "Testify" for Parliament members who have written an unrelated song of the same name.
1999 reissue bonus tracks
"SRV Speaks" is from a studio interview with Timothy White for Westwood One Radio. "Tin Pan Alley" is a studio outtake from the sessions for the album. The remaining bonus tracks are all from recordings for the Superstar Concert Series radio broadcast.
2013 reissue
Disc 2: Live at Ripley's Music Hall in Philadelphia, PA (October 20, 1983)
"Testify" – 4:14
"So Excited" – 4:17
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" – 7:44
"Pride and Joy" – 4:57
"Texas Flood" – 10:00
"Love Struck Baby" – 3:08
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" – 2:59
"Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place in Town)" – 8:14
"Little Wing/Third Stone from the Sun" – 12:28
Personnel
Double Trouble
Stevie Ray Vaughan – guitar, vocals
Tommy Shannon – bass guitar
Chris Layton – drums
Production
Produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Richard Mullen, Tommy Shannon, and Chris Layton
Executive producer – John H. Hammond
Production assistant – Mikie Harris
Engineered by Richard Mullen, assisted by James Geddes; Vocals on "I'm Cryin'" recorded by Lincoln Clapp
Mixed by Lincoln Clapp, assisted by Don Wershba and Harry Spiridakis
Mastered by Ken Robertson
Cover art by Brad Holland
Tray card photo by Don Hunstein
Art direction by John Berg and Allen Weinberg
1999 reissue
Executive producer – Tony Martell
Produced by Bob Irwin
Mastered by Vic Anesini
Track 12 mixed by Danny Kadar
Dialogue edited by Darcy Proper
Research assistance by George Deahl, Al Quaglieri, Matthew Kelly, and Jon Naatjes
Art direction by Josh Cheuse
Editorial direction by Andy Schwartz
Liner notes by Michael Ventura
Charts
Certifications
Release history
Notes
References
External links
Texas Flood'' at Discogs
Stevie Ray Vaughan albums
1983 debut albums
Epic Records albums
Albums produced by John Hammond (producer)
Texas blues albums |
236095 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SYN%20flood | SYN flood | A SYN flood is a form of denial-of-service attack on data communications in which an attacker rapidly initiates a connection to a server without finalizing the connection. The server has to spend resources waiting for half-opened connections, which can consume enough resources to make the system unresponsive to legitimate traffic.
The packet that the attacker sends is the SYN packet, a part of TCP's three-way handshake used to establish a connection.
Technical details
When a client attempts to start a TCP connection to a server, the client and server exchange a series of messages which normally runs like this:
The client requests a connection by sending a SYN (synchronize) message to the server.
The server acknowledges this request by sending SYN-ACK back to the client.
The client responds with an ACK, and the connection is established.
This is called the TCP three-way handshake, and is the foundation for every connection established using the TCP protocol.
A SYN flood attack works by not responding to the server with the expected ACK code. The malicious client can either simply not send the expected ACK, or by spoofing the source IP address in the SYN, cause the server to send the SYN-ACK to a falsified IP address – which will not send an ACK because it "knows" that it never sent a SYN.
The server will wait for the acknowledgement for some time, as simple network congestion could also be the cause of the missing ACK. However, in an attack, the half-open connections created by the malicious client bind resources on the server and may eventually exceed the resources available on the server. At that point, the server cannot connect to any clients, whether legitimate or otherwise. This effectively denies service to legitimate clients. Some systems may also malfunction or crash when other operating system functions are starved of resources in this way.
Countermeasures
There are a number of well-known countermeasures listed in RFC 4987 including:
Filtering
Increasing backlog
Reducing SYN-RECEIVED timer
Recycling the oldest half-open TCP
SYN cache
SYN cookies
Hybrid approaches
Firewalls and proxies
See also
Fraggle attack
Internet Control Message Protocol
IP address spoofing
Ping flood
Smurf attack
UDP flood attack
References
External links
Official CERT advisory on SYN Attacks
Attacks against TCP
Denial-of-service attacks |
241160 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20%28producer%29 | Flood (producer) | Mark Ellis (born 16 August 1960), known by his professional pseudonym Flood, is a British rock and synthpop record producer and audio engineer. Flood's list of work includes projects with New Order, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Marc and the Mambas, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Sneaker Pimps, King, Ministry, The Charlatans, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Erasure, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Foals, a-ha, Orbital, Sigur Rós, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers, White Lies, Pop Will Eat Itself, Warpaint, EOB, and Interpol. His co-production collaborations have included projects with Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Steve Lillywhite, and longtime collaborator Alan Moulder, with whom he co-founded the Assault & Battery studio complex. In 2006, his work with U2 led to his sharing of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
Early years
Mark Ellis was born in London. As a child Ellis attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, England. He began his music career as the vocalist for the band Seven Hertz. In 1978 he began his professional studio career as a runner at Morgan Studios in London and was the tape operator on Rick Wakeman's album 1984. Ellis was also a runner at Battery Studios in London and held apprenticeships at Marcus Studios and Trident Studios.
Freelance and Some Bizzare Records
Flood moved up to house engineer before becoming a freelance engineer in 1981, the same year he worked as assistant engineer on New Order's debut album Movement. The following year he engineered Ministry's debut album, With Sympathy. He became associated with Stevo's Some Bizzare Records label, leading to him working with Cabaret Voltaire, Psychic TV, and Marc Almond's side project, Marc and the Mambas among others.
Mute Records
Following his work with Some Bizzare Records, Flood began working with Mute Records as one of their preferred producers, heralding his first production project with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on From Her to Eternity (1983–1984) and the follow-up album The Firstborn Is Dead (1984). His work at Mute was as a producer, co-producer, or engineer with each of the label's major acts including Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke, and Erasure, whose debut album Wonderland (1986) and its follow-up The Circus (1987) he engineered.
Mainstream commercial success
Flood's first mainstream commercial break came in 1987 when he engineered U2's The Joshua Tree, alongside producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. In that same year, he gave up mixing U2's album to produce Erasure's The Circus, the duo's second album and the first one to have great commercial success. Shortly thereafter, he co-produced Nine Inch Nails on debut Pretty Hate Machine, along with John Fryer, Adrian Sherwood, and Keith LeBlanc. He also worked with Depeche Mode on their 1990 album, Violator. In 1991, he returned to work again with U2 on Achtung Baby, along with Eno, Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite. The following year he returned to work with Depeche Mode to record the album Songs of Faith and Devotion and co-produced three tracks of Nine Inch Nails' Broken EP.
In 1993, Flood shifted from engineering U2's albums to being a producer along with Brian Eno and The Edge on Zooropa. In 1994, he worked again with Nine Inch Nails this time on The Downward Spiral. In 1995, Flood co-produced The Smashing Pumpkins' album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness with longtime collaborator Alan Moulder, and PJ Harvey's album To Bring You My Love. Shortly thereafter, he assisted producer Nellee Hooper on Sneaker Pimps' Becoming X. He also collaborated with Dave Bessell, Gary Stout, and Ed Buller to create Node; an analogue synth heavy project that produced the album Node.
In 1996 Flood teamed with U2 once again to produce Pop, released the next year. The following year he assisted Billy Corgan and Brad Wood in producing The Smashing Pumpkins's 1998 album Adore and co-produced PJ Harvey's album Is This Desire?.
2000 to 2005
In 2000, he co-produced Machina/The Machines of God by The Smashing Pumpkins with Corgan. He co-produced Erasure's Loveboat with Vince Clarke and Andy Bell of Erasure. The following year Flood worked again with Depeche Mode, remixing the single version of "Freelove", and in 2002 he produced Richard Warren's Echoboy album Giraffe. He also co-produced I To Sky, by JJ72.
In 2003, Flood re-worked Gary Numan's "Cars" for his album Hybrid. The following year, Flood produced London-based The Duke Spirit's debut album Cuts Across The Land. In the same year he co-produced U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. In 2004 he produced Soulwax's album Any Minute Now, and in mid-2005 he mixed a-ha's eighth album, Analogue, and produced Yourcodenameis:Milo's debut album Ignoto. Later that year, Flood also mixed Placebo's album Meds.
2006 to 2013
Flood co-produced The Killers' album Sam's Town in 2006 with fellow English producer and engineer Alan Moulder. Later that year he remixed the debut single by Dark Room Notes, Love Like Nicotine. At the beginning of 2007, he co-produced PJ Harvey's album White Chalk with John Parish and PJ Harvey. He also co-produced a couple of songs on the Goldfrapp album Seventh Tree, which was released in February 2008. In late 2007 and early 2008, he produced Sigur Rós's Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust in Iceland.
Flood and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital co-produced the 2008 album by The Music, Strength in Numbers. He produced the 2009 album by The Hours, See the Light. He joined Steve Lillywhite again in 2008 to work with Thirty Seconds to Mars, on This Is War. And then worked with Editors on In This Light and on This Evening. He also collaborated with Nitzer Ebb again to finish up their first new release in over a decade, Industrial Complex. In 2010, he produced Belong by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Let England Shake by PJ Harvey.
In 2013, Flood worked again with Depeche Mode, being responsible for the mixing process of their album "Delta Machine" which was produced by Ben Hillier.
Studios
Flood had a studio in Kilburn called The Bedroom. He opened the Assault & Battery studio complex with longtime recording partner Alan Moulder. In 2008, Miloco Studios opened Assault & Battery 2, a tracking and mix studio in Willesden Green. Assault & Battery 1 came under the Miloco umbrella in Summer 2009, and both Flood and Moulder remain involved with the studios.
Production style
Billy Corgan, who worked with Flood on three albums, said:
Pseudonym
According to producer Mark Freegard, the pseudonym "Flood" was given to Ellis by producer Chris Tsangarides during Ellis' early days at Morgan Studios while The Cure was there recording. As a young studio runner Ellis was responsible for responding to numerous requests from the recording artists and staff for tea and bacon sandwiches. Ellis kept up with the numerous requests for tea while the other runner remained largely unavailable, leading to Tsangarides nicknaming them "Flood" and "Drought," respectively.
Selected engineering/production credits
Selected production credits:
1981: The Associates – Fourth Drawer Down
1981: New Order – Movement (assistant engineer)
1982: The Sound – All Fall Down (engineer)
1982: Stephen Emmer – Vogue Estate (producer)
1982: Marc and the Mambas – Untitled (engineer)
1983: Ministry – With Sympathy (engineer)
1983: Cabaret Voltaire – The Crackdown (co-producer)
1984: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – From Her to Eternity (engineer)
1985: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Firstborn Is Dead (producer, engineer)
1985: Depeche Mode – Shake the Disease (engineer)
1985: Frank Tovey – Snakes & Ladders (engineer)
1986: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Kicking Against the Pricks (mixing)
1986: Crime and the City Solution – Room of Lights (co-producer)
1986: Erasure – Wonderland (producer)
1986: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Your Funeral... My Trial (mixing, assistant producer, engineer)
1987: U2 – The Joshua Tree (engineer)
1987: Erasure – The Circus (producer)
1988: The Silencers – A Blues For Buddha (producer)
1988: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Tender Prey (engineer)
1988: Book of Love – Lullaby (producer)
1989: Nitzer Ebb – Belief (producer)
1989: Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine (engineer, programming, producer)
1989: Renegade Soundwave – Soundclash (producer)
1989: Pop Will Eat Itself – This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! (producer, mixing)
1990: The Charlatans – Some Friendly (remixing)
1990: Nitzer Ebb – Showtime (producer, engineer)
1990: Depeche Mode – Violator (producer, mixer)
1990: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Good Son (mixing)
1990: Pop Will Eat Itself – Cure For Sanity (producer, mixing)
1991: Nitzer Ebb – As Is (mixing)
1991: U2 – Achtung Baby (mixing, engineer)
1991: Nitzer Ebb – Ebbhead (producer)
1992: Curve – Doppelgänger (producer, engineer)
1992: The Jesus and Mary Chain – Honey's Dead (engineer)
1992: The Charlatans – Between 10th and 11th (producer)
1992: Nine Inch Nails – Broken (producer)
1993: Depeche Mode – Songs of Faith and Devotion
1993: U2 – Zooropa (mixing, loops, engineer, producer)
1993: Curve – Cuckoo (producer)
1994: Tom Jones – The Lead and How to Swing It (producer)
1994: Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (producer, hi-hat, synthesizer)
1994: Cranes – Loved (mixing)
1995: PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love (producer, engineer, mixing)
1995: Nitzer Ebb – Big Hit (engineer, programming, mixing, producer, guitar)
1995: The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (producer)
1997: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Boatman's Call (mixing, producer, composer)
1997: U2 – Pop (producer, keyboards, mixing)
1998: The Smashing Pumpkins – Adore (mixing, producer)
1998: Barry Adamson – As Above, So Below (producer, mixing, instrumentation, theremin)
1998: PJ Harvey – Is This Desire? (producer)
2000: The Smashing Pumpkins – Machina/The Machines of God (mixing, producer)
2000: Erasure – Loveboat (mixing)
2001: New Order – Get Ready (mixing, producer)
2002: Echoboy – Giraffe (producer)
2004: U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (producer, mixing)
2005: Soulwax – Any Minute Now (mixing, producer)
2005: a-ha – Analogue (mixing)
2006: Placebo – Meds (mixing)
2006: The Killers – Sam's Town (producer, mixing, audio production, engineer)
2007: PJ Harvey – White Chalk (producer, engineer, mixing)
2008: Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree (audio production, keyboards)
2008: Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (engineer, producer, mixing)
2009: State of Play (score co-producer with Alex Heffes and additional music)
2009: PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By (mixing)
2009: Thirty Seconds to Mars – This Is War (producer)
2010: The Hours – It's Not How You Start, It's How You Finish (mixing, producer)
2011: PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (mixing, engineer)
2011: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong (producer)
2011: Glasvegas – Euphoric Heartbreak (producer)
2012: Karima Francis – The Remedy (producer & mixing)
2012: Compact Space – Who Says It's Real (mixing)
2012: Goldfrapp – "Yellow Halo" & "Melancholy Sky" (co-producer & mixing)
2012: Orbital – Wonky (producer)
2013: Foals – Holy Fire (co-producer & co-mixing)
2013: Depeche Mode – Delta Machine (mixing)
2014: Warpaint – Warpaint (producer & mixing)
2014: U2 – Songs of Innocence (producer)
2015: 8:58 – 8:58 (producer)
2016: PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project (co-producer & co-mixing)
2016: Ed Harcourt – Furnaces (producer & mixing)
2017: Fink – Resurgam (producer)
2019: White Lies – Five (co-producer & co-mixing)
2019: The Murder Capital – When I Have Fears (producer)
2019: Fink – Bloom Innocent (producer)
2020: EOB – Earth (producer)
2020: Jehnny Beth – To Love Is to Live (producer, 4 tracks)
2022: Interpol – The Other Side of Make-Believe (producer)
2023: Shame – Food For Worms (producer & mixing)
2023: PJ Harvey – I Inside the Old Year Dying (co-producer & co-mixing)
References
External links
Flood biography on artistdirect.com
1997 interview with Flood by Paul Tingen in Sound on Sound magazine
1960 births
English audio engineers
English record producers
Grammy Award winners
Brit Award winners
Living people
Musicians from London
Mod revival musicians
People educated at St Olave's Grammar School |
244391 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash%20flood | Flash flood | A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields. Flash floods may also occur after the collapse of a natural ice or debris dam, or a human structure such as a man-made dam, as occurred before the Johnstown Flood of 1889. Flash floods are distinguished from regular floods by having a timescale of fewer than six hours between rainfall and the onset of flooding.
Flash floods are a significant hazard, causing more fatalities in the U.S. in an average year than lightning, tornadoes, or hurricanes. Flash floods can also deposit large quantities of sediments on floodplains and can be destructive of vegetation cover not adapted to frequent flood conditions.
Causes
Flash floods most often occur in dry areas that have recently received precipitation, but they may be seen anywhere downstream from the source of the precipitation, even many miles from the source. In areas on or near volcanoes, flash floods have also occurred after eruptions, when glaciers have been melted by the intense heat. Flash floods are known to occur in the highest mountain ranges of the United States and are also common in the arid plains of the Southwestern United States. Flash flooding can also be caused by extensive rainfall released by hurricanes and other tropical storms, as well as the sudden thawing effect of ice dams. Human activities can also cause flash floods to occur. When dams fail, a large quantity of water can be released and destroy everything in its path.
Hazards
The United States National Weather Service gives the advice "Turn Around, Don't Drown" for flash floods; that is, it recommends that people get out of the area of a flash flood, rather than trying to cross it. Many people tend to underestimate the dangers of flash floods. What makes flash floods most dangerous is their sudden nature and fast-moving water. A vehicle provides little to no protection against being swept away; it may make people overconfident and less likely to avoid the flash flood. More than half of the fatalities attributed to flash floods are people swept away in vehicles when trying to cross flooded intersections. As little as of water is enough to carry away most SUV-sized vehicles. The U.S. National Weather Service reported in 2005 that, using a national 30-year average, more people die yearly in floods, 127 on average, than by lightning (73), tornadoes (65), or hurricanes (16).
In deserts, flash floods can be particularly deadly for several reasons. First, storms in arid regions are infrequent, but they can deliver an enormous amount of water in a very short time. Second, these rains often fall on poorly absorbent and often clay-like soil, which greatly increases the amount of runoff that rivers and other water channels have to handle. These regions tend not to have the infrastructure that wetter regions have to divert water from structures and roads, such as storm drains, culverts, and retention basins, either because of sparse population or poverty, or because residents believe the risk of flash floods is not high enough to justify the expense. In fact, in some areas, desert roads frequently cross a dry river and creek beds without bridges. From the driver's perspective, there may be clear weather, when a river unexpectedly forms ahead of or around the vehicle in a matter of seconds. Finally, the lack of regular rain to clear water channels may cause flash floods in deserts to be headed by large amounts of debris, such as rocks, branches, and logs.
Deep slot canyons can be especially dangerous to hikers as they may be flooded by a storm that occurs on a mesa miles away. The flood sweeps through the canyon; the canyon makes it difficult to climb up and out of the way to avoid the flood. For example, a cloudburst in southern Utah on 14 September 2015 resulted in 20 flash flood fatalities, of which seven fatalities occurred at Zion National Park when hikers were trapped by floodwaters in a slot canyon.
Flash flood impacts
Flash floods induce severe impacts in both the built and the natural environment. The effects of flash floods can be catastrophic and show extensive diversity, ranging from damages in buildings and infrastructure to impacts on vegetation, human lives and livestock. The effects are particularly difficult to characterize in urban areas.
Researchers have used datasets such as the Severe Hazards Analysis and Verification Experiment (SHAVE) and the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Data datasets to connect the impact of flash floods with the physical processes involved in flash flooding. This should increase the reliability of flash flood impact forecasting models. Analysis of flash floods in the United States between 2006 and 2012 shows that injuries and fatalities are most likely in small, rural catchments, that the shortest events are also the most dangerous, that the hazards are greatest after nightfall, and that a very high fraction of injuries and fatalities involve vehicles.......
An impact severity scale is proposed in 2020 providing a coherent overview of the flash flood effects through the classification of impact types and severity and mapping their spatial extent in a continuous way across the floodplain. Depending on the affected elements, the flood effects are grouped into 4 categories: (i) impacts on built environment (ii) impacts on man-made mobile objects,(iii) impacts on the natural environment (including vegetation, agriculture, geomorphology, and pollution) and (iv) impacts on the human population (entrapments, injuries, fatalities). The scale was proposed as a tool on prevention planning, as the resulting maps offer insights on future impacts, highlighting the high severity areas.
Flash floods can cause rapid soil erosion. Much of the Nile delta sedimentation may come from flash flooding in the desert areas that drain into the Nile River. However, flash floods of short duration produce relatively little bedrock erosion or channel widening, having their greatest impact from sedimentation on the floodplain.
Some wetlands plants, such as certain varieties of rice, are adapted to endure flash flooding. However, plants that thrive in drier areas can be harmed by flooding, as the plants can become stressed by the large amount of water.
See also
References
Further reading
External links
Public clip of the Fochabers flood in Moray September 9
Decision tree to choose an uncertainty method for hydrological and hydraulic modelling, choosing an uncertainty analysis for flood modelling.
Great footage of flash floods in the arid midwest heading down dry washes after heavy rain.
Map of central Texas flash flood alley.
Workshop Proceedings Flash Flood Management
Workshop Proceedings Flash Flood Forecasting
Hydrologic Research Center
Flood
Hydrology
Hazards of outdoor recreation |
251002 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red%20River%20Floodway | Red River Floodway | The Red River Floodway () is an artificial flood control waterway in Western Canada. It is a long channel which, during flood periods, takes part of the Red River's flow around the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba to the east and discharges it back into the Red River below the dam at Lockport. It can carry floodwater at a rate of up to , expanded in the 2000s from its original channel capacity of .
The Floodway was pejoratively nicknamed "Duff's Ditch" by opponents of its construction, after Premier Duff Roblin, whose Progressive Conservative government initiated the project, partly in response to the disastrous 1950 Red River flood. It was completed in time and under budget. Subsequent events have vindicated the plan. Since its completion in 1968, the Floodway is estimated to have prevented over $40 billion (CAD) in cumulative flood damage. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2000, as the floodway is an outstanding engineering achievement both in terms of function and impact.
From south to north, the Floodway passes through the extreme southeastern part of Winnipeg and the rural municipalities of Ritchot, Springfield, East St. Paul, and St. Clements.
History
Following the submission of the Royal Commission report Manitobans were strongly divided as to whether the province could afford the capital costs of a mammoth engineering project that would benefit primarily Winnipeg. The project was championed by Dufferin (Duff) Roblin, the Leader of the Opposition and head of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party, but it was vehemently denounced by opponents as a monumental, and potentially ruinous, waste of money. Indeed, the projected Red River Floodway was derisively referred to as “Duff”s Folly” and “Duff’s Ditch”, and decried as “approximating the building of the pyramids of Egypt in terms of usefulness.” The construction of the floodway and Assiniboine River works, would entail a capital cost of over $72 million, amortized over fifty years at 4% interest, at a time when the province had a population of only 900,000 and an annual net provincial revenue of about $74 million. Following the formation of a new provincial government in June 1958, Duff Roblin, the newly elected Premier of Manitoba, continued to promote the floodway, and managed to secure a commitment from the federal government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to pay up to 60% of the construction costs.
Construction of the Floodway started on November 27, 1962, and finished in March 1968. The construction was a major undertaking with of earth excavated—more than what was moved for the Suez Canal.
At the time, the project was the second largest earth-moving project in the world – next only to the construction of the Panama Canal. The total cost at the time was $63 million (CAD), equivalent to approximately $505 million today.
Design
The Floodway protection system includes more than just the channel to the east of the city, but also the dikes along the river through Winnipeg and the West Dike extending to the southwest from the floodway inlet. Primarily as a result of the Floodway, the city suffered little flood damage. After the 1997 flood, a 2004 re-assessment of the floodway and its channel capacity indicated that 2,550 m3/s (90,000 cfs) could be passed through the floodway during a major flood, but this is considered above the design capacity as it would submerge bridges, and the decision was made to further expand the floodway.
Although the term "floodway gates" is used for the control structure, this is a misnomer as the gates are actually on the Red River as it enters the city and not on the floodway channel. When Red River flows exceed what can safely be handled by the river channel within the city, the gates begin to close by rising up out of the river bed, to the degree needed, restricting water flow into the city to manageable amounts. The resulting upstream back-up of the Red River then flows into the adjacent floodway entrance, diverting the excess flow that could not be safely handled by the river channel within the city. Under flood conditions, even when the floodway is in operation, the Red River within the city will still carry greater than normal amounts of water and some local flood mitigation measures still may be required within the city. The rise in river levels upstream of the gates when in operation needs to be contained by a diking system.
The West Dike which extends to near the village of Brunkild MB is the limiting factor on the volume of water that can be diverted around the city, as a result of the extremely low grades in the area. This dike was urgently extended by 42 km from its previous western terminus near Domain MB in 1997 to prevent flood water from doing an end run around the original dike. In 2003, the province announced plans to expand the Floodway, increasing its flow capacity from . It was decided to widen the Floodway as opposed to deepening it because of the soil and ground conditions in the area. Many underground aquifers in the area are used for drinking water for rural residents and the aquifers could potentially be contaminated if the floodway were deeper. There is also potential for pressures to increase in the aquifers, causing a "blowout" to occur, where water would flow from the aquifers in the ground to the surface and reduce the capacity of the Floodway. Officials decided widening the floodway would be the best option despite the lower hydraulic capacity that would result.
Flow rates
Below are the peak flow rates recorded on the Red River Floodway since it was completed in 1968.
1997 Red River Flood
The 1997 flood was a 100-year flood. It came close to overwhelming Winnipeg's existing flood protection system. At the time, the Winnipeg Floodway was designed to protect against a flow of , but the 1997 flow was . To compensate, the province broke operational rules for the Floodway, as defined in legislation, during the night of April 30 / May 1, to prevent waters in Winnipeg from rising above the designed limit of above the "James Avenue datum", but causing additional flooding upriver. Winnipeg Mayor Susan Thompson, announcing that the design limit had been reached, misinterpreted this as good news that the flooding had peaked. City sand-bagging stopped, and national reporters left the city, but the water continued to rise inside and outside of the city until the peak late on May 3 / early on May 4. The city officials have said that the peak occurred on May 1; scientific reports record a peak on May 3/4.
Expansion
Since the 1997 flood resulted in water levels that took the existing floodway to the limits of its capacity, various levels of government commissioned engineering studies for a major increase in flood protection for the City of Winnipeg. Work began in late 2005 under a provincial collective bargaining agreement and has included modifications to rail and road crossings as well as transmission line spans, upgrades to inlet control structures and fire protection, increased elevation of existing dikes (including the Brunkild dike), and the widening of the entire floodway channel. The NDP government set aside a portion of the construction budget for aboriginal construction firms. The Red River Floodway Expansion was completed in late 2010 at a final cost of more than $665,000,000 CAD. Since the completion of the expansion, the capacity of the floodway has increased to per second, the estimated level of a 1-in-700 year flood event. (Using the flow rates of Niagara Falls as a standard of comparison, this is more than double its average of 1,833 cubic metres and about a third over its maximum.) The expanded floodway now protects over 140,000 homes, over 8,000 businesses, and will prevent more than $12 billion (CAD) in damage to the provincial economy in the event of a 1-in-700 year flood.
The NDP government was criticized by Conservative Brian Pallister, then the Member of Parliament, for requiring workers in construction companies working on the floodway to unionize. Pallister, MP for the Portage—Lisgar constituency and future Manitoba premier, told parliament, "the Manitoba NDP government is planning to proceed with a plan to force every worker on the Red River floodway expansion to unionize, despite the fact that 95% of Manitoba's construction companies are not unionized."
The diversion of flood water has been criticized for shifting the impact of flooding from urban Winnipeg to rural communities such as Emerson, Morris, St Adolphe. In 1997 these towns and the surrounding farm buildings and lands ended up with the bulk of the flood water in order to save Winnipeg from flood damage. In 2011, the Manitoba government intentionally diverted water from the Assiniboine River to save Winnipeg which ended up flooding communities around Lake Manitoba - The communities of Pinaymootang, Lake St. Martin, Little Saskatchewan and Dauphin River were severely impacted, as well as the surrounding farmland and cottages.
Considerations in the United States
The city of Fargo, North Dakota faces very similar flooding challenges to Winnipeg due to its similar topography and position upstream of the Red River. In 2008, the US Army Corps of Engineers began a feasibility study of flood mitigation techniques for the area. During this study, the city faced catastrophic flooding, catapulting the project into public consciousness. In 2010, the US Federal government agreed to work with the city, its smaller sister city of Moorhead, Minnesota, as well as Cass and Clay counties to begin the formal planning process. The Federal government additionally pledged significant financial support for the project. The result was the Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion Project, which is currently under construction as of 2023.
See also
Portage Diversion (Assiniboine River Floodway)
Shellmouth Reservoir
Notes
External links
Manitoba Floodway Authority
A Review of the Red River Floodway Operating Rules - Manitoba Conservation
Flood control works
CBC Video Archives: Duff's Ditch is completed
Manitoba Historical Society: “Duff’s Ditch”: The Origins, Construction, and Impact of the Red River Floodway
Red River of the North
Buildings and structures in Manitoba
Geography of Winnipeg
Flood control projects
Flood control in Canada
Macro-engineering
National Historic Sites in Manitoba |
297410 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding%20%28Australian%20football%29 | Flooding (Australian football) | Flooding is a tactic used in the sport of Australian rules football. It involves the coach releasing players in the forward line from their set positions and directing them to the opposition forward area, congesting the area and making it more difficult for the opposition to score. It is commonly deployed to protect a lead, to stop a rout or as a counterattack tactic based on rebounding the ball to an open forward line. This is possible due to the lack of an offside rule or similar restrictions on players field movements.
The extreme defensive tactic is often bemoaned by spectators and generally regarded as "ugly" football.
History
When Australian Football took to the parks around the colony of Victoria in 1858, there were no rules regarding player positions. Even today the rules only declare that a maximum of four per side is allowed in the centre square at the ball-up (ruck, rover, ruck-rover and centre) and 6 must start within each 50m arc, while during general play, all players are free to position themselves as they see fit. In early years this resulted in a pack of players moving with the ball up and down the field trying to get a clearing kick into space that the pack would then run into and repeat the process. Such a process is still evident in some junior leagues (the under 8 years old children) and is known as "beehive football". It was not until 1898 that player positions became regular thanks to Essendon's now famous positions of players around the field. The positioning provided many lopsided contests against teams trying to play pack football, such as beating St Kilda 10.11 (71) to 1.9 (15) on July 23 and Melbourne 11.9 (75) to 2.8 (20) on August 1 in 1898. Other teams mimicked the idea and the "lines of three" quickly became, and still is, the norm.
One of the earliest records of flooding comes from an 1860s match between the Geelong Football Club and the Ballarat Football Club in Ballarat. Goalless and kicking against the gale, Geelong captain Tom Wills ordered every player into the backline. The Ballarat fans yelled abuse. Melbourne Football Club later successfully copied the tactic.
In VFL football times, the 1909 VFL Grand Final in which South Melbourne, mindful of a Carlton side which beat them in round 11 after trailing 0.11 to South's 4.4 at half-time, packed the arc in the Grand Final after half time to thwart Carlton's advance. South won the final by two points.
Over the years many teams have put extra men in the defensive 50 metre zone to stifle attacks, usually to stop great full-forwards or protect a lead. It was not uncommon for forwards such as Gordon Coventry, John Coleman, Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall and Gary Ablett Sr., among others, to be seen fighting off three defenders to take a mark. Flooding the defensive zone outright was a rarity due to the level of endurance required from the entire team. However it was used defensively on occasion to avoid a rout.
Flooding in modern professional football
As football at the elite level increased in professionalism and athleticism, the practice increased.
As an offensive tactic
Flooding first became an offensive tactic when Rodney Eade became the Sydney Swans head coach in 1996. In order to give star forward Tony Lockett the most room on the small Sydney Cricket Ground he had the team play an extra "line of three" in defence when the opposition had the ball, creating a set-up with 9 defenders, 6 midfielders and three forwards. The idea was to create a forced error and turn-over, followed by swift movement to Lockett who had ample space to lead into. This was similar to Denis Pagan's "Pagan's Paddock" which gave Wayne Carey wide space to manoeuvre in. The Swans used this tactic to great effect in 1996, reaching the Grand Final, and, under Eade's successor Paul Roos, subsequently winning in 2005 despite some early criticism which arose from the tactics backfiring in a match against midway through the season.
As a defensive tactic
Terry Wallace became infamous for the "Super-Flood" that he employed in the Round 21 game between the Western Bulldogs and Essendon at Colonial Stadium in 2000. Wallace successfully quelled the Bombers' scoring power and defeated the team which had won the previous 20 games by playing 14 of the 18 men on the field in the defensive zone for the entirety of the game, and often with all 18 players taking up positions in the 50 metre arc.
In 2002, with a depleted side at his disposal, coach Grant Thomas implemented an extraordinary game plan in a match against which involved flooding the Swans' forward line and continually denying them the ball by kicking towards the boundary line when there were few options forward. The result was an 8.8 (56)–all draw, with Nick Riewoldt winning an AFL Rising Star nomination (and eventually winning the award at season's end) for his breakout performance.
See also
Australian football tactics and skills
References
Australian rules football terminology
Australian rules football tactics |
301810 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%20Mississippi%20Flood%20of%201927 | Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 | The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with inundated in depths of up to over the course of several months in early 1927. The period cost of the damage has been estimated to be between $246 million and $1 billion, which ranges from $4.2–$17.3 billion in 2023 dollars.
About 500 people died and over 630,000 people were directly affected; 94% of those affected lived in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, especially in the Mississippi Delta region. 127 people died in Arkansas, making it one of the deadliest disasters ever recorded in the state. More than 200,000 African Americans were displaced from their homes along the Lower Mississippi River and had to live for lengthy periods in relief camps. As a result of this disruption, many joined the Great Migration from the South to the industrial cities of the North and the Midwest; the migrants preferred to move, rather than return to rural agricultural labor.
To prevent future floods, the federal government built the world's longest system of levees and floodways. Then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover's handling of the crisis gave him a positive nationwide reputation, helping pave the way to his election as U.S. President in 1928. Political turmoil from the disaster at the state level aided the election of Huey Long as governor in Louisiana.
Events
By the late nineteenth century, the United States was well aware of flooding potential along the Mississippi, which drained 40% of the nation's area. The Mississippi River Commission was established by the federal government in 1879, with the directive to deepen the river channel, improve navigation, prevent major flooding, and increase river-based commerce. This commission recommended raising extensive levees along its channels to contain the flow, dismissing the advice of experts such as James Eads, who had directed the Saint Louis Bridge project in the 1860s. These critics predicted that compressing a swollen river between walls would increase its destructive potential.
Flooding began due to heavy rainfall in summer 1926 across the river's central basin. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to capacity. On Christmas Day of 1926, the Cumberland River at Nashville, Tennessee, exceeded , the second-highest recorded level (a destructive flood in 1793 had produced the record level – ).
Flooding peaked in the Lower Mississippi River near Mound Landing, Mississippi, and Arkansas City, Arkansas, and broke levees along the river in at least 145 places. The water flooded more than of land, and left more than 700,000 people homeless. Approximately 500 people died as a result of flooding. Monetary damages due to flooding reached approximately $1 billion, which was one-third of the federal budget in 1927. If the event were to have occurred in 2007, the damages would total around $930 billion to $1 trillion (measured in 2007 U.S. dollars).
The flood affected Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Arkansas was hardest hit, with 14% of its territory covered by floodwaters extending from the Mississippi and Arkansas deltas. By May 1927, the Mississippi River below Memphis, Tennessee, reached a width of . Without trees, grasses, deep roots, and wetlands, the denuded soil of the watershed could not do its ancient work of absorbing floodwater after seasons of intense snow and rain.
Attempts at relief
In an unrelated flood at the same time, on Good Friday (15 April 1927), of rain fell in New Orleans in 18 hours. This far exceeded the City's rainwater pumping system, and up to of water flooded some parts of the city. This local rain related flood was not connected to the Mississippi River flooding.
A group of influential bankers in New Orleans met to discuss how to guarantee the safety of the city, as they had already learned of the massive scale of flooding upriver. On 29 April they arranged to set off about 30 tons of dynamite on the levee at Caernarvon, Louisiana, releasing of water. This was intended to prevent New Orleans from suffering serious damage, and it resulted in flooding much of the less densely populated St. Bernard Parish and all of Plaquemines Parish's east bank. As it turned out, the destruction of the Caernarvon levee was unnecessary; several major levee breaks well upstream of New Orleans, including one the day after the demolitions, released major amounts of flood waters, reducing the water that reached the city. The New Orleans businessmen did not compensate the losses of people in the downriver parishes.
To address the disaster, Congress passed the Mississippi Flood Control Act, which put greater stress on construction in the Mississippi Delta Levee Camps despite warnings from the NAACP about harsh living conditions and mistreatment of black laborers within the camps.
Abatement and assessment
By August 1927, the flood subsided. Hundreds of thousands of people had been made homeless and displaced; properties, livestock and crops were destroyed. In terms of population affected, in territory flooded, in property loss and crop destruction, the flood's figures were "staggering". Great loss of life was averted by relief efforts, largely by the American Red Cross through the efforts of local workers.
African Americans, comprising 75% of the population in the Delta lowlands and supplying 95% of the agricultural labor force, were most affected by the flood. Historians estimate that of the 637,000 people forced to relocate by the flooding, 94% lived in three states: Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana; and that 69% of the 325,146 who occupied the relief camps were African American. In one location, over 13,000 evacuees near Greenville, Mississippi, were gathered from area farms, and evacuated to the crest of the unbroken Greenville Levee. But many were stranded there for days without food or clean water.
Political and social responses
Following the Great Flood of 1927, multiple states needed money to rebuild their roads and bridges. Louisiana received $1,067,336 from the federal government for rebuilding, but it had to institute a state gasoline tax to create a $30,000,000 fund to pay for new hard-surfaced highways.
The Corps of Engineers was charged with taming the Mississippi River. Under the Flood Control Act of 1928, the world's longest system of levees was built. Floodways that diverted excessive flow from the Mississippi River were constructed. While the levees prevented some flooding, scientists have found that they changed the flow of the Mississippi River, with the unintended consequence of increasing flooding in succeeding decades. Channeling of waters has reduced the absorption of seasonal rains by the floodplains, increasing the speed of the current and preventing the deposit of new soils along the way. The levees did not prevent recurrences of significant flooding, especially a major flood in 1937. To better study and plan for future situations, Lt. Eugene Raybold proposed laying out a physical hydraulic model to simulate the basin's response to various rainfall scenarios. Land was procured at the SE edge of Clinton, Mississippi, and a 200-acre hydraulic model was constructed, matching to the river's flow from Baton Rouge to Omaha, modeling the confluence points of its major tributaries across 16 states. The work was completed during 1942, with some labor provided by POWs from Camp Clinton. The Corps used this model to accurately study river flows and mitigation strategies, but by 1970 it fell out of use. In the 1970s it was transferred to the city government of Jackson, and the Buddy Butts Park was created around it. It is presently little-known or recognized.
The devastation of the flood and the strained racial relations resulted in many African Americans joining the Great Migration from affected areas to northern and midwestern cities, a movement that had been underway since World War I. The flood waters began to recede in June 1927, but interracial relations continued to be strained. Hostilities had erupted between the races; a Black man was shot and killed by a white police officer when he refused to unload a relief boat at gunpoint. Near Helena, Arkansas, Owen Flemming was lynched after he killed a plantation overseer, who wanted to force him to rescue the plantation owner's mules. As a result of displacements lasting up to six months, tens of thousands of local African Americans moved to the big cities of the North, particularly Chicago; many thousands more followed in the following decades.
Herbert Hoover enhanced his reputation by his achievements in directing flood relief operations as Secretary of Commerce under President Calvin Coolidge. The next year Hoover easily won the Republican 1928 nomination for President, and the general election that year. In upstate Louisiana, anger among yeomen farmers directed at the New Orleans elite for its damage of downriver parishes aided Huey Long's election to the governorship in 1928. Hoover was much lauded initially for his masterful handling of the refugee camps known as "tent cities". These densely populated camps required basic necessities which were difficult to attain, such as water and sanitation facilities. Hoover used a combination of bureaucratic resources and grassroots forces to give the tent cities the opportunity to become self-sufficient. This method presented difficulties, as rural leaders were unprepared to manage the chaotic circumstances found in large camps. This led Hoover eventually to place the relief camps under government supervision.
The refugee camps also dealt with extreme racial inequality, as supplies and means of evacuation after flooding were given strictly to white citizens, with Blacks receiving only leftovers. African Americans also did not receive supplies without providing the name of their white employer or voucher from a white person. In order to fully exploit black labor, Blacks were frequently forced to work against their will, and were not permitted to leave the camps. Later reports about the poor treatment in camps led Hoover to make promises of change to the African-American community, which he broke. As a result, he lost the Black vote in the North in his re-election campaign in 1932. Several reports on the terrible situation in the refugee camps, including one by the Colored Advisory Commission headed by Robert Russa Moton, were kept out of the media at Hoover's request, with the pledge of further reforms for Blacks after the presidential election in 1928. His failure to deliver followed other disappointments by the Republican Party; Moton and other influential African Americans began to encourage Black Americans to align instead with the national Democrats.
Representation in other media
A feature-length documentary, The Great Flood (2014) was made incorporating archival footage from news coverage of the flood.
The flood is referred to as the "High Water of 1927" in the movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
The flood forms the setting for William Faulkner's novella "Old Man" (short for 'Old Man River') found in his book If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem (formerly titled The Wild Palms) ().
The great flood is described in detail in William Alexander Percy's Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son (1941), which discusses the changing South of Percy's youth and portrays life in the Mississippi Delta. Percy bridges the interval between the semi-feudal South of the 1800s and the anxious South of the early 1940s.
The flood plays a significant role in the novel, Rescued in the Clouds or Ted Scott, Hero of the Air, the second book in the Ted Scott Flying Stories series by Franklin W. Dixon.
Several musicians mentioned the 1927 flood in their music:
"Mississippi Heavy Water Blues", by Barbecue Bob (1927)
"Backwater Blues" by Bessie Smith (1927) However, the flood was at its worst some two months after the song was written. Study of Smith's touring itinerary, of testimony of fellow entertainers who toured with her, and of contemporary reports indicates that the song was written in response to the flood that struck Nashville, Tennessee, on Christmas Day 1926. The Cumberland River, which flows through the city, rose above its normal level, still a record .
"When the Levee Breaks", by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy (1929) (covered by Led Zeppelin in 1971).
"High Water Everywhere", by Charley Patton (1929) (referred to in "High Water (For Charley Patton)" by Bob Dylan in 2001)
"Louisiana 1927" by Randy Newman (1974)
The Delta Flood Prophet by Frank Cademartori (2020)
See also
2011 Mississippi River floods
Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
Great Flood of 1913
Great Flood of 1993
Mississippi River floods
Timeline of environmental history
Notes and references
Notes
References
Further reading
Faulkner, William (1927). "Old Man" published in The Wild Palms (1939) Random House, New York
Contains over 200 pictures of the flood as it affected the Tensas Basin in eastern Louisiana. Website with selected photographs from the book.
External links
– Short silent film of the flood aftermath and relief efforts for the refugees. Produced by the US Army Signal Corps.
Disaster Response and Appointment of a Recovery Czar: The Executive Branch's Response to the Flood of 1927, well-referenced CRS report.
1927 Flood Photograph Collection, Historic images of the flood from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Delta Geography, Information about how the Flood of 1927 influences the life of people who live in the Delta in the 21st century
Fatal Flood, PBS: The American Experience
The Final Report of the Colored Advisory Commission, Text of the report provided by PBS: The American Experience
U.S. Army Engineers periodical ESPRIT, March 2002 – Lead article relying heavily on John M. Barry's book; includes some photographs.
YouTube Video of 1927 Mississippi Flood, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District
"Aftermath"—Throughline (23 April 2020), NPR: On the flood and its effects
20th-century floods in the United States
1920s floods
1927 natural disasters
1927 in Arkansas
1927 in Illinois
1927 in Kansas
1927 in Kentucky
1927 in Oklahoma
1927 in Tennessee
1927 in Texas
1927 meteorology
1927 natural disasters in the United States
African-American history of Arkansas
African-American history of Louisiana
African-American history of Mississippi
African-American history of Tennessee
Floods in Louisiana
Floods in Texas
Anti-black racism in Arkansas
Anti-black racism in Louisiana
Anti-black racism in Mississippi
Anti-black racism in Tennessee
Huey Long
Mississippi River floods
Natural disasters in Arkansas
Natural disasters in Illinois
Natural disasters in Kansas
Natural disasters in Kentucky
Natural disasters in Mississippi
Natural disasters in Missouri
Natural disasters in Oklahoma
Natural disasters in Tennessee
Presidency of Calvin Coolidge
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana |
345577 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%20Sheffield%20Flood | Great Sheffield Flood | The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died and more than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed by the flood. The immediate cause was a crack in the embankment, the cause of which was never determined. The dam's failure led to reforms in engineering practice, setting standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures. The dam was rebuilt in 1875.
Dale Dyke Dam
Sheffield is a city and subdivision of South Yorkshire, England. As the town industrialised, its population grew from 45,478 in 1801 to 185,157 in 1861. This rapid population growth resulted in greatly increased demand for water, which led to the construction of the Dale Dyke Dam for the purpose of providing a more efficient source of clean water. It was created by the Sheffield Waterworks Company (SWWC). During the late 1850s, the company purchased land in the Loxley Valley to the north-west of the town, on which to build a reservoir. By the 1860s the dam and its associated works had been passed as satisfactory and it was allowed to fill with water.
Collapse of Dale Dyke Dam
On the night of 11 March 1864, assisted by a strong south-western gale, the newly built dam, known as the Dale Dyke Dam in Bradfield Dale near Low Bradfield on the River Loxley, collapsed while it was being filled for the first time. An estimated 3 million cubic metres (700 million imperial gallons) of water swept down the Loxley Valley, through Loxley Village and on to Malin Bridge and Hillsborough, where the River Loxley joins the River Don. The flood continued south down the Don into Sheffield centre, around the eastward bend of the Don at Lady's Bridge, then to Attercliffe, past the sites of what later became Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield Arena and Meadowhall Centre, and on to Rotherham. A wall of water moved swiftly down the valley, destroying everything in its course. The centre of the town, situated on the hill to the south, escaped damage, but the densely populated district of the Wicker, around the new railway viaduct (constructed by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway), was completely destroyed. The waterworks company's consultant engineer, John Towlerton Leather, was one of a family of worthy Yorkshire engineers who were involved in such work. His uncle, George Leather, had been responsible for reservoirs around Leeds and Bradford, and one of these was the scene of a dramatic collapse, in 1852, when 81 people died. John Leather and resident engineer John Gunson were working closely together during the construction of the dam. Leather designed the dam and oversaw its construction whereas Gunson directed and supervised the construction of the dam. Gunson was on site the night of the collapse and stated that there was a concerning crack in the outer slope of the embankment. Gunson convinced himself that the crack was not harmful but still took the precaution of opening up the valves on the middle of the embankment to allow more water through. This failed to prevent the crack from worsening.
Aftermath
The mayor, Thomas Jessop, quickly set up a relief fund and help was provided for the homeless and needy. Sheffield was quickly supplied with aid wherever needed. The mayor ordered a meeting "For the purpose of considering and adopting such measures as may be deemed necessary to meet sufferings occasioned by this dreadful calamity", raising over £4,000. On 18 March 1864 the mayor called another meeting, but this time it was for anyone who could afford it to give up one day's wage to give to those in need. A relief committee was created, and in total over £42,000 was raised.
The company denied any problems relating to their structure and design of the dam, and believed that the cause of the crack and the collapse involved a landslide or landslip. Public perception, informed by the Coroner's court and the press, saw the collapse as due to a failure in the mode of construction of the dam. The professional inquiry was conducted, and progressed to parliamentary investigations and institutional deliberations. The experts could not agree about the causes of the Dale Dyke collapse. They noted that even with the cracks the collapse of the whole dam was unforeseeable. The corporation had found two men who either were or were becoming president and then found five other engineers, all of whom had already been or about to become presidents of the Civils. They thought that on the basis of landslipping they would pardon the Sheffield Waterworks Company from any carelessness and that the collapse of the Dale Dyke Dam was an unpredictable accident. They continued:
We are moreover of the opinion that all the arrangements made by your engineers were such as might have been reasonably expected to have proved sufficient for the purposes for which they were intended and that, if the ground beneath the bank had not moved, this work would have been as safe and as perfect as the other five or six large reservoirs of the company which have so long supplied the town of Sheffield and the rivers Rivelin, Loxley and Don with water.
As for the physical damage in Sheffield and all the nearby areas hit in this short space of time, 238 people died and some 700 animals were drowned; 130 buildings were destroyed and 500 partially damaged; 15 bridges were swept away and six others badly damaged. The engineering profession at this time possessed a weekly magazine, The Engineer, that provided both an excellent contribution to the technical press and a platform of public relations. An editorial headed "The Bradfield Reservoir" on 18 March 1864 reflected the anxiety of the moment:
Its fall, coupled with that of the failure of the Holmfirth reservoir ... show that the practice of civil engineering is far from what it should be ... That the forthcoming investigation will be of the most searching character there can be no doubt.
A fortnight later, under the same title, it went on:
The broken dam was constructed much according to the ordinary practice in such works. It failed nonetheless ...That the Bradfield dam was lamentably defective no one can doubt ... The Bradfield catastrophe, in its way, is a useful warning to the whole profession.
The claims for damages formed one of the largest insurance claims of the Victorian period.
Rebuilding
The collapse of the Dale Dyke Dam led to reforms in engineering practice. The court criticised the design and the construction of the dam. They focused on things such as the placing of the outlet pipes; the puddle wall thickness; the method by which the embankment had been built up from railway tip-wagons; the inadequacy of the overflow arrangements, and the practice of removing spoil for the embankment from the area to be flooded. This then set standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures as the Dale Dyke Dam. The Dale Dyke dam was eventually rebuilt in 1875, but on a smaller scale. As for John Gunson, most of the blame fell on him, although the company recognised his loyalty by retaining him in its service until he died in 1886. The Government started a Board of Inundation Commissioners to pass judgement for compensation claims against the Waterworks Company. They also arbitrated 7,500 claims for loss of life and property which totalled £455,000. All but 650 claims were settled without recourse to the arbitration process, but those 650 claims took almost six months to process. The claims registers record the claimant, their marital status and address, as well as details of the claim and the outcome, and amount awarded in compensation. They provide a unique insight into mid-Victorian Sheffield's trade and industry with claims listed for stock, tools and premises damaged and lost. The claims for furniture, clothes, books, toys and household utensils and goods help build up a picture of workers' lives at the time. A flood memorial stone marks the site of the original dam wall and footpaths to explore the area.
150th anniversary
March 2014 saw the 150th anniversary of the disaster. Events took place to commemorate the occasion, including an illustrated talk and exhibition at Low Bradfield Village Hall, guided walks to the dam, memorial services at both St Nicholas, High Bradfield and St Polycarps, Malin Bridge, and a public talk at the University of Sheffield by the Institution of Civil Engineers and the British Dam Society. A commemorative tankard and plate were produced by the Bradfield Historical Society and the Bradfield Brewery produced a special "flood beer" known as Dam It. The duo Toffee Music recorded a CD of Great Sheffield Flood songs.
See also
Floods in Sheffield 2007
Great Sheffield Gale, a lesser known disaster which devastated the city 98 years later
List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
List of deadliest floods
References
External links
The Great Flood at Sheffield – 1864
Newspaper article from 1864
Sheffield Flood – insurance claims archive
Sources for the Study of the Sheffield Flood 1864 Produced by Sheffield City Council's Libraries and Archives
Documentary film telling the story of the Great Sheffield Flood 1864
Sheffield Flood 1864, song by Toffee Music created for the 150th anniversary, on SoundCloud
1864 in England
Dam failures in Europe
Disasters in Yorkshire
Floods in England
History of Sheffield
1864 natural disasters
19th-century floods in the United Kingdom
1860s floods
19th century in Yorkshire
March 1864 events
19th century in Sheffield
1864 disasters in the United Kingdom |
423426 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Query%20flooding | Query flooding | Query flooding is a method to search for a resource on a peer-to-peer network. It is simple and scales very poorly and thus is rarely used. Early versions of the Gnutella protocol operated by query flooding; newer versions use more efficient search algorithms.
Operation
A peer-to-peer network generally consists of a large number of nodes each connected to a small subset of the nodes and not all nodes in the network. If a node wants to find a resource on the network, which may be on a node it does not know about, it could simply broadcast its search query to its immediate neighbours. If the neighbours do not have the resource, it then asks its neighbours to forward the query to their neighbours in turn. This is repeated until the resource is found or all the nodes have been contacted, or perhaps a network-imposed hop limit is reached.
Query flooding is simple to implement and is practical for small networks with few requests. It contacts all reachable nodes in the network and so can precisely determine whether a resource can be found in the network (Freenet, for example, only returns a probabilistic result).
On the other hand, every request may cause every node to be contacted. Each node might generate a small number of queries; however, each such query floods the network. Thus, a larger network would generate far more traffic per node than a smaller one, making it inherently unscalable. Additionally, because a node can flood the network simply by issuing a request for a nonexistent resource, it could be possible to launch a denial-of-service attack on the network.
Alternatives
Version 0.6 of the Gnutella protocol mandates query routing.
The query routing specification explains how the ideas of the original research are implemented. Other file-sharing networks, such as the Kad network, use distributed hash tables to index files and for keyword searches. BitTorrent creates individual overlay networks for sharing individual files (or archives). Searches are performed by other mechanisms, such as locating torrent files indexed on a website. A similar mechanism can be used on the Gnutella network with magnet links. For instance Bitzi provides a web interface to search for magnet links.
Earlier P2P networks, such as Napster, used a centralized database to locate files. This does not have a scaling problem, but the central server is a single point of failure.
See also
Flooding algorithm
Internet protocols |
424777 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry%20Flood | Henry Flood | Henry Flood (1732 – 2 December 1791) was an Irish statesman and Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he became proficient in the classics. He was a leading Irish politician, and a friend of Henry Grattan, the leader of the Irish Patriot Party. He became an object of public interest in 1770, when he was put on trial for murder, after killing a political rival in a duel.
Henry was the son to Warden Flood. He was married to Lady Frances Beresford, daughter of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone, and Lady Catherine Power, who brought him a large fortune.
Irish Parliament
In 1759, he entered the Irish parliament as member for County Kilkenny, a seat he held until 1761. There was at that time no party in the Irish House of Commons that could truly be called national, and until a few years before there had been none that deserved even the name of opposition. The Irish parliament was still constitutionally subordinate to the English privy council; it had practically no powers of independent legislation, and none of controlling the policy of the executive, which was nominated by the ministers in London. Though the majority of the people were Roman Catholics, no person of that faith could either enter parliament or exercise the franchise; the penal code, which made it almost impossible for a Roman Catholic to hold property, to follow a learned profession, or even to educate his children, and which in numerous particulars pressed severely on the Roman Catholics and subjected them to degrading conditions, was as yet unrepealed, though in practice largely obsolete; the industry and commerce of Ireland were throttled by restrictions imposed, in accordance with the economic theories of the period, in the interest of the rival trade of Great Britain. Men like Anthony Malone and Hely-Hutchinson fully realised the necessity for far-reaching reforms; and it only needed the ability and eloquence of Flood in the Irish House of Commons to raise up an independent party in parliament, and to create in the country a public opinion with definite intelligible aims.
The chief objects for which Flood strove were the shortening of the duration of parliament which had then no legal limit in Ireland except that of the reigning sovereign's life, the reduction of the scandalously heavy pension list, the establishment of a national militia, and, above all, the complete legislative independence of the Irish parliament. For some years little was accomplished; but in 1768 the English ministry, which had special reasons at the moment for avoiding unpopularity in Ireland, allowed an octennial bill (limiting the term of parliament to eight years) to pass, which was the first step towards making the Irish House of Commons in some measure representative of public opinion.
It had become the practice to allow crown patronage in Ireland to be exercised by the owners of parliamentary boroughs in return for their undertaking to manage the House in the government interest. But during the vice-royalty of Lord Townshend the aristocracy, and more particularly these undertakers as they were called, were made to understand that for the future their privileges in this respect would be curtailed. When, therefore, an opportunity was taken by the government in 1768 for reasserting the constitutional subordination of the Irish parliament, these powerful classes were thrown into a temporary alliance with Flood. In the following year, in accordance with the established procedure, a money bill was sent over by the privy council in London for acceptance by the Irish House of Commons. It was rejected, but a reason for this course was assigned; namely, that the bill had not originated in the Irish House. In consequence, parliament was peremptorily prorogued, and a recess of fourteen months was employed by the government in securing a majority by the most extensive corruption. Nevertheless, when parliament met in February 1771 another money bill was thrown out on the motion of Flood; and the next year Lord Townshend, the lord lieutenant whose policy had provoked this conflict, was recalled. The struggle was the occasion of a publication, famous in its day, called Baratariana, to which Flood contributed a series of powerful letters after the manner of Junius, one of his collaborators being Henry Grattan.
The success which had thus far attended Flood's efforts had placed him in a position such as no Irish politician had previously attained. He had, as an eminent historian of Ireland observes, "proved himself beyond all comparison the greatest popular orator that his country had yet produced, and also a consummate master of parliamentary tactics. Under parliamentary conditions that were exceedingly unfavourable, and in an atmosphere charged with corruption, venality and subservience, he had created a party before which ministers had begun to quail, and had inoculated the Protestant constituencies with a genuine spirit of liberty and self-reliance." Lord Harcourt, who succeeded Townshend as viceroy, saw that Flood must be conciliated at any price "rather than risk the opposition of so formidable a leader." Even his trial for the murder of his long-time enemy James Agar in 1770 did nothing to damage his career or his reputation. Found guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter, he was spared a prison sentence, and the episode is said to have made duelling more rather than less respectable.
Flood represented Callan between 1762 and 1776, where he had a bitter feud with the Agar family, whose effective head James Agar he killed in a duel, and Longford Borough between 1768 and 1769. Accordingly, in 1775, he was offered and accepted a seat, in the Privy Council of Ireland and the office of vice-treasurer with a salary of £3500 a year. For this step, he has been severely criticized. Flood may reasonably have held that he had a better prospect of advancing his policy by the leverage of a ministerial position. The result, however, was that the leadership of the national party passed from Flood to Grattan, who entered the Irish parliament in the same session that Flood became a minister.
Flood continued in office for nearly seven years. Re-elected for Enniskillen in 1777, he necessarily remained silent on the subject of the independence of the Irish parliament, and had to be content with advocating minor reforms as occasion offered. He was instrumental in obtaining bounties on the export of Irish corn to foreign, countries and other commercial concessions. On the other hand, he failed to procure the passing of a Habeas corpus bill and a bill for making the judges irremovable, while his support of Lord North's American policy gravely injured his popularity and reputation.
An important event in 1778 led indirectly to his recovering to some extent his former position in the country; this was the alliance of France with the revolted American colonies. Ireland was thereby placed in peril of a French invasion, while the English government could provide no troops to defend the island. A volunteer movement was then set on foot to meet the emergency; in a few weeks more than 40,000 men were under arms, officered by the country gentry, and controlled by Lord Charlemont. This volunteer force, in which Flood was a colonel soon made itself felt in politics.
A Volunteer Convention, formed with all the regular organisation of a representative assembly, but wielding the power of an army, began menacingly to demand the removal of the commercial restrictions which were destroying Irish prosperity. Under, this pressure the government gave way; the whole colonial trade was in 1779 thrown open to Ireland for the first time, and other concessions were also extorted. Flood, who had taken an active though not a leading part in this movement, now at last resigned his office to rejoin his old party. He found to his chagrin that his former services had been to a great extent forgotten and that he was eclipsed by Grattan.
When in a debate on the constitutional question in 1779 Flood complained of the small consideration shown him in relation to a subject which he had been the first to agitate, he was reminded that by the civil law if a man should separate from his wife and abandon her for seven years, another might then take her and give her his protection. But though Flood had lost control of the movement for independence of the Irish parliament, the agitation, backed as it now was by the Volunteer Convention and by increasing signs of popular disaffection, led at last in 1782 to the concession of the demand, together with a number of other important reforms.
No sooner, however, was this great success gained than a question arose known as the Simple Repeal controversy as to whether England, in addition to the repeal of the Acts on which the subordination of the Irish parliament had been based, should not be required expressly to renounce for the future all claim to control Irish legislation. The chief historical importance of this dispute is that it led to the memorable rupture of friendship between Flood and Grattan, each of whom assailed the other with unmeasured but magnificently eloquent invective in the House of Commons.
In 1783, Flood was again returned to the house, this time for Kilbeggan. His view prevailed for a Renunciation Act such as he advocated was ungrudgingly passed by the English parliament of the same year and for a time he regained popularity at the expense of his rival. Flood next (28 November 1783) introduced a reform bill, after first submitting it to the Volunteer Convention.
The bill, which contained no provision for giving the franchise to Roman Catholics, which Flood always opposed, was rejected, ostensibly on the ground that the attitude of the volunteers threatened the freedom of parliament. The volunteers were perfectly loyal to the crown and the connection with England. They carried an address to the king, moved by Flood, expressing the hope that their support of parliamentary reform might be imputed to nothing but a sober and laudable desire to uphold the constitution and to perpetuate the cordial union of both kingdoms. The convention then dissolved, but Flood had desired, in opposition to Grattan, to continue it as a means of putting pressure on parliament for the purpose of obtaining reform.
In Dublin, he was a member of Daly's Club.
British Parliament
In 1776, Flood had made an attempt to enter the British House of Commons. In 1783, he tried again, this time successfully. He purchased a seat for Winchester from the duke of Chandos, and for the next seven years he was a member at the same time of both the British and Irish parliaments. He reintroduced, but without success, his reform bill in the Irish House in 1784; supported the movement for protecting Irish industries; but short-sightedly opposed Pitt's commercial propositions in 1785. He remained a firm opponent of Roman Catholic emancipation, even defending the penal laws on the ground that after the Revolution, they were not laws of persecution but of political necessity; but after 1786, he does not appear to have attended the parliament in Dublin.
In the House at Westminster, where he refused to enrol himself as a member of either political party, he was not successful: Grattan remarked that Flood, at fifty, was too old a tree to be transplanted. His first speech, in opposition to Charles James Fox's India Bill on 3 December 1783, disappointed the expectations aroused by his celebrity. His speech in opposition to the commercial treaty with France in 1787 was, however, well received; and in 1790 he introduced a reform bill which Fox declared to be the best scheme of reform that had yet been proposed, and which in Edmund Burke's opinion retrieved Flood's reputation. But at the dissolution in the same year, he lost his seat in both parliaments, and he then retired to Farmley, his residence in County Kilkenny, where he remained until his death. He and Frances, who survived until 1815, had no children, and his property passed to a cousin, John Flood; a large bequest to Trinity College Dublin was declared invalid.
References
Notes
Sources
Further reading
Warden Flood, Memoirs of Henry Flood (London, 1838);
Henry Grattan, Memoirs of the Life and Times of the Right Hon. H. Grattan (5 vols., London, 1839–1846);
Charles Phillips, Recollections of Curran and some of his Contemporaries (London, 1822); The Irish Parliament 1775, from an official and contemporary manuscript, edited by William Hunt (London, 1907);
W. J. O'Neill Daunt, Ireland and Her Agitators; Lord Mountmorres, History of the Irish Parliament (2 vols., London, 1792); WEH Lecky, History of England in the Eighteenth Century (8 vols., London, 1878–1890);
Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland (enlarged edition, 2 vols., London, 1903);
J. A. Froude, The English in Ireland, vols. ii. and iii. (London, 1881);
Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George III (4 vols., London, 1845, 1894);
Sir Jonah Barrington, Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation (London, 1833);
Francis Plowden, Historical Review of the State of Ireland (London, 1803); Alfred Webb, Compendium of Irish Biography (Dublin, 1878); Francis Hardy, Memoirs of Lord Charlemont (London, 1812), especially for the volunteer movement, on which see also Proceedings of the Volunteer Delegates of Ireland 1784 (Anon. Pamphlet, Brit. Mus.);
Also The Charlemont Papers, and Irish Parl. Debates, (vols. i.-iv.).
1732 births
1791 deaths
British MPs 1780–1784
British MPs 1784–1790
Irish MPs 1727–1760
Irish MPs 1761–1768
Irish MPs 1769–1776
Irish MPs 1776–1783
Irish MPs 1783–1790
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Fermanagh constituencies
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Westmeath constituencies |
441572 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missoula%20floods | Missoula floods | The Missoula floods (also known as the Spokane floods or the Bretz floods or Bretz's floods) were cataclysmic glacial lake outburst floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the last ice age. These floods were the result of periodic sudden ruptures of the ice dam on the Clark Fork River that created Glacial Lake Missoula. After each ice dam rupture, the waters of the lake would rush down the Clark Fork and the Columbia River, flooding much of eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley in western Oregon. After the lake drained, the ice would reform, creating Glacial Lake Missoula again.
These floods have been researched since the 1920s. During the last deglaciation that followed the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, geologists estimate that a cycle of flooding and reformation of the lake lasted an average of 55 years and that the floods occurred several times over the 2,000-year period between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago. U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Jim O'Connor and Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales scientist Gerardo Benito have found evidence of at least twenty-five massive floods, the largest discharging about 10 cubic kilometers per hour (2.7 million m³/s, 13 times that of the Amazon River). Alternate estimates for the peak flow rate of the largest flood include 17 cubic kilometers per hour and range up to 27 cubic kilometers per second. The maximum flow speed approached 36 meters/second (130 km/h or 80 mph).
Within the Columbia River drainage basin, detailed investigation of the Missoula floods' glaciofluvial deposits, informally known as the Hanford formation, has documented the presence of Middle and Early Pleistocene Missoula flood deposits within the Othello Channels, Columbia River Gorge, Channeled Scabland, Quincy Basin, Pasco Basin, and the Walla Walla Valley. Based on the presence of multiple interglacial calcretes interbedded with flood deposits, magnetostratigraphy, optically stimulated luminescence dating, and unconformity truncated clastic dikes, it has been estimated that the oldest of the Pleistocene Missoula floods happened before 1.5 million years ago. Because of the fragmentary nature of older glaciofluvial deposits, which have been largely removed by subsequent Missoula floods, within the Hanford formation, the exact number of older Missoula floods, which are known as ancient cataclysmic floods, that occurred during the Pleistocene cannot be estimated with any confidence.
Flood hypothesis proposed
Geologist J Harlen Bretz first recognized evidence of the catastrophic floods, which he called the Spokane floods, in the 1920s. He was researching the Channeled Scablands in Eastern Washington, the Columbia Gorge, and the Willamette Valley of Oregon. In the summer of 1922, and for the next seven years, Bretz conducted field research of the Columbia River Plateau. He had been interested in unusual erosion features in the area since 1910 after seeing a newly published topographic map of the Potholes Cataract. Bretz coined the term Channeled Scablands in 1923 to refer to the area near the Grand Coulee, where massive erosion had cut through basalt deposits. Bretz published a paper in 1923, arguing that the Channeled Scablands in Eastern Washington were caused by massive flooding in the distant past.
Bretz's view, which was seen as arguing for a catastrophic explanation of the geology, ran against the prevailing view of uniformitarianism, and Bretz's views were initially disregarded. The Geological Society of Washington, D.C, invited the young Bretz to present his previously published research at a January 12, 1927, meeting where several other geologists presented competing theories. Another geologist at the meeting, J.T. Pardee, had worked with Bretz and had evidence of an ancient glacial lake that lent credence to Bretz's theories. Bretz defended his theories, and this kicked off an acrimonious 40-year debate over the origin of the Scablands. Both Pardee and Bretz continued their research over the next 30 years, collecting and analyzing evidence that led them to identify Lake Missoula as the source of the Spokane flood and creator of the channeled scablands.
After Pardee studied the canyon of the Flathead River, he estimated that flood waters in excess of would be required to roll the largest of the boulders moved by the flood. He estimated the water flow was , more than the combined flow of every river in the world. More recent estimates place the flow rate at ten times the flow of all current rivers combined.
The Missoula floods have also been referred to as the Bretz floods in honor of Bretz.
Flood initiation
As the depth of the water in Lake Missoula increased, the pressure at the bottom of the ice dam increased enough to lower the freezing point of water below the temperature of the ice forming the dam. This allowed liquid water to seep into minuscule cracks present in the ice dam. Over a period of time, the friction from water flowing through these cracks generated enough heat to melt the ice walls and enlarge the cracks. This allowed more water to flow through the cracks, generating more heat, allowing even more water to flow through the cracks. This feedback cycle eventually weakened the ice dam so much that it could no longer support the pressure of the water behind it, and it failed catastrophically. This process is known as a glacial lake outburst flood, and there is evidence that many such events occurred in the distant past.
Flood events
As the water emerged from the Columbia River gorge, it backed up again at the wide narrows near Kalama, Washington. Some temporary lakes rose to an elevation of more than , flooding the Willamette Valley to Eugene, Oregon, and beyond. Iceberg-rafted glacial erratics and erosion features are evidence of these events. Lake-bottom sediments deposited by the floods have contributed to the agricultural richness of the Willamette and Columbia Valleys. Glacial deposits overlaid with centuries of windblown sediments (loess) have scattered steep, southerly sloping dunes throughout the Columbia Valley, ideal conditions for orchard and vineyard development at higher latitudes.
After analysis and controversy, geologists now believe that there were 40 or more separate floods, although the exact source of the water is still being debated. The peak flow of the floods is estimated to be 27 cubic kilometers per hour (6.5 cubic miles per hour). The maximum flow speed approached 36 meters/second (130 km/h or 80 mph). Up to 1.9×1019 joules of potential energy were released by each flood (the equivalent of 4,500 megatons of TNT). For comparison, this is 90 times more powerful than the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, the 50-megaton "Tsar Bomba". The cumulative effect of the floods was to excavate of loess, sediment and basalt from the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington and to transport it downstream.
Multiple flood hypothesis
The multiple flood hypothesis was first proposed by R.B. Waitt, Jr. in 1980. Waitt argued for a sequence of 40 or more floods. Waitt's proposal was based mainly on analysis from glacial lake bottom deposits in Ninemile Creek and the flood deposits in Burlingame Canyon. His most compelling argument for separate floods was that the Touchet bed deposits from two successive floods were found to be separated by two layers of volcanic ash (tephra) with the ash separated by a fine layer of windblown dust deposits, located in a thin layer between sediment layers ten rhythmites below the top of the Touchet beds. The two layers of volcanic ash are separated by of airborne nonvolcanic silt. The tephra is Mount St. Helens ash that fell in Eastern Washington. By analogy, since there were 40 layers with comparable characteristics at Burlingame Canyon, Waitt argued they all could be considered to have similar separation in deposition time.
Controversy over number and source of floods
The controversy whether the Channeled Scabland landforms were formed mainly by multiple periodic floods, or by a single grand-scale cataclysmic flood from late Pleistocene Glacial Lake Missoula or from an unidentified Canadian source, continued through 1999. Shaw's team of geologists reviewed the sedimentary sequences of the Touchet beds and concluded that the sequences do not automatically imply multiple floods separated by decades or centuries. Rather, they proposed that sedimentation in the Glacial Lake Missoula basin was the result of jökulhlaups draining into Lake Missoula from British Columbia to the north. Further, Shaw's team proposed the scabland flooding might have partially originated from an enormous subglacial reservoir that extended over much of central British Columbia, particularly including the Rocky Mountain Trench, which may have discharged by several paths, including one through Lake Missoula. This discharge, if occurring concurrently with the breach of the Lake Missoula ice dam, would have provided significantly larger volumes of water. Further, Shaw and team proposed that the rhythmic Touchet beds are the result of multiple pulses, or surges, within a single larger flood.
In 2000, a team led by Komatsu simulated the floods numerically with a 3-dimensional hydraulic model. They based the Glacial Lake Missoula discharge rate on the rate predicted for the Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie immediately downstream of Glacial Lake Missoula, for which a number of previous estimates had placed the maximum discharge of 17 × 106m3/s and total amount of water discharged equal to the maximum estimated volume of Lake Missoula (2184 km3). Neglecting erosion effects, their simulated water flow was based on modern-day topography. Their major findings were that the calculated depth of water in each flooded location except for the Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie was shallower than the field evidence showed. For example, their calculated water depth at the Pasco Basin–Wallula Gap transition zone is about 190 m, significantly less than the 280–300 m flood depth indicated by high-water marks. They concluded that a flood of ~106m3/s could not have made the observed high-water marks.
In comment on the Komatsu analysis, Brian Atwater and colleagues observed that there is substantial evidence for multiple large floods, including evidence of mud cracks and animal burrows in lower layers which were filled by sediment from later floods. Further, evidence for multiple flood flows up side arms of Glacial Lake Columbia spread over many centuries have been found. They also pointed out that the discharge point from Lake Columbia varied with time, originally flowing across the Waterville Plateau into Moses Coulee but later, when the Okanagon lobe blocked that route, eroding the Grand Coulee to discharge there as a substantially lower outlet. The Komatsu analysis does not evaluate the impact of the considerable erosion observed in this basin during the flood or floods, although the assumption that the flood hydraulics can be modeled using modern-day topography is an area which warrants further consideration. Earlier narrower constrictions at places such as Wallula Gap and through the Columbia Gorge would be expected to produce higher flow resistance and correspondingly higher floods.
The current understanding
The dating for Waitt's proposed separation of layers into sequential floods has been supported by subsequent paleomagnetism studies, which supports a 30–40 year interval between depositions of Mount St. Helens' ash, and hence flood events, but do not preclude an up to 60 year interval. Offshore deposits on the bed of the Pacific at the mouth of the Columbia River include 120 meters of material deposited over a several thousand-year period that corresponds to the period of multiple scabland floods seen in the Touchet Beds. Based on Waitt's identification of 40 floods, this would give an average separation between floods of 50 years.
See also
References
Further reading
Alt, David (2001) Glacial Lake Missoula and Its Humongous Floods (Mountain Press, 2001. ).
External links
USGS Circular 1254 The World's Largest Floods, Past and Present: Their Causes and Magnitudes
PBS's NOVA (TV series): Mystery of the Megaflood
Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI)
The channeled scabland: a guide to the geomorphology of the Columbia Basin, Washington : prepared for the Comparative Planetary Geology Field Conference held in the Columbia Basin, June 5–8, 1978 / sponsored by Planetary Geology Program, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration ; edited by Victor R. Baker and Dag Nummedal.
National Park Service: Ice Age Floods
Sculpted by Floods: The Northwest's Ice Age Legacy (KSPS Documentaries)\
Floods in the United States
Geology of Montana
Geology of Oregon
Geology of Washington (state)
Columbia River Gorge
Megafloods
Glacial landforms |
454915 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown%20Flood | Johnstown Flood | The Johnstown Flood, sometimes referred to locally as Great Flood of 1889, occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. The dam ruptured after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled the average flow rate of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,208 people and accounted for in damage.
The American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton and with fifty volunteers, undertook a major disaster relief effort. Support for victims came from all over the U.S. and eighteen foreign countries. After the flood, survivors suffered a series of legal defeats in their attempts to recover damages from the dam's owners. This led to American law changing from a fault-based regime to one of strict liability.
History
The city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1800 by Swiss immigrant Joseph Johns (anglicized from "Schantz") where the Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh rivers joined to form the Conemaugh River. It began to prosper with the building of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal in 1836 and the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Cambria Iron Works in the 1850s. By 1889, Johnstown's industries had attracted numerous Welsh and German immigrants. With a population of 30,000, it was a growing industrial community known for the quality of its steel.
The high, steep hills of the narrow Conemaugh Valley and the Allegheny Mountains to the east kept the development of Johnstown close to the riverfront areas. The valley had large amounts of runoff from rain and snowfall. The area surrounding the city is prone to flooding due to its location on the rivers, whose upstream watersheds include an extensive drainage basin of the Allegheny plateau. Adding to these factors, slag from the iron furnaces of the steel mills was dumped along the river to create more land for building. Developers' artificial narrowing of the riverbed to maximize early industries left the city even more flood-prone. The Conemaugh River, immediately downstream of Johnstown, is hemmed in by steep mountainsides for about . A roadside plaque alongside Pennsylvania Route 56, which follows this river, proclaims that this stretch of valley is the deepest river gorge in North America east of the Rocky Mountains.
South Fork Dam and Lake Conemaugh
High above the city, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the South Fork Dam between 1838 and 1853 as part of a cross-state canal system, the Main Line of Public Works. Johnstown was the eastern terminus of the Western Division Canal, supplied with water by Lake Conemaugh, the reservoir behind the dam. As railroads superseded canal barge transport, the Commonwealth abandoned the canal and sold it to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The dam and lake were part of the purchase, and the railroad sold them to private interests.
Henry Clay Frick led a group of Pittsburgh speculators, including Benjamin Ruff, to purchase the abandoned reservoir, modify it, and convert it into a private resort lake for their wealthy associates. Many were connected through business and social links to Carnegie Steel. Development included lowering the dam to make its top wide enough to hold a road and putting a fish screen in the spillway. Workers lowered the dam, which had been high, by . These alterations are thought to have increased the vulnerability of the dam. Moreover, a system of relief pipes and valves, a feature of the original dam which had previously been sold off for scrap, was not replaced, so the club had no way of lowering the water level in the lake in case of an emergency.
The Pittsburgh speculators built cottages and a clubhouse to create the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive and private mountain retreat. Membership grew to include more than fifty wealthy steel, coal, and railroad industrialists. Lake Conemaugh at the club's site was in elevation above Johnstown. The lake was about long, about wide, and deep near the dam. The dam was high and long.
Events of the flood
On May 28, 1889, a low-pressure area formed over Nebraska and Kansas. By the time this weather pattern reached western Pennsylvania two days later, it had developed into what would be termed the heaviest rainfall event that had ever been recorded in that part of the U.S. The United States Army Signal Corps estimated that of rain fell in 24 hours over the region. During the night of May 30, small creeks became roaring torrents, ripping out trees and debris. Telegraph lines were downed and rail lines were washed away. Before daybreak, the Little Conemaugh River and Stoney Creek, which form the main stem of the Conemaugh River at their confluence in Johnstown, were threatening to overtop their banks.
On the morning of May 31, in a farmhouse on a hill just above the South Fork Dam, Elias Unger, president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, awoke to the sight of Lake Conemaugh swollen after a night-long heavy rainfall. Unger ran outside in the still-pouring rain to assess the situation and saw that the water was nearly cresting the dam. He quickly assembled a group of men to save the face of the dam by trying to unclog the spillway, where an iron grate and a broken fish trap had become obstructed with debris from the swollen waterline. Other men tried digging a ditch at the other end of the dam, on the western abutment which was lower than the dam crest. The idea was to let more water out of the lake to try to prevent overtopping of the crest in the center, where the dam was structurally weakest, but the effort was unsuccessful. Most men remained on top of the dam, some plowing earth to raise the crest above the water, while others tried to pile mud and rock on the face to save the eroding wall.
John Parke, an engineer for the South Fork Club, briefly considered cutting through the dam's end near the abutments, where the pressure would be less, in order to create another spillway, but eventually decided against it as doing so would have quickly ensured the failure of the dam. Twice, under orders from Unger, Parke rode on horseback to a telegraph office in the nearby town of South Fork to send warnings to Johnstown explaining the dangerous situation unfolding at the dam. Parke did not personally take a warning message to the telegraph tower – he sent a man instead. The warnings ultimately were not passed to the authorities in Johnstown, however, as there had been many false alarms in the past of the dam not holding against flooding, and most people felt the danger was not serious enough to warrant urgent delivery of the messages. Unger, Parke, and the rest of the men continued working until exhaustion to save the face of the dam; they abandoned their efforts at around 1:30 PM, fearing that their efforts were futile and recognizing that the dam was at risk of imminent collapse. Unger ordered all of his men to fall back to high ground on both sides of the dam where they could do nothing but watch and wait. During the day in Johnstown, the situation worsened as water levels rose to as high as in the streets, trapping some people in their houses.
Between 2:50 and 2:55 PM the South Fork Dam breached. Lidar analysis of the Lake Conemaugh basin reveals that it contained 14.55 million cubic meters (3.843 billion gallons) of water at the moment the dam collapsed. Witnesses reported that the lake took only 35–45 minutes to empty completely after the dam began to fail, though modern dam-breach computer modeling reveals that it likely took approximately 65 minutes for most of the lake to empty. The first town to be hit by the flood was South Fork, immediately downstream; the town was on high ground, and most of the people escaped by running up the nearby hills when they saw the dam spill over. Between twenty and thirty houses were destroyed or washed away, and four people were killed.
Continuing on its way downstream to Johnstown, by river to the west, the water picked up debris such as trees, houses, and animals. At the Conemaugh Viaduct, a railroad bridge, the flood was momentarily stemmed when debris jammed against the stone bridge's arch. But within seven minutes, the viaduct collapsed, allowing the flood to resume its course. Owing to the delay at the stone arch, the flood waters gained renewed hydraulic head, resulting in a stronger, more abrupt wave of water hitting places downstream than otherwise might have been expected. The small town of Mineral Point, below the viaduct, was the first populated place to be hit with this renewed force. About thirty families lived on the village's single street. After the flood, there were no structures, no topsoil, no subsoil in Mineral Point – only the bedrock was left. The death toll here was approximately sixteen people. In 2009, studies showed that the flood's flow rate through the narrow valley exceeded , comparable to the flow rate of the Mississippi River at its delta, which varies between .
The village of East Conemaugh was the next populated area to fall victim to the flood. One witness on high ground near the town described the water as almost obscured by debris, resembling "a huge hill rolling over and over". From his idle locomotive in the town's railyard, engineer John Hess heard and felt the rumbling of the approaching flood. Throwing his locomotive into reverse, he raced backward toward East Conemaugh, the whistle blowing constantly. His warning saved many people who reached high ground. When the flood hit, it picked up the still-moving locomotive off the tracks and floated it aside; Hess himself survived, but at least fifty people died, including about twenty-five passengers stranded on trains in the village.
Just before reaching the main part of Johnstown, the flood surge hit the Cambria Iron Works in the town of Woodvale, sweeping up railroad cars and barbed wire. Of Woodvale's 1,100 residents, 314 died in the flood. Boilers exploded when the flood hit the Gautier Wire Works, causing black smoke seen by Johnstown residents. Miles of barbed wire became entangled with the rest of the debris in the flood waters.
Fifty-seven minutes after the dam collapsed, the flood reached Johnstown. Residents were caught by surprise as the wall of water and debris bore down, traveling at speeds of and reaching a height of in places. Some people, realizing the danger, tried to escape by running towards high ground, but most were hit by the surging floodwater in their homes and workplaces. Many people were crushed by pieces of debris, and others became caught in barbed wire from the wire factory upstream. Those who reached attics or roofs, or managed to stay afloat on pieces of floating debris, waited hours for help to arrive.
The Stone Bridge, a substantial arched structure, carried the Pennsylvania Railroad across the Conemaugh River in the center of Johnstown. The debris carried by the flood, now including twisted steel rails, boxcars, entire buildings, and the bodies of the flood's victims, formed a temporary dam at the bridge, forcing the flood surge to roll upstream along the channel of the Stoney Creek River. Eventually, gravity caused the surge to return to the dam, resulting in a second wave that hit the city from a different direction. Some people who had been washed downstream became trapped in an inferno as the debris that had piled up against the bridge caught fire; at least eighty people died there. The fire burned for three days. After floodwaters receded, the pile of debris at the bridge was seen to cover , and reached in height. It took workers three months to remove the mass of debris, the delay owing in part to the huge quantity of barbed wire from the ironworks entangled with the wreckage. Dynamite was eventually used.
Victims
The total death toll from the flood was calculated originally as 2,209 people, making the disaster the largest loss of civilian life in the U.S. at the time. This number of deaths was later surpassed by fatalities in the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the September 11 attacks. However, as pointed out by historian David McCullough, a man reported as presumed dead had survived; Leroy Temple returned to Johnstown eleven years after the disaster and revealed he had extricated himself from the flood debris at the Stone Bridge, walked out of the valley, and relocated to Beverly, Massachusetts. After the revelation of Temple's survival, the official death toll was 2,208.
According to records compiled by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, bodies were found as far away as Cincinnati, Ohio, and as late as 1911; 99 entire families died in the flood, including 396 children; 124 women and 198 men were widowed; 98 children were orphaned; and one third of the dead, 777 people, were never identified; their remains were buried at Johnstown's Grandview Cemetery.
Investigation
On June 5, 1889, five days after the flood, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) appointed a committee of four prominent engineers to investigate the cause of the disaster. The committee was led by the esteemed James B. Francis, a hydraulic engineer best known for his work related to canals, flood control, turbine design, dam construction, and hydraulic calculations. Francis was a founding member of the ASCE and served as its president from November 1880 to January 1882. The committee visited the site of the South Fork Dam, reviewed the original engineering design of the dam and modifications made during repairs, interviewed eyewitnesses, commissioned a topographic survey of the dam remnants, and performed hydrologic calculations.
The ASCE committee completed their investigation report on January 15, 1890, but its final report was sealed and not shared with other ASCE members or the public. At ASCE's annual convention in June 1890, committee member Max Becker was quoted as saying, "We will hardly [publish our investigation] report this session, unless pressed to do so, as we do not want to become involved in any litigation." Although many ASCE members clamored for the report, it was not published in the society's transactions until two years after the disaster, in June 1891. William Shinn, a former partner of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, became the new president of ASCE in January 1890. He gave the investigation report to outgoing Becker to decide when to release it to the public. Becker kept it under wraps until the time of ASCE's convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1890. The long-awaited report was presented at that meeting by James Francis. The other three investigators, William Worthen, Alphonse Fteley, and Max Becker, did not attend.
In their final report, the ASCE committee concluded the dam would have failed even if it had been maintained within the original design specifications, i.e., with a higher embankment crest and with five large discharge pipes at the dam's base. This claim has since been challenged. A hydraulic analysis published in 2016 confirmed that the changes made to the dam by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club severely reduced its ability to withstand major storms. Lowering the dam by as much as and failing to replace the discharge pipes at its base cut the dam's safe discharge capacity in half. This fatal lowering of the dam greatly reduced the capacity of the main spillway and virtually eliminated the action of an emergency spillway on the western abutment. Walter Frank first documented the presence of that emergency spillway in a 1988 ASCE publication. Its existence is supported by topographic data from 1889 which shows the western abutment to be about one foot lower than the crest of the dam remnants, even after the dam had previously been lowered as much as three feet by the South Fork Club. Adding the width of the emergency spillway to that of the main spillway yielded the total width of spillway capacity that had been specified in the 1847 design of William Morris, a state engineer.
Legal
In the years following the disaster, some survivors blamed the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club for their modifications to the dam. They were accused of failing to maintain the dam properly, so that it was unable to contain the additional water of the unusually heavy rainfall. The club was successfully defended in court by the firm of Knox and Reed (later Reed Smith LLP), whose partners Philander Knox and James Hay Reed were both club members. Knox and Reed successfully argued that the dam's failure was a natural disaster which was an Act of God, and no legal compensation was paid to the survivors of the flood. The club was never held legally responsible for the disaster. The perceived injustice aided the acceptance, in later cases, of "strict, joint, and several liability," so that even a "non-negligent defendant could be held liable for damage caused by the unnatural use of land."
Individual members of the South Fork Club, millionaires in their day, contributed to the recovery in Johnstown. Along with about half of the club members, co-founder Henry Clay Frick donated thousands of dollars to the relief effort. After the flood, Andrew Carnegie built the town a new library.
Popular feeling ran high, as is reflected in Isaac G. Reed's poem:Many thousand human lives-
Butchered husbands, slaughtered wives
Mangled daughters, bleeding sons,
Hosts of martyred little ones,
(Worse than Herod's awful crime)
Sent to heaven before their time;
Lovers burnt and sweethearts drowned,
Darlings lost but never found!
All the horrors that hell could wish,
Such was the price that was paid for— fish!https://archive.org/stream/StillCastingShadowsASharedMosaicOfU.s.HistoryVol.I1620-1914/StillCastingShadows1_djvu.txt (in which, text-search for text "Mining a similar vein")
Aftermath
Immediately afterward
The Johnstown Flood was the worst flood to hit the U.S. in the 19th century. 1,600 homes were destroyed, $17 million in property damage levied (approx. $550 million in 2022), and of downtown Johnstown were completely destroyed. Debris at the Stone Bridge covered thirty acres, and clean-up operations were to continue for years. Cambria Iron and Steel's facilities were heavily damaged; they returned to full production within eighteen months.
Working seven days and nights, workmen built a wooden trestle bridge to temporarily replace the Conemaugh Viaduct, which had been destroyed by the flood. The Pennsylvania Railroad restored service to Pittsburgh, away, by June 2. Food, clothing, medicine, and other provisions began arriving by rail. Morticians traveled by railroad. Johnstown's first call for help requested coffins and undertakers. The demolition expert "Dynamite Bill" Flinn and his 900-man crew cleared the wreckage at the Stone Bridge. They carted off debris, distributed food, and erected temporary housing. At its peak, the army of relief workers totaled about 7,000.
One of the first outsiders to arrive was Clara Barton, the founder and president of the American Red Cross. Barton arrived on June 5, 1889, to lead the group's first major disaster relief effort; she did not leave for more than five months. Donations for the relief effort came from all over the U.S. and overseas. $3,742,818.78 was collected for the Johnstown relief effort from within the U.S. and eighteen foreign countries, including Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and the Ottoman Empire.
Frank Shomo, the last known survivor of the 1889 flood, died March 20, 1997, at the age of 108.
Subsequent floods
Floods have continued to be a concern for Johnstown, which had major flooding in 1894, 1907, 1924, 1936, and 1977. The biggest flood of the first half of the 20th century was the St. Patrick's Day flood of March 1936. That flood also reached Pittsburgh, where it was known as the Pittsburgh Flood of 1936. Following the 1936 flood, the United States Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Conemaugh River within the city and built concrete river walls, creating a channel nearly deep. Upon completion, the Corps proclaimed Johnstown "flood free".
The new river walls withstood Hurricane Agnes in 1972, but on the night of July 19, 1977, a severe thunderstorm dropped of rain in eight hours on the watershed above the city and the rivers began to rise. By dawn, the city was under water that reached as high as . Seven counties were declared a disaster area, suffering $200 million in property damage, and 78 people died. Forty were killed by the Laurel Run Dam failure. Another 50,000 were rendered homeless as a result of this "100-year flood". Markers on a corner of City Hall at 401 Main Street show the height of the crests of the 1889, 1936, and 1977 floods.
Legacy
At Point Park in Johnstown, at the confluence of the Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh rivers, an eternal flame burns in memory of the flood victims.
The Carnegie Library in Johnstown is now operated by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, which has adapted it for use as the Johnstown Flood Museum.
Portions of the Stone Bridge have been made part of the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, established in 1969 and managed by the National Park Service. In 2008, the bridge was restored in a project including new lighting as part of commemorative activities related to the flood.
Combined with the failure of the Walnut Grove Dam less than a year later, the Flood brought national attention to the issue of dam safety.
Effect on the development of American law
Survivors of the flood were unable to recover damages in court because of the South Fork Club's ample resources. First, the wealthy club owners had designed the club's financial structure to keep their personal assets separated from it and, secondly, it was difficult for any suit to prove that any particular owner had behaved negligently. Though the former reason was probably more central to the failure of survivors' suits against the club, the latter received coverage and extensive criticism in the national press.
As a result of this criticism, in the 1890s, state courts around the country adopted Rylands v. Fletcher, a British common law precedent which had formerly been largely ignored in the United States. State courts' adoption of Rylands, which held that a non-negligent defendant could be held liable for damage caused by the unnatural use of land, foreshadowed the legal system's 20th-century acceptance of strict liability.
Depiction in media
Film and television
The Johnstown Flood, a 1926 American silent epic film directed by Irving Cummings. A print is held at George Eastman House.
The Johnstown Flood, a 1946 animated film. Mighty Mouse uses time-reversal power to undo the flood and prevent the dam from breaking in the first place. One of a series of cartoons where he stops disasters that actually happened.
Slap Shot, a 1977 film was filmed in Johnstown. Renamed to the fictitious "Charlestown" for the film, there are several references to an also-fictitious "1938 flood", when the character Reg Dunlop (Paul Newman) refers to a statue of a dog that had warned the town of the coming flood. Radio announcer Jim Carr also refers to Charlestown's nickname "Flood City".
The Johnstown Flood, a 1989 short documentary film which won the Best Documentary Academy Award in 1990.
In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, when New York City is flooded in the episode "20,000 Leaks Under the City", Burne Thompson says it is the biggest story since the Johnstown Flood.
The Star Trek: The Original Series novel Rough Trails (2006) (third part of the Star Trek: New Earth mini-series) by L.A. Graf recreates the Johnstown Flood set on another planet.
"Bloody Battles" episode of The Men Who Built America, a part of the 2012 miniseries docudrama.
Theater
"A True History of the Johnstown Flood" by Rebecca Gilman.
By the early 20th century, entertainers developed an exhibition portraying the flood, using moving scenery, light effects, and a live narrator. It was featured as a main attraction at the Stockholm Exhibition of 1909, where it was seen by 100,000 and presented as "our time's greatest electromechanical spectacle", and was probably the Johnstown Flood attraction at the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition at Shepherd's Bush, London, which was seen by 715,000 people. The stage was wide, and the show employed a total of 13 stagehands.
Music
"Mother Country", written by singer-songwriter John Stewart in 1969, contains the lyrics "What ever happened to those faces in the old photographsI mean, the little boys Boys? Hell they were men Who stood knee deep in the Johnstown mud In the time of that terrible flood And they listened to the water, that awful noise And then they put away the dreams that belonged to little boys."
"Highway Patrolman", a track from Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska, mentions a song titled "Night of the Johnstown Flood".
Literature
Poems
"The Pennsylvania Disaster", a poem by William McGonagall
"By the Conemaugh", a poem by Florence Earle Coates
Short stories
Brian Booker's "A Drowning Accident", in One Story (Issue #57, May 30, 2005), was largely based on the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
Caitlín R. Kiernan featured the flood in her "To This Water (Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1889)", in her collected Tales of Pain and Wonder (1994).
Donald Keith's science fiction serial Mutiny in the Time Machine was published in Boys' Life magazine beginning in Dec 1962. It involved a Boy Scout troop discovering a time machine and travelling to Johnstown just prior to the flood.
Historical works
Willis Fletcher Johnson wrote in 1889 a book called History of the Johnstown Flood (published by Edgewood Publishing Co.), likely the first book account of the flood.
James Herbert Walker wrote the 1889 The Johnstown Horror or Valley of Death, published by National Publishing Company.
Gertrude Quinn Slattery, who survived the flood as a six-year-old girl, published a memoir entitled Johnstown and Its Flood (1936).
Historian and author David McCullough's first book was The Johnstown Flood (1968), published by Simon & Schuster.
Weatherman and author Al Roker wrote Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America's Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster.
In fiction
Rudyard Kipling noted the flood in his novel, Captains Courageous (1897), as the disaster that destroyed the family of the minor character "Pennsylvania Pratt".
Marden A. Dahlstedt wrote the young adult novel, The Terrible Wave (1972), featuring a young girl as the main character, the book is inspired by the memoir of Gertrude Quinn (Slattery) who was six years old at the time of the flood.
John Jakes featured the flood in his novel, The Americans (1979), set in 1890 and the final book in the series of The Kent Family Chronicles.
Rosalyn Alsobrook wrote Emerald Storm (1985), a mass market historical romance set in Johnstown. The characters Patricia and Cole try to reunite with each other and loved ones after the flood.
Kathleen Cambor wrote the historical novel In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden (2001), based on events of the flood. The book was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Peg Kehret's fantasy novel, The Flood Disaster, features two students assigned a project on the flood who travel back in time.
Murray Leinster's fantasy novel The Time Tunnel (1967) features two time travelers who were unable to warn the Johnstown population of the coming disaster.
Catherine Marshall's novel Julie features a teenage girl living in a small Pennsylvania town below an earthen dam in the 1930s; its events parallel the Johnstown Flood.
Paul Mark Tag's science fiction novel Prophecy features the flood.
Richard A. Gregory wrote The Bosses Club, The conspiracy that caused the Johnstown Flood, destroying the iron and steel capital of America (2011), a historical novel that proposes a theory of the involvement of Andrew Carnegie and other wealthy American industrialists in the Johnstown Flood, told through the lives of two survivors.
Judith Redline Coopey wrote Waterproof: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood (2012), a story of Pamela Gwynedd McCrae from 1889–1939 through flashbacks.
Kathleen Danielczyk wrote Summer of Gold and Water (2013) which tells story of life at the lake, the flood and a coming together of the classes.
Colleen Coble wrote The Wedding Quilt Bride (2001) which tells the story of a romance between a member of the club's granddaughter and a man brought in to see if the dam was really in trouble. It follows him trying to convince the people of the danger and then the flood.
Michael Stephan Oates wrote the historical fiction novel Wade in the Water (2014), a coming of age tale set against the backdrop of the Johnstown flood.
Jeanette Watts's Wealth and Privilege (2014) portrays the Fishing and Hunting Club at its heyday, and then the main characters scramble for their lives in the Flood at the novel's climax.
Mary Hogan's The Woman In the Photo (2016) writes about two young women in present-day and Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1889.
Jane Claypool Miner wrote Jennie (1989), a historical fiction romance written about a young girl who rides the flood from South Fork to Johnstown and survives. She then works as a telegraph operator for the reporters flooding the town while advocating for the people living there.
See also
Austin, Pennsylvania Dam Failure
St. Francis Dam disaster
Vajont Dam disaster
References
Bibliography
Coleman, Neil M. Johnstown's Flood of 1889 – Power Over Truth and the Science Behind the Disaster (2018). Springer International Publishing AG. 256 pp. 978-3-319-95215-4 978-3-319-95216-1 (eBook)
Coleman, Neil M., Wojno, Stephanie, and Kaktins, Uldis. (2017). The Johnstown Flood of 1889 – Challenging the Findings of the ASCE Investigation Report. Paper No. 29-10. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 2. https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2017NE/webprogram/Paper290358.html. .
Coleman, Neil M., Kaktins, Uldis, and Wojno, Stephanie (2016). Dam-Breach hydrology of the Johnstown flood of 1889 – challenging the findings of the 1891 investigation report, Heliyon,
Coleman, Neil M., Wojno, Stephanie, and Kaktins, Uldis. (2016). Dam-breach hydrology of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 – Challenging the findings of the 1891 investigation report. Paper No. 178-5. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7. https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2016AM/webprogram/Paper283665.html.
Coleman, Neil M., Davis Todd, C., Myers, Reed A., Kaktins, Uldis (2009). "Johnstown flood of 1889 – destruction and rebirth" (Presentation 76-9). Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 41, No. 7, p. 216.
Davis T., C., Coleman, Neil M., Meyers, Reed A., and Kaktins, Uldis (2009). A determination of peak discharge rate and water volume from the 1889 Johnstown Flood (Presentation 76-10). Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 41, No. 7, p. 216.
Kaktins, Uldis, Davis Todd, C., Wojno, S., Coleman, N.M. (2013). Revisiting the timing and events leading to and causing the Johnstown Flood of 1889. Pennsylvania History, v. 80, no. 3, 335–363.
Johnson, Willis Fletcher. History of the Johnstown Flood (1889).
McCullough, David. The Johnstown Flood (1968);
O'Connor, R. Johnstown – The Day The Dam Broke (1957).
External links
"Johnstown Flood Memorial", National Park Service
Johnstown Flood Museum – Johnstown Area Heritage Association
A Valley of Death Three Rivers Tribune (Three Rivers Michigan) #45 Vol. XI June 7, 1889
Benefit event for Johnstown Flood Sufferers held on June 14, 1889
"The Johnstown Flood", Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Google Earth view showing Johnstown and the South Fork Dam site
"Johnstown Flood', by Jeffrey J. Kitsko, Pennsylvania Highways, January 27, 2015.
"'It's still controversial': Debate rages over culpability of wealthy club members" by David Hurst The Tribune-Democrat, May 25, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
19th-century floods in the United States
1880s floods
1889 in Pennsylvania
1889 meteorology
1889 natural disasters in the United States
Andrew Carnegie
Dam failures in the United States
Disasters in Pennsylvania
Floods in Pennsylvania
History of Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
May 1889 events |
475483 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt%20Flood | Curt Flood | Curtis Charles Flood Sr. (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Senators.
Flood was a three-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner for seven consecutive seasons, and batted over .300 in six seasons. He led the National League (NL) in hits (211) in 1964 and in singles, 1963, 1964, and 1968. Flood also led the National League in putouts as center fielder four times and in fielding percentage as center fielder three times. He retired with the third most games in center field (1683) in NL history, trailing Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn.
Flood became one of the pivotal figures in the sport's labor history when he refused to accept a trade following the 1969 season, ultimately appealing his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although his legal challenge was unsuccessful, it brought about additional solidarity among players as they fought against baseball's reserve clause and sought free agency.
Early years
Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Oakland, California, Flood played in the same outfield in West Oakland's McClymonds High School as Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. All three would eventually sign professional contracts with the Cincinnati Reds. Flood transferred to Oakland Technical High School, from which he graduated.
MLB career
Flood signed with the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1956 and made a handful of appearances for the team in 1956–57. However, Flood was deemed expendable with future star centerfielder Vada Pinson preparing to be promoted to the majors. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in December 1957.
For the next 12 seasons, he became a fixture in center field for St. Louis; although he struggled at the plate from 1958 to 1960, his defensive skill was apparent. He had his breakthrough year at the plate after Johnny Keane took over as manager in 1961: he batted .322, followed by .296 in 1962 with 11 home runs. He continued to improve offensively in 1963, hitting .302 and scoring a career-high 112 runs, third-most in the NL; he also had career bests in doubles (34), triples (9) and stolen bases (17) and collected 200 hits in an NL-leading 662 at bats. In that year he received the first of his seven consecutive Gold Gloves.
He earned his first All-Star selection in 1964. He batted .311. His 679 at-bats led the NL again and were the fifth-highest total in league history to that point, setting a team record by surpassing Taylor Douthit's 1930 total of 664; Lou Brock broke the team record three years later with 689. He tied for tops in hits with The Pittsburgh Pirates' Roberto Clemente with 211. Batting leadoff in the World Series against the New York Yankees, he hit only .200 but scored in three of the Cardinal victories as the team won in seven games for its first championship since 1946. In 1965, Flood had his greatest power output with 11 home runs and 83 runs batted in while he was hitting .310. He made the All-Star team again in 1966, a season in which he did not commit a single error in the outfield; his record errorless streak of 226 games (NL record for an outfielder) and 568 total chances (major league record) ran from September 3, 1965, to June 4, 1967.
In 1967, he had his highest batting mark with a .335 average (though his other batting totals fell off from previous years), helping the Cardinals to another championship. In the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, he hit a woeful .179 but made some crucial contributions. In game 1, he advanced Brock to third base twice, putting him in position to score both runs in a 2–1 victory; in game 3, he drove Brock in with the first run of a 5–2 win. As team co-captain (with Tim McCarver) in 1968 he had perhaps his best year, earning his third All-Star selection and finishing fourth in the MVP balloting (won by teammate Bob Gibson) on the strength of a .301 batting average and 186 base hits. Against the San Francisco Giants that year, Flood was involved in the final outs of the first back-to-back no-hitters in major league history. On September 17, he struck out for the final out of Gaylord Perry's 1–0 gem. The next day, he caught Willie McCovey's fly ball for the final out of Ray Washburn's 2–0 no-hitter.
Torrential rains the night before had soaked the Busch Stadium field, and had he not momentarily lost his footing chasing a Jim Northrup fly ball (ruled a triple) with two out in the seventh inning of game 7 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, the Cardinals might have won their third championship of the decade; Detroit scored twice on the play, with Northrup later coming in for a 3–0 lead, and won the game, 4–1. Up to that point, Flood had been enjoying the best series of his career despite dealing with personal problems at home, hitting .286 with three steals.
After the season ended, Flood was upset when Cardinals' president Gussie Busch, and CEO of team owner Anheuser-Busch, offered him only a $5,000 raise, far short of the $90,000 salary he believed he deserved after his stellar regular season. He believed Busch, with whom he had previously enjoyed a close personal friendship, was expressing his displeasure over the error that had likely cost the team the Series. While Busch eventually relented, Flood took it personally when Busch publicly chewed the team out after most players boycotted spring training before the 1969 season for a week, accusing players of forgetting that fans were what kept the sport going (although he did not mention any player by name).
In 1969, despite the lower pitching mound instituted that season, which saw a general rise in batting average league-wide, Flood's batting average slipped to .285. His brother was arrested during the season. Late in the season, he publicly criticized the team for reorganizing before they were officially eliminated. He received his seventh Gold Glove that season just as other events in his career began to affect the entire sport. Flood collected the first hit in a major league regular-season game in Canada. He doubled off Montreal Expos pitcher Larry Jaster in the first inning of the Expos' inaugural home game on April 14 at Jarry Park. (Jaster, a Cardinal teammate of Flood's the year before, had been selected by the Expos in the expansion draft.)
Challenging the reserve clause
Despite his outstanding playing career, Flood's principal legacy developed off the field. He believed that Major League Baseball's decades-old reserve clause was unfair in that it kept players beholden for life to the team with which they originally signed, even when they had satisfied the terms and conditions of those contracts.
On October 7, 1969, the Cardinals traded Flood, Tim McCarver, Byron Browne, and Joe Hoerner to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas, and Jerry Johnson. Flood refused to report to the moribund Phillies, citing the team's poor record and dilapidated Connie Mack Stadium, and for what he alleged were belligerent—and racist—fans. Flood said, "That I didn't think that I was going to report to Philadelphia, mainly because I didn't want to pick up twelve years of my life and move to another city." Some reports say he was also irritated that he had learned of the trade from a reporter; but Flood wrote in his autobiography that he was told by midlevel Cardinals management and was angry that the call did not come from the general manager, further alienating him from Busch. He met with Phillies' general manager John Quinn, who left the meeting believing that he had persuaded Flood to report to the team. Flood stood to forfeit a lucrative $100,000 () contract if he did not report; but after a meeting with players' union head Marvin Miller, who informed him that the union was prepared to fund a lawsuit, he decided to pursue his legal options.
In a letter to Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Flood demanded that the commissioner declare him a free agent:
December 24, 1969
After twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the several States.
It is my desire to play baseball in 1970, and I am capable of playing. I have received a contract offer from the Philadelphia club, but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decision. I, therefore, request that you make known to all Major League clubs my feelings in this matter, and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.
Flood was influenced by the events of the 1960s that took place in the United States. According to Marvin Miller, Flood told the executive board of the players' union, "I think the change in black consciousness in recent years has made me more sensitive to injustice in every area of my life." However, he added that he was challenging the reserve clause primarily as a major league ballplayer.
Flood v. Kuhn
Commissioner Kuhn denied Flood's request for free agency, citing the propriety of the reserve clause and its inclusion in Flood's 1969 contract. On January 16, 1970, Flood filed a $1 million lawsuit against Kuhn and Major League Baseball, alleging violation of federal antitrust laws. Flood likened the reserve clause to slavery. Among those testifying on his behalf were former players Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg, and former owner Bill Veeck; no active players testified, nor did any attend the trial. Although players' union representatives had voted unanimously to support Flood, rank-and-file players were divided, with many players believing that eliminating the reserve clause would hurt the game.
Flood v. Kuhn (407 U.S. 258) was argued before the Supreme Court on March 20, 1972. Flood's attorney, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, asserted that the reserve clause depressed wages and limited players to one team for life. Major League Baseball's counsel, Louis Hoynes, countered that if Flood won his case, "it would be a shambles." On June 19, 1972, the Supreme Court, invoking the principle of stare decisis ("to stand by things decided"), ruled 5–3 in favor of Major League Baseball, citing as precedent a 1922 ruling in Federal Baseball Club v. National League (259 U.S. 200). Justice Lewis Powell recused himself owing to his ownership of stock in Anheuser-Busch, which owned the Cardinals.
Later legal developments
Despite the loss in the Supreme Court, the baseball player's union continued to push to eliminate the reserve clause. It was finally struck down in December 1975 in a case involving players Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith. In July 1976, the union and the baseball team owners agreed to a contract that included free agency.
In 1998, the federal government passed the Curt Flood Act of 1998. The act, passed by the 105th Congress and signed into law by President Clinton, revokes baseball's antitrust status (save for expansion, minor leagues, and franchise relocation), a status that major league baseball had enjoyed for seventy-five years after the Supreme Court had ruled that baseball was eligible for the status under interstate commerce. This act did exactly what Flood wanted; it stopped owners from controlling the players' contracts and careers.
Flood also helped bring about the 10/5 Rule, also known as the Curt Flood Rule. The rule states that when a player has played for a team for five straight years and played in MLB for a total of ten years, they have to give the club their consent to be traded.
Aftermath
Final years in baseball
After Flood's lawsuit failed, Flood was blackballed from baseball. There were questions similar to "Do you realize you won't be able to play in MLB ever again?" or "You realize you are going to lose your job?" Everyone Flood consulted was convinced he would be blackballed from baseball. Flood soon realized that his career was over as he later said,It would be difficult to come back. And besides, I don't think I'll be getting the opportunity to play again. As big as it is, baseball is a closely-knit unit. I doubt even one of the 24 men controlling the game would touch me with a ten-foot pole. You can't buck the Establishment.
Flood sat out the entire 1970 season. During this period he was bombarded with hate mail from fans, who accused him of trying to destroy baseball; his teammate Bob Gibson estimated "He got four or five death threats a day." The Cardinals sent two minor leaguers to the Phillies as compensation for Flood's refusal to report. One of them—centerfielder Willie Montañez—went on to a 14-year major league career. In November 1970, the Phillies traded Flood and four other players to the Washington Senators. He signed a $110,000 contract with Washington but played only thirteen games of the 1971 season, with a .200 batting average and lackluster play in center field. Despite manager Ted Williams's vote of confidence, Flood left the team in late April and retired. He had a lifetime batting average of .293 with 1,861 hits, 85 home runs, 851 runs, and 636 RBI. Defensively, Flood posted a .987 fielding percentage in his major-league career. Later that year Flood published a memoir entitled The Way It Is in which he spelled out in detail his argument against the reserve clause.
Retirement
After his retirement, Flood purchased a bar in the resort town of Palma on the island of Majorca, where he had moved in the wake of the bankruptcy of his Curt Flood Associates business, two lawsuits, and an IRS lien on a home he bought for his mother. He returned to baseball as a member of the Oakland Athletics broadcasting team in 1978. In 1988 he was named commissioner of the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association. In the mid-1990s, he joined the management group of the United Baseball League (UBL), which was envisioned as a smaller alternative to MLB. While the group negotiated a long-term TV contract with Liberty Media, the deal (and the UBL) failed when Liberty was absorbed by MLB contractor Fox Sports. In his spare time, he painted; his 1989 oil portrait of Joe DiMaggio sold at auction for $9,500 in 2006.
Personal life and health
Flood was married twice and had five children. His first marriage was to Beverly Collins (C) from 1959 until 1966, and together they had five children; Debbie (R), Gary (Standing), Shelly (Lower R), Scott (Lower L), and Curt Flood Jr (L). Flood later married actress Judy Pace in 1986, whom he had met in the 1960s (Pace, recently divorced, had been married to actor Don Mitchell for the previous 13 years). They remained married until Flood's death (10 years). Diagnosed with throat cancer in 1995, Flood was initially given a 90–95 percent chance of survival. He underwent radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and throat surgery, which left him unable to speak.
Death and legacy
On January 20, 1997, just two days after his 59th birthday, Flood died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, after developing pneumonia, and was interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood.
Just before his death, Flood's legacy was acknowledged in Congress in 1997 via the Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1997. Numbered HR 21 (Flood's Cardinals uniform number) and introduced in the House of Representatives on the first day of the 105th Congress by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D–Michigan), the legislation established federal antitrust law protection for major league baseball players to the same extent as provided for other professional athletes.
Curt Flood is a nonparticipating but pivotal character in the book Our Gang by Philip Roth.
Flood's struggle for free agency was featured in Ken Burns' documentary series Baseball in 1994. He was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 1999.
In 2020, 102 members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the Baseball Hall of Fame, co-signed by Players' unions from the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLS, asking the Hall of Fame to admit Flood.
See also
List of St. Louis Cardinals team records
References
Further reading
External links
1938 births
1997 deaths
20th-century African-American sportspeople
African-American baseball players
African-American trade unionists
Activists for African-American civil rights
Baseball players from Houston
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery
Cincinnati Redlegs players
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from esophageal cancer
Gold Glove Award winners
High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball center fielders
Major League Baseball labor relations
McClymonds High School alumni
National League All-Stars
Oakland Athletics announcers
Oakland Technical High School alumni
Omaha Cardinals players
Savannah Redlegs players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Washington Senators (1961–1971) players |
500381 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown%20Flood%20National%20Memorial | Johnstown Flood National Memorial | The Johnstown Flood National Memorial is a unit of the United States National Park Service. Established in 1964 through legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it pays tribute to the thousands of victims of the Johnstown Flood, who were injured or killed on May 31, 1889 when the South Fork Dam ruptured.
History
History of the Johnstown Flood
Founded in 1800, Johnstown was a steel town that grew from the development of the Pennsylvania Railroad and other transportation services in Cambria County. The town had a population of thirty thousand people who were of mostly German and Welsh ancestry. Established in the center of a floodplain between Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek rivers, the community was surrounded, during the latter part of the nineteenth century, by land that had been devastated by deforestation and the leveling of hills, both of which were responsible for periodic floods.
In 1836, the South Fork dam was built at Conemaugh Lake to create a reservoir for the Pennsylvania Canal's western division. Measuring eight hundred and fifty feet at its breast section, the dam was made of earth and stone, and was reported to be the largest dam of its type in the world at the time of its construction. Subsequently abandoned by the canal system, it was purchased by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, a recreational group composed of wealthy individuals from the Pittsburgh region who subsequently paid for repairs to the dam and additional construction which raised its height in order to transform the area into a boating and fishing resort community.
On May 31, 1889, the South Fork dam broke from the weight of combined heavy rains and a sudden freshet that had caused a significantly higher amount of water to accumulate in its reservoir than normal. The dam's rupture released twenty million tons of water, which traveled at forty miles per hour, creating a seventy-foot-high wall of water that was propelled fourteen miles downward into the Little Conemaugh River Valley, where it flooded Johnstown. Property, industry, homes, farms, and lives were destroyed as the water, debris, oil, and bodies of flood victims were caught in the arches of a Pennsylvania Railroad-owned stone bridge. Eighty of the trapped people subsequently died in a related fire.
Although the flood lasted for just ten minutes, the catastrophic damage it caused required five years of cleanup and rebuilding to enable residents of Johnstown to recover. In addition to the thousands of initial injuries and lives lost, the community was also impacted by an outbreak of typhoid fever, which developed from bacteria-tainted flood waters, causing forty additional deaths. Surviving residents were treated and cared for by relief corps from several cities in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The federal government and foreign countries also responded with more than $3.7 million in money, food, and clothing for the town.
Just sixteen when the flood happened, survivor Victor Heiser gave his recollection of the event years later during a recording of his oral history. He remembered people living in the area near the dam often saying beforehand, "That dam will give way, but it won’t ever happen to us," and also recalled that the flood, when it hit, was like a "huge wall" coming down the street. The longest living survivor of the flood, Frank Shomo, died March 20, 1997, at the age of one hundred and eight.
History of the memorial
As a result of legislation proposed by U.S. Congressman John P. Saylor, H.R. 931, which was supported by the Blair County Historical Society and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, creation of this memorial was approved by the United States Congress on August 31, 1964. Signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 2, 1964, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial was officially established to preserve the remains of the South Fork Dam, which was structurally lacking at the time of its rupture during the Johnstown Flood on May 31, 1889. Also conserved by this legislation were the former Lake Conemaugh bed, along with the farm of Elias Unger and the clubhouse of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which owned the dam and reservoir.
The memorial is presently located at 733 Lake Road near South Fork, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Park features
The visitor center at this national memorial offers two floors of exhibits with maps, views of the former dam, tactile displays, historic photographs of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, a reproduction morgue book, the oral history of flood survivor Victor Heiser, and the film, "Black Friday," and also includes the Unger House and the Springhouse.
Visitors to the national memorial may also explore the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Clubhouse, which was acquired by the park in 2006, and the Lake View Visitor Center. Ranger-interpreted and van-guided tours are also both available.
Hiking trails connect various parts of the memorial, and picnicking areas are also present throughout.
Lakebed Rehabilitation Project
On January, 2020, the Lakebed Rehabilitation Project began at the Johnston Flood National Memorial. The project's goal was to restore the view of how the lakebed looked before the breakage of the dam in 1889. Vegetation has grown in the area so the National Park Service Wildland Fire and Aviation staff cleared it using a masticator machine. This caused problems however as there are many places that both man and machine cannot clear with safety. An organization named Allegheny Goatscape from Pittsburgh used their services of 12 goats and a donkey to provide assistance in clearing the area. The herd is able to eat an approximate of an acre of vegetation every two weeks. Another organization named Russell Tree Experts from Ohio also assisted in mechanical clearing of the lakebed. This clearing project is expected to continue till the summer of 2021.
Gallery
See also
List of national memorials of the United States
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
Johnstown flood of 1936
Johnstown flood of 1977
St. Francis Dam disaster
Vajont Dam disaster
References
The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.
External links
Official NPS website: Johnstown Flood National Memorial
Run for Your Lives!: The Johnstown Flood of 1889, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan (archive)
Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
National Memorials of the United States
Museums in Cambria County, Pennsylvania
History museums in Pennsylvania
Protected areas established in 1964
National Park Service areas in Pennsylvania
Protected areas of Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Monuments and memorials in Pennsylvania
1964 establishments in Pennsylvania
National Register of Historic Places in Cambria County, Pennsylvania |
536397 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997%20Red%20River%20flood | 1997 Red River flood | The Red River flood of 1997 was a major flood that occurred in April and May 1997 along the Red River of the North in Minnesota, North Dakota, and southern Manitoba. It was the most severe flood of the river since 1826. The flood reached throughout the Red River Valley, affecting the cities of Fargo and Winnipeg, but none so greatly as Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, where floodwaters reached more than inland. They inundated virtually everything in the twin communities. Total damages for the Red River region were US$3.5 billion. The flood was the result of abundant snowfall and extreme temperatures.
In Grand Forks, thousands of people, including Air Force personnel from Grand Forks Air Force Base, tried to prepare for the 1997 flood by building sandbag dikes. These dikes were constructed based on a 49-foot estimate of flooding set by the National Weather Service. The river crested at 54 feet in Grand Forks. Grand Forks mayor Pat Owens had to order the evacuation of more than 50,000 people, most of the population of the city, as a huge area was flooded. A large fire started in downtown Grand Forks, engulfing eleven buildings and sixty apartment units before being extinguished. Those affected by the flood in the U.S. received donations from across the nation, along with billions of dollars in federal aid. City officials and flood-forecasters were criticized for the difference in estimates and actual flood levels.
As a result of the 1997 flood and its extensive property losses, the United States and state governments made additional improvements to the flood protection system in North Dakota and Minnesota. A dike system was built on both sides of the river to protect the twin Forks cities. In the aftermath, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) worked with the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks to clear residential and business development from a large area of floodplain, because of the certainty of future regional floods, and also as the floodplain is intended to be a natural means to absorb floodwaters. They also redeveloped the floodplain along the river as the Greater Grand Forks Greenway, including several parks, a Minnesota state campground recreation area, and a 20-mile biking and walking trail.
Flooding in Manitoba resulted in over $500 million in damages. The Red River Floodway, an artificial waterway completed in 1968 and nicknamed "Duff's Ditch", exceeded its capacity flow but managed to divert the floodwaters around Winnipeg which minimized damage. From 2005 to 2010, the province made substantial upgrades to inlet control structures and fire protection, increased elevation of existing dikes (including the Brunkild dike), and widened the floodway channel.
Previous floods
The Red River of the North has flooded repeatedly through the centuries. It is highly prone to spring flooding because of its northward flow, the nearly flat former lake bed of the valley, and ice formation on the river. As spring approaches, the snow melts from south to north in the same direction as the riverflow. At times high waters encounter ice on the river and back up, spreading out of the banks. The wide flatness of the terrain, formed from an ancient lake bed, and the low slope of the river also contribute to severe flooding in the region.
Serious floods occurred in 1948 and 1950. The 1950 flood reached a high of 30 ft (9.2 m) at Winnipeg and caused the largest evacuation in Canada's history: an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people had to be evacuated. An estimated $606 million CAD (1997) of damage resulted. In the aftermath, the government of Manitoba and the Canadian federal government constructed flood safety measures.
The first known records of floods along the Red River were documented in the 1770s. Severe floods have occurred throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, including in 1979. Residents and officials incorrectly assumed that homes that were safe in 1979 would be beyond the reach of a future flood.
Impacts
North Dakota and Minnesota
The Red River forms the border between Minnesota and North Dakota. A few sets of "sister cities" developed along opposite sides of the river. Grand Forks, North Dakota and its counterpart East Grand Forks, Minnesota, were the pair most severely affected by the 1997 flood. Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota (Fargo-Moorhead) and Wahpeton, North Dakota/Breckenridge, Minnesota also had severe flooding. Much of the flooding accumulated not only because of the rising river levels, but also from overland flooding, as meltwater did not drain away. Temporary dikes were erected along the riverfront and around the edges of towns, but were sometimes overwhelmed.
It was difficult for the cities to prepare for such an enormous flood. The National Weather Service (NWS) had forecast that the river would crest at 49 feet (14.9 m), which was its highest level during the 1979 flood. The cities had built dikes to this level, but the river continued to rise past it. Taken by surprise, the NWS did not upgrade its forecast until April 16, the day the river reached 49 feet.
The dikes in the low-lying Lincoln Drive neighborhood of Grand Forks were the first to break, doing so early on April 18, as the river kept rising. Other dikes in the Grand Forks and East Grand Forks area failed that day and the next, flooding thousands of homes. During this time, Grand Forks mayor Pat Owens ordered the evacuation of more than 50,000 people, much of the population of the city. This was the largest evacuation in the United States since the evacuation of residents in Atlanta, Georgia during the Civil War.
Water reached areas more than two miles (3 km) inland from the Red River, requiring evacuation of all of East Grand Forks and 75% of Grand Forks. School was cancelled in both cities for the remainder of the term, as were classes at the University of North Dakota. All transportation was cut off between the two cities (and for many miles, the two states). East Grand Forks residents were evacuated to nearby Crookston, namely to the University of Minnesota Crookston. Residents of Grand Forks were given mandatory evacuation orders on April 18, and retreated to Grand Forks Air Force Base (residents stayed in airplane hangars, which were supplied with more than 3,000 cots). Many residents also evacuated to motels and homes in outlying communities.
The river crested at 54.35 feet (16.6 m) on April 21, and the river level did not fall below 49 feet (14.9 m) until April 26. Because water drained so slowly out of the most low-lying areas, some homeowners could not visit their damaged properties until May. By May 30, the Red River had receded below flood stages everywhere in North Dakota.
Manitoba
The province of Manitoba completed the Red River Floodway in 1968 after six years of construction, built permanent dikes in eight towns south of Winnipeg, and built clay dikes and diversion dams in the Winnipeg area. Other flood control structures completed later were the Portage Diversion and the Shellmouth Dam on the Assiniboine River. Even with these flood protection measures, in 1997 the province had a flood cresting at . It caused 28,000 people to be evacuated and $500 million CAD in damage to property and infrastructure.
The 1997 flood was a 100-year flood. It came close to overwhelming Winnipeg's existing flood protection system. At the time, the Winnipeg Floodway was designed to protect against a flow of , but the 1997 flow was .
To compensate, the province broke operational rules for the Floodway, as defined in legislation, during the night of April 30 / May 1, to prevent waters in Winnipeg from rising above the designed limit of above the "James Avenue datum", but causing additional flooding upriver. Winnipeg Mayor Susan Thompson, announcing that the design limit had been reached, misinterpreted this as good news that the flooding had peaked. City sand-bagging stopped, and national reporters left the city, but the water continued to rise inside and outside of the city until the peak late on May 3 / early on May 4. The city officials have said that the peak occurred on May 1; scientific reports record a peak on May 3/4.
Towns upriver of Winnipeg, forewarned by footage of buildings in Grand Forks burning and covered in meters of water, built ring dikes to protect their homes and properties. The province of Manitoba called in the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the provincial Department of Natural Resources. Many people chose to evacuate, including residents from Morris, who had only two days notice to evacuate to Winnipeg. Thousands of volunteers helped to build sandbag dikes around homes and property. An emergency long dike, later called the Brunkild Z-dike, was constructed in a matter of days when officials realized that overland flooding threatened the city of Winnipeg. It cost $10 million (CAD).
Almost all of the ring dikes around the towns held, except for that at Ste. Agathe. The town's dike system was prepared for the river approaching from the south, but the river had spread widely and floodwaters swamped the town from the west. At the flood's peak in Canada on May 4, the Red River occupied an area of 1,840 km2 (710 mi2) with more than 2,560 km2 (990 mi2) of land underwater, which earned it the nickname "Red Sea."
While the flooding was still underway, the federal Liberal government led by Jean Chrétien called a snap election. Several of the party's MPs from the province, including Reg Alcock, requested a delay until the flooding was under control. When Chrétien let the election go ahead as originally planned, Alcock transformed his campaign office into a volunteer relief centre, spending his time in relief efforts instead of campaigning, and won re-election.
Aftermath
In July, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and United States President Bill Clinton appointed the International Red River Basin Task Force, comprising members from both countries. The task force's purpose was to find ways to improve flood forecasting.
The province of Manitoba asked the International Joint Commission (IJC) to provide a report on the flood event and to recommend measures to ensure further flood protection for the city of Winnipeg. Largely as a result of this study, the province widened the floodway between 2004 and 2010.
Societal response
Catastroffiti
Catastroffiti, a form of graffiti related to natural disasters, starts to appear as affected residents gut their houses, placing damaged materials on the berms. At first, this graffiti was placed on trashed appliances to prevent theft and resale, but soon expanded in medium and purpose. The graffiti done mostly in spray paint (also mud) started to not only be a precaution, but a dialogue of emotions related to the effects of the flood. Post-flood emotions driving this largely consisted of frustration with the National Weather Service after it predicted a flood crest about five feet less than the actual. As this developed, catastroffiti was appearing on not just household appliances, but also houses, garages, and signs. In the aftermath of the 1997 Red River Flood, catastroffiti became a method of commentary and coping in the affected areas.
See also
1950 Red River flood
1997 Red River flood in the United States
2009 Red River flood
2011 Red River flood
2022 Red River flood
References
Further reading
External links
Selected Bibliography, Red River of the North Flooding
The Great Flood of 1997—10 Years Later, from Minnesota Public Radio, Retrieved on March 25, 2009
North Dakota State University's Fargo Flood website
Natural disasters in Manitoba
Red River Flood, 1997
Red River Flood, 1997
Red River
Red River Flood, 1997
1990s floods in North America
1997 floods
Red River
Red River
Greater Grand Forks
Natural disasters in Minnesota
Natural disasters in North Dakota
History of Winnipeg
Grand Forks, North Dakota
Red River Flood
Red_River_flood, 1997
Red_River_flood, 1997
Red River floods
1997 in North Dakota
1997 in Minnesota |
543667 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20geology | Flood geology | Flood geology (also creation geology or diluvial geology) is a pseudoscientific attempt to interpret and reconcile geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the Genesis flood narrative, the flood myth in the Hebrew Bible. In the early 19th century, diluvial geologists hypothesized that specific surface features provided evidence of a worldwide flood which had followed earlier geological eras; after further investigation they agreed that these features resulted from local floods or from glaciers. In the 20th century, young-Earth creationists revived flood geology as an overarching concept in their opposition to evolution, assuming a recent six-day Creation and cataclysmic geological changes during the biblical flood, and incorporating creationist explanations of the sequences of rock strata.
In the early stages of development of the science of geology, fossils were interpreted as evidence of past flooding. The "theories of the Earth" of the 17th century proposed mechanisms based on natural laws, within a timescale set by the Ussher chronology. As modern geology developed, geologists found evidence of an ancient Earth, and evidence inconsistent with the notion that the Earth had developed in a series of cataclysms, like the Genesis flood. In early 19th-century Britain, "diluvialism" attributed landforms and surface features (such as beds of gravel and erratic boulders) to the destructive effects of this supposed global deluge, but by 1830 geologists increasingly found that the evidence supported only relatively local floods. So-called scriptural geologists attempted to give primacy to literal biblical explanations, but they lacked a background in geology and were marginalised by the scientific community, as well as having little influence in the churches.
Creationist flood geology was only supported by a minority of the 20th century anti-evolution movement, mainly in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, until the 1961 publication of The Genesis Flood by Morris and Whitcomb. Around 1970, proponents adopted the terms "scientific creationism" and creation science.
Proponents of flood geology hold to a literal reading of Genesis 6–9 and view its passages as historically accurate; they use the Bible's internal chronology to place the Genesis flood and the story of Noah's Ark within the last five thousand years.
Scientific analysis has refuted the key tenets of flood geology. Flood geology contradicts the scientific consensus in geology, stratigraphy, geophysics, physics, paleontology, biology, anthropology, and archaeology. Modern geology, its sub-disciplines and other scientific disciplines use the scientific method. In contrast, flood geology does not adhere to the scientific method, making it a pseudoscience.
The great flood in the history of geology
In pre-Christian times, fossils found on land were thought by Greek philosophers, including Xenophanes, Xanthus and Aristotle, to be evidence that the sea had in past ages covered the land. Their concept of vast time periods in an eternal cosmos was rejected by early Christian writers as incompatible with their belief in Creation by God. Among the church fathers, Tertullian spoke of fossils demonstrating that mountains had been overrun by water without explicitly saying when. Chrysostom and Augustine believed that fossils were the remains of animals that were killed and buried during the brief duration of the Genesis flood, and later Martin Luther viewed fossils as having resulted from the flood.
Other scholars, including Avicenna, thought fossils were produced in the rock by "petrifying virtue" acting on "seeds" of plants and animals. In 1580, Bernard Palissy speculated that fossils had formed in lakes, and natural historians subsequently disputed the alternatives. Robert Hooke made empirical investigations, and doubted that the numbers of fossil shells or depth of shell beds could have formed in the one year of Noah's Flood. In 1616, Nicolas Steno showed how chemical processes changed organic remains into stone fossils. His fundamental principles of stratigraphy published in 1669 established that rock strata formed horizontally and were later broken and tilted, though he assumed these processes would occur within 6,000 years including a worldwide Flood.
Theories of the Earth
In his influential Principles of Philosophy of 1644, René Descartes applied his mechanical physical laws to envisage swirling particles forming the Earth as a layered sphere. This natural philosophy was recast in biblical terms by the theologian Thomas Burnet, whose Sacred Theory of the Earth published in the 1680s proposed complex explanations based on natural laws, and explicitly rejected the simpler approach of invoking miracles as incompatible with the methodology of natural philosophy (the precursor to science). Burnet maintained that less than 6,000 years ago the Earth had emerged from chaos as a perfect sphere, with paradise on land over a watery abyss. This crust had dried out and cracked, and its collapse caused the biblical deluge, forming mountains as well as caverns where the water retreated. He made no mention of fossils, but inspired other diluvial theories that did.
In 1695, John Woodward's An Essay Toward a Natural History of the Earth viewed the Genesis flood as dissolving rocks and earth into a thick slurry that caught up all living things, which, when the waters settled, formed strata according to the specific gravity of these materials, including fossils of the organisms. When it was pointed out that lower layers were often less dense and forces that shattered rock would destroy organic remains, he resorted to the explanation that a divine miracle had temporarily suspended gravity. William Whiston's New Theory of the Earth of 1696 combined scripture with Newtonian physics to propose that the original chaos was the atmosphere of a comet with the days of creation each taking a year, and the Genesis flood had resulted from a second comet. His explanation of how the flood caused mountains and the fossil sequence was similar to Woodward's. Johann Jakob Scheuchzer wrote in support of Woodward's ideas in 1708, describing some fossil vertebrae as bones of sinners who had perished in the flood. A skeleton found in a quarry was described by him in 1726 as Homo diluvii testis, a giant human testifying to the flood. This was accepted for some time, but in 1812 it was shown to be a prehistoric salamander.
Beginnings of modern geology
The modern science of geology developed in the 18th century, the term "geology" itself was popularised by the Encyclopédie of 1751. Steno's categorisation of strata was expanded by several geologists, including Johann Gottlob Lehmann who believed that the oldest mountains had formed early in the Creation, and categorised as Flötz-Gebürge stratified mountains with few ore deposits but with thin layers containing fossils, overlain by a third category of superficial deposits. In his 1756 publication he identified 30 different layers in this category which he attributed to the action of the Genesis Deluge, possibly including debris from the older mountains. Others including Giovanni Arduino attributed secondary strata to natural causes: Georg Christian Füchsel said that geologists had to take as standard the processes in which nature currently produces solids, "we know no other way", and only the most recent deposits could be attributed to a great Flood.
Lehman's classification was developed by Abraham Gottlob Werner who thought that rock strata had been deposited from a primeval global ocean rather than by Noah's Flood, a doctrine called Neptunism. The idea of a young Earth was further undermined in 1774 by Nicolas Desmarest, whose studies of a succession of extinct volcanoes in Europe showed layers which would have taken long ages to build up. The fact that these layers were still intact indicated that any later Flood had been local rather than universal. Against Neptunism, James Hutton proposed an indefinitely old cycle of eroded rocks being deposited in the sea, consolidated and heaved up by volcanic forces into mountains which in turn eroded, all in natural processes which continue to operate.
Catastrophism and diluvialism
The first professional geological society, the Geological Society of London, was founded in 1807. By this time, geologists were convinced that an immense time had been needed to build up the huge thickness of rock strata visible in quarries and cliffs, implying extensive pre-human periods. Most accepted a basic time scale classifying rocks as primitive, transition, secondary, or tertiary. Several researchers independently found that strata could be identified by characteristic fossils: secondary strata in southern England were mapped by William Smith from 1799 to 1815.
Cuvier and Jameson
Georges Cuvier, working with Alexandre Brongniart, examined tertiary strata in the region around Paris. Cuvier found that fossils identified rock formations as alternating between marine and terrestrial deposits, indicating "repeated irruptions and retreats of the sea" which he identified with a long series of sudden catastrophes which had caused extinctions. In his 1812 Discours préliminaire to his Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles de quadrupeds put forward a synthesis of this research into the long prehistoric period, and a historical approach to the most recent catastrophe. His historical approach tested empirical claims in the biblical text of Genesis against other ancient writings to pick out the "real facts" from "interested fictions". In his assessment, Moses had written the account around 3,300 years ago, long after the events described. Cuvier only discussed the Genesis Flood in general terms, as the most recent example of "an event of an [sic] universal catastrophe, occasioned by an irruption of the waters" not set "much further back than five or six thousand years ago". The historical texts could be loosely related to evidence such as overturned strata and "heaps of debris and rounded pebbles". An English translation was published in 1813 with a preface and notes by Robert Jameson, Regius Professor of Natural history at the University of Edinburgh. He began the preface with a sentence which ignored Cuvier's historical approach and instead deferred to revelation:
This sentence was removed after the second edition, and Jameson's position changed as shown by his notes in successive editions, but it influenced British views of Cuvier's concept. In 1819, George Bellas Greenough, first president of The Geological Society, issued A Critical Examination of the First Principles of Geology stating that unless erratic boulders deposited hundreds of miles from their original sources had been moved by seas, rivers, or collapsing lakes, "the only remaining cause, to which these effects can be ascribed, is a Debacle or Deluge."
Buckland and the English school of geologists
Conservative geologists in Britain welcomed Cuvier's theory to replace Werner's Neptunism, and the Church of England clergyman William Buckland became the foremost proponent of Flood geology as he sought to get the new science of geology accepted on the curriculum of the University of Oxford. In 1818, he was visited by Cuvier, and in his inaugural speech in 1819 as the first professor of geology at the university he defended the subject against allegations that it undermined religion. His speech, published as Vindiciae Geologicae; or, The Connexion of Geology with Religion Explained, equated the last of a long series of catastrophes with the Genesis flood, and said that "the grand fact of an universal deluge at no very remote period is proved on grounds so decisive and incontrovertible, that, had we never heard of such an event from Scripture, or any other, authority, Geology of itself must have called in the assistance of some such catastrophe, to explain the phenomena of diluvian action which are universally presented to us, and which are unintelligible without recourse to a deluge exerting its ravages at a period not more ancient than that announced in the Book of Genesis." The evidence he proposed included erratic boulders, extensive areas of gravel, and landforms which appeared to have been scoured by water.
This inaugural address influenced the geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips. In their 1822 book on Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales Conybeare referred to the same features in an introduction about the relationship between geology and religion, describing how a deluge causing "the last great geological change to which the surface of our planet appears to have been exposed" left behind the debris (which he named in Latin Diluvium) as evidence for "that great and universal catastrophe to which it seems most properly assignable". In 1823, Buckland published his detailed account of "Relics of the Flood", Reliquiae Diluvianae; or, Observations on the Organic Remains Contained in Caves, Fissures, and Diluvial Gravel and on Other Geological Phenomena Attesting the Action of an Universal Deluge, incorporating his research suggesting that animal fossils had been dragged into the Kirkdale Cave by hyenas then covered by a layer of red mud washed in by the Deluge.
Buckland's views were supported by other Church of England clergymen naturalists: his Oxford colleague Charles Daubeny proposed in 1820 that the volcanoes of the Auvergne showed a sequence of lava flows from before and after the Flood had cut valleys through the region. In an 1823 article "On the deluge", John Stevens Henslow, professor of mineralogy at the University of Cambridge, affirmed the concept and proposed that the Flood had originated from a comet, but this was his only comment on the topic. Adam Sedgwick, Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge, presented two supportive papers in 1825, "On the origin of alluvial and diluvial deposits", and "On diluvial formations". At this time, most of what Sedgwick called "The English school of geologists" distinguished superficial deposits which were "diluvial", showing "great irregular masses of sand, loam, and coarse gravel, containing through its mass rounded blocks sometimes of enormous magnitude" and supposedly caused by "some great irregular inundation", from "alluvial" deposits of "comminuted gravel, silt, loam, and other materials" attributed to lesser events, the "propelling force" of rivers, or "successive partial inundations".
In America, Benjamin Silliman at Yale College spread the concept, and in an 1833 essay dismissed the earlier idea that most stratified rocks had been formed in the Flood, while arguing that surface features showed "wreck and ruin" attributable to "mighty floods and rushing torrents of water". He said that "we must charge to moving waters the undulating appearance of stratified sand and gravel, often observed in many places, and very conspicuously in the plain of New Haven, and in other regions of Connecticut and New England", while both "bowlder stones" and sandy deserts across the world could be attributed to "diluvial agency".
Criticisms and retractions: the downfall of Diluvialism
Other naturalists were critical of Diluvialism: the Church of Scotland pastor John Fleming published opposing arguments in a series of articles from 1823 onwards. He was critical of the assumption that fossils resembling modern tropical species had been swept north "by some violent means", which he regarded as absurd considering the "unbroken state" of fossil remains. For example, fossil mammoths demonstrated adaptation to the same northern climates now prevalent where they were found. He criticized Buckland's identification of red mud in the Kirkdale cave as diluvial, when near identical mud in other caves had been described as fluvial. While Cuvier had reconciled geology with a loose reading of the biblical text, Fleming argued that such a union was "indiscreet" and turned to a more literal view of Genesis:
When Sedgwick visited Paris at the end of 1826 he found hostility to Diluvialism: Alexander von Humboldt ridiculed it "beyond measure", and Louis-Constant Prévost "lectured against it". In the summer of 1827 Sedgwick and Roderick Murchison travelled to investigate the geology of the Scottish Highlands, where they found "so many indications of local diluvial operations" that Sedgwick began to change his mind about it being worldwide. When George Poulett Scrope published his investigations into the Auvergne in 1827, he did not use the term "diluvium". He was followed by Murchison and Charles Lyell whose account appeared in 1829. All three agreed that the valleys could well have been formed by rivers acting over a long time, and a deluge was not needed. Lyell, formerly a pupil of Buckland, put strong arguments against diluvialism in the first volume of his Principles of Geology published in 1830, though suggesting the possibility of a deluge affecting a region such as the low-lying area around the Caspian Sea. Sedgwick responded to this book in his presidential address to the Geological Society in February 1830, agreeing that diluvial deposits had formed at differing times. At the society a year later, when retiring from the presidency, Sedgwick described his former belief that "vast masses of diluvial gravel" had been scattered worldwide in "one violent and transitory period" as "a most unwarranted conclusion", and therefore thought "it right, as one of my last acts before I quit this Chair, thus publicly to read my recantation." However, he remained convinced that a flood as described in Genesis was not excluded by geology.
One student had seen the gradual abandonment of diluvialism: Charles Darwin had attended Jameson's geology lectures in 1826, and at Cambridge became a close friend of Henslow before learning geology from Sedgwick in 1831. At the outset of the Beagle voyage Darwin was given a copy of Lyell's Principles of Geology, and at the first landfall began his career as a geologist with investigations which supported Lyell's concept of slow uplift while also describing loose rocks and gravel as "part of the long disputed Diluvium". Debates continued over the part played by repeated exceptional catastrophes in geology, and in 1832 William Whewell dubbed this view catastrophism, while naming Lyell's insistence on explanations based on current processes uniformitarianism.
Buckland, too, gradually modified his views on the Deluge. In 1832 a student noted Buckland's view on cause of diluvial gravel, "whether is Mosaic inundation or not, will not say". In a footnote to his Bridgewater Treatise of 1836, Buckland backed down from his former claim that the "violent inundation" identified in his Reliquiae Diluvianae was the Genesis flood:
For a while, Buckland had continued to insist that some geological layers were related to the Great Flood, but grew to accept the idea that they represented multiple inundations which occurred well before humans existed. In 1840 he made a field trip to Scotland with the Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz, and became convinced that the "diluvial" features which he had attributed to the Deluge had, in fact, been produced by ancient ice ages. Buckland became one of the foremost champions of Agassiz's theory of glaciations, and diluvialism went out of use in geology. Active geologists no longer posited sudden ancient catastrophes with unknown causes, and instead increasingly explained phenomena by observable processes causing slow changes over great periods.
Scriptural geologists, and later commentary
Scriptural geologists were a heterogeneous group of writers in the early nineteenth century, who claimed "the primacy of literalistic biblical exegesis" and a short Young Earth time-scale. Their views were marginalised and ignored by the scientific community of their time. They generally lacked any background in geology, and had little influence even in church circles.
Many of them quoted obsolete geological writings. Among the most prominent, Granville Penn argued in 1822 that "mineral geology" rejected revelation, while true "Mosaical geology" showed that God had created primitive rock formations directly, in correspondence with the laws which God then made to produce subsequent effects. A first revolution on the third day of creation deepened the oceans so water rushed in, and in the Deluge 1,656 years afterwards a second revolution sank land areas and raised the sea bed to cause a swirling flood which moved soil and fossil remains into stratified layers, after which God created new vegetation. As Genesis appeared to show that the rivers of Eden had survived this catastrophe, he argued that the verses concerned were an added "parenthesis" which should be disregarded. In 1837 George Fairholme expressed disappointment about disappearing belief in the deluge, and about Sedgwick and Buckland recanting diluvialism, while putting forward his own New and Conclusive Physical Demonstrations which ignored geological findings to claim that strata had been deposited in a quick continuous process while still moist.
Geology was popularized by several authors. John Pye Smith's lectures published in 1840 reconciled an extended time frame with Genesis by the increasingly common gap theology or day-age theology, and said it was likely that the gravel and boulder formations were not "diluvium", but had taken long ages predating the creation of humans. He reaffirmed that the Flood was historical as a local event, something which the 17th century theologians Edward Stillingfleet and Matthew Poole had already suggested on a purely biblical basis. Smith also denounced the "fanciful" writings of the scriptural geologists. Edward Hitchcock sought to ensure that geological findings could be corroborated by scripture, and dismissed the scriptural geology of Penn and Fairholme as misrepresenting both scripture and the facts of geology. He noted the difficulty of equating a violent deluge with the more tranquil Genesis account. Hugh Miller supported similar points with considerable detail.
Little attention was paid to Flood geology over the rest of the 19th century, its few supporters included the author Eleazar Lord in the 1850s and the Lutheran scholar Carl Friedrich Keil in 1860 and 1878. The visions of Ellen G. White published in 1864 formed Seventh-day Adventist Church views, and influenced 20th century creationism.
Creationist flood geology
The Seventh-day Adventist Church, led by Ellen G. White, took a six-day creation literally, and believed that she received divine messages supplementing and supporting the Bible. Her visions of the flood and its aftermath, published in 1864, described a catastrophic deluge which reshaped the entire surface of the Earth, followed by a powerful wind which piled up new high mountains, burying the bodies of men and beasts. Buried forests became coal and oil, and where God later caused these to burn, they reacted with limestone and water to cause "earthquakes, volcanoes and fiery issues".
George McCready Price
Ellen G. White's visions prompted several books by one of her followers, George McCready Price, leading to the 20th-century revival of flood geology. After years selling White's books door-to-door, Price took a one-year teacher-training course and taught in several schools. When shown books on evolution and the fossil sequence which contradicted his beliefs, he found the answer in White's "revealing word pictures" which suggested how the fossils had been buried. He studied textbooks on geology and "almost tons of geological documents", finding "how the actual facts of the rocks and fossils, stripped of mere theories, splendidly refute this evolutionary theory of the invariable order of the fossils, which is the very backbone of the evolution doctrine". In 1902, he produced a manuscript for a book proposing geology based on Genesis, in which the sequence of fossils resulted from the different responses of animals to the encroaching flood. He agreed with White on the origins of coal and oil, and conjectured that mountain ranges (including the Alps and Himalaya) formed from layers deposited by the flood which had then been "folded and elevated to their present height by the great lateral pressure that accompanied its subsidence". He then found a report describing paraconformities and a paper on thrust faults. He concluded from these "providential discoveries" that it was impossible to prove the age or overall sequence of fossils, and included these points in his self-published paperback of 1906, Illogical Geology: The Weakest Point in the Evolution Theory. His arguments continued this focus on disproving the sequence of strata, and he ultimately sold more than 15,000 copies of his 1923 college textbook The New Geology.
Price increasingly gained attention outside Adventist groups, and in the creation–evolution controversy other leading Christian fundamentalists praised his opposition to evolution – though none of them followed his young Earth arguments, retaining their belief in the gap or in the day-age interpretation of Genesis. Price corresponded with William Jennings Bryan and was invited to be a witness in the Scopes Trial of 1925, but declined as he was teaching in England and opposed to teaching Genesis in public schools as "it would be an infringement on the cardinal American principle of separation of church and state". Price returned from England in 1929 to rising popularity among fundamentalists as a scientific author. In the same year his former student Harold W. Clark self-published the short book Back to Creationism, which recommended Price's flood geology as the new "science of creationism", introducing the label "creationism" as a replacement for "anti-evolution" of "Christian Fundamentals".
In 1935, Price and Dudley Joseph Whitney (a rancher who had co-founded the Lindcove Community Bible Church, and now followed Price) founded the Religion and Science Association (RSA). They aimed to resolve disagreements among fundamentalists with "a harmonious solution" which would convert them all to flood geology. Most of the organising group were Adventists, others included conservative Lutherans with similarly literalist beliefs. Bryon C. Nelson of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America had included Price's geological views in a 1927 book, and in 1931 published The Deluge Story in Stone: A History of the Flood Theory of Geology, which described Price as the "one very outstanding advocate of the Flood" of the century. The first public RSA conference in March 1936 invited various fundamentalist views, but opened up differences between the organisers on the antiquity of creation and on life before Adam. The RSA went defunct in 1937, and a dispute continued between Price and Nelson, who now viewed Creation as occurring over 100,000 years previously.
In 1938, Price, with a group of Adventists in Los Angeles, founded what became the Deluge Geology Society (DGS), with membership restricted to those believing that the creation week comprised "six literal days, and that the Deluge should be studied as the cause of the major geological changes since creation". Not all DGS-adherents were Adventists; early members included the Independent Baptist Henry M. Morris and the Missouri Lutheran Walter E. Lammerts. The DGS undertook field-work: in June 1941 their first Bulletin hailed the news that the Paluxy River dinosaur trackways in Texas appeared to include human footprints. Though Nelson had advised Price in 1939 that this was "absurd" and that the difficulty of human footprints forming during the turmoil of the deluge would "knock the Flood theory all to pieces", in 1943 the DGS began raising funds for "actual excavation" by a Footprint Research Committee of members including the consulting geologist Clifford L. Burdick. Initially they tried to keep their research secret from "unfriendly scientists". Then in 1945, to encourage backing, they announced giant human footprints, allegedly defeating "at a single stroke" the theory of evolution. The revelation that locals had carved the footprints, and an unsuccessful field trip that year, failed to dampen their hopes. However, by then doctrinal arguments had riven the DGS. The most extreme dispute began in late 1938 after Harold W. Clark observed deep drilling in oil fields and had discussions with practical geologists which dispelled the belief that the fossil sequence was random, convincing him that the evidence of thrust faults was "almost incontrovertible". He wrote to Price, telling his teacher that the "rocks do lie in a much more definite sequence than we have ever allowed", and proposing that the fossil sequence was explained by ecological zones before the flood. Price reacted with fury, and despite Clark emphasising their shared belief in literal recent Creation, the dispute continued. In 1946 Clark set out his views in a book, The New Diluvialism, which Price denounced as Theories of Satanic Origin.
In 1941, F. Alton Everest co-founded the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) as a less confrontational forum for evangelical scientists. Some deluge geologists, including Lammerts and Price, urged close cooperation with the DGS, but Everest began to see their views as presenting an "insurmountable problem" for the ASA. In 1948, he requested J. Laurence Kulp, a geologist in fellowship with the Plymouth Brethren, to explore the issue. At the convention that year, Kulp examined hominid antiquity demonstrated by radiocarbon dating. At the 1949 convention a paper by Kulp was presented, giving a detailed critique of Deluge Geology, which he said had "grown and infiltrated the greater portion of fundamental Christianity in America primarily due to the absence of trained Christian geologists". Kulp demonstrated that "major propositions of the theory are contraindicated by established physical and chemical laws". He focused on "four basic errors" commonly made by flood geologists:
saying that geology was the same as evolution
assuming "that life has been on the earth only for a few thousand years, [and] therefore the flood must account for geological strata"
misunderstanding "the physical and chemical conditions under which rocks are formed"
ignoring recent discoveries such as radiometric dating that undermined their assumptions
Kulp accused Price of ignorance and deception, and concluded that "this unscientific theory of flood geology has done and will do considerable harm to the strong propagation of the gospel among educated people". Price said nothing during the presentation and discussion. When invited to speak, he "said something very brief which missed what everyone was waiting for". Further publications made the ASA's opposition to flood geology clear.
Morris and Whitcomb
In 1942, Irwin A. Moon's Sermons from Science persuaded the engineer Henry M. Morris (1918–2006) of the importance of harmonising science and the Bible, and introduced him to the concepts of a vapor canopy causing the Flood and its geological effects. About a year later Morris found George McCready Price's New Geology a "life-changing experience", and joined the Deluge Geology Society. His book That You Might Believe (1946) for college students included Price's flood geology.
Morris had joined the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) in 1949, and in the summer of 1953 he made a presentation on The Biblical Evidence for a Recent Creation and Universal Deluge at their annual conference, held at the Grace Theological Seminary's campus. He impressed a graduate student there, John C. Whitcomb, Jr. who was teaching Old Testament and Hebrew. To Whitcomb's distress, the ASA members at the presentation "politely denounced" Morris.
In 1955, the ASA held a joint meeting with the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) at the same campus, where theologian Bernard Ramm's The Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954) caused considerable discussion. This book dismissed flood geology as typifying the "ignoble tradition" of fundamentalism, and stated that Price could not be taken seriously, as lacking the necessary competence, training and integrity. Instead, Ramm proposed what he called progressive creationism, in which the Genesis days functioned as pictorial images revealing a process that had taken place over millions of years. ASA scientists praised Ramm's views, but the ETS theologians proved unwilling to follow Ramm.
This encouraged Whitcomb to make his doctoral dissertation a response to Ramm and a defence of Price's position. He systematically asked evangelical professors of apologetics, archaeology and the Old Testament about creation and the flood, and in October told Morris that Ramm's book had been sufficient incentive for him to devote his dissertation to the topic. In 1957 Whitcomb completed his 450-page dissertation, "The Genesis Flood", and he promptly began summarising it for a book. Moody Publishers responded positively and agreed with him that chapters on scientific aspects should be carefully checked or written by someone with a PhD in science, but Whitcomb's attempts to find someone with a doctorate in geology were unsuccessful. Morris gave helpful advice, expressing concern that sections were too closely based on Price and on Velikovsky who were "both considered by scientists generally as crackpots". Morris produced an outline of his planned three chapters, and in December 1957 agreed to co-author the book.
Morris sent on his draft for comment in early 1959. His intended 100 pages grew to almost 350, around twice the length of Whitcomb's eventual contribution. Recalling Morris's earlier concerns about how Price was viewed by scientists, Whitcomb suggested that "For many people, our position would be somewhat discredited" by multiple references to Price in the draft, including a section headed "Price and Seventh-Day Adventism". Morris agreed, and even suggested avoiding the term "flood geology" but it proved too useful. After discussion, the co-authors minimised these references and removed any mention of Price's Adventist affiliation. By early 1960 they became impatient at delays when Moody Publishers expressed misgivings about the length and literal views of the book, and they went along with Rousas Rushdoony's recommendation of a small Philadelphia publisher.
The Genesis Flood (1961)
The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company of Philadelphia published Whitcomb and Morris's The Genesis Flood in February 1961. The authors took as their premise biblical infallibility: "the basic argument of this volume is that the Scriptures are true". For Whitcomb, Genesis described a worldwide Flood which covered all the high mountains, Noah's ark with a capacity equivalent to eight freight-trains, flood waters from a canopy and the deeps, and subsequent dispersal of animals from Ararat to all the continents via land bridges. He disputed the views published by Arthur Custance (1910–1985) and Bernard Ramm (1916-1992). Morris then confronted readers with the dilemma of whether to believe Scripture or to accept the interpretations of trained geologists, and instead of the latter proposed "a new scheme of historical geology" - true both to Scripture and to "God's work" revealed in nature. This was essentially Price's The New Geology of 1923 updated for the 1960s, though with few direct references to Price.
Like Price before him, Morris argued that most fossil-bearing strata had formed during a global deluge, disputing uniformitarianism, multiple ice-ages, and the geologic column. He explained the apparent fossil sequence as the outcome of marine organisms dying in the slurry of sediments in early stages of the flood, of moving currents sorting objects by size and shape, and of the mobility of vertebrates (allowing them to initially escape the floodwaters). He cited Lammerts in support of Price's views about the thrust fault at Chief Mountain disproving the sequence.
The book went beyond Price in some areas. Morris extended the six-day creation from the Earth to the entire universe, and wrote that death and decay had only begun with the Fall of Man, which had therefore introduced entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. He proposed that a vapor canopy, before providing water for the flood, created a mild, even climate and shielded the Earth from cosmic rays – so radiocarbon dating of antediluvian samples would not work. He cited the testimony of Clifford L. Burdick (1919-2005) from the 1950s that some of the Glen Rose Formation dinosaur trackways near the Paluxy River in Dinosaur Valley State Park overlapped human footprints, but Burdick failed to confirm this, and the claim disappeared from the third edition of The Genesis Flood.
Creation Research Society
In a 1957 discussion with Whitcomb, Walter E. Lammerts suggested an "informal association" to exchange ideas, and possibly research, on flood geology. Morris was unavailable to get things started, then William J. Tinkle got in touch, and they set about recruiting others. They had difficulty in finding supporters with scientific qualifications. The Creation Research Committee of ten they put together on 9 February 1962 had varying views on the age of the Earth, but all opposed evolution. They then succeeded in recruiting others into what became the Creation Research Society (CRS) in June 1963, and grew rapidly. Getting an agreed statement of belief was problematic, they affirmed that the Bible was "historically and scientifically true in the original autographs" so that "the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths" and "The great flood described in Genesis, commonly referred to as the Noachian Flood, was an historic event worldwide in its extent and effect", but to Morris's disappointment they did not make flood geology mandatory. They lacked a qualified geologist, and Morris persuaded the group to appoint Clifford L. Burdick as their only Earth scientist, overcoming initial concerns raised by Lammerts. The CRS grew rapidly, with an increasing proportion of the membership adhering to strict young Earth flood geology.
The resources of the CRS for its first decade went into publication of the CRS Quarterly, and a project to publish a creationist school book. Since the 1920s most U.S. schools had not taught pupils about evolution, but Sputnik exposed apparent weaknesses of U.S. science education and the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study produced textbooks in 1963 which included the topic. When the Texas Education Agency held a hearing in October 1964 about adopting these textbooks, creationist objectors were unable to name suitable creationist alternatives. Lammerts organised a CRS textbook committee which lined up a group of authors, with John N. Moore as senior editor bringing their contributions together into a suitable textbook.
Creation science
The teaching of evolution, reintroduced in 1963 by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study textbooks, was prohibited by laws in some states. These bans were contested; the Epperson v. Arkansas case which began late in 1965 was decided in 1968 by the United States Supreme Court ruling that such laws violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Some creationists thought a legal decision requiring religious neutrality in schools should shield their children from teachings hostile to their religion; Nell J. Segraves and Jean E. Sumrall (a friend of Lammerts who was also associated with the Creation Research Society and the Bible-Science Association) petitioned the California State Board of Education to require that school biology texts designate evolution a theory. In 1966 Max Rafferty as California State Superintendent of Public Instruction suggested that they demand equal time for creation, as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowed teachers to mention religion as long as they did not promote specific doctrines. Their first attempt failed, but in 1969 controversy arose over a proposed Science Framework for California Schools. Anticipating success, they and others in the Bible-Science Association formed Creation Science, Inc., to produce textbooks. A compromise acceptable to Segraves, Sumrall and the Board was suggested by Vernon L. Grose, and the revised 1970 Framework included "While the Bible and other philosophical treatises also mention creation, science has independently postulated the various theories of creation. Therefore, creation in scientific terms is not a religious or philosophical belief." The result kept school texts free of creationism, but downgraded evolution to mere speculative theory.
Creationists reacted to the California developments with a new confidence that they could introduce their ideas into schools by minimizing biblical references. Henry M. Morris declared that "Creationism is on the way back, this time not primarily as a religious belief, but as an alternative scientific explanation of the world in which we live." In 1970 Creation Science, Inc., combined with a planned studies center at Christian Heritage College as the Creation-Science Research Center. Morris moved to San Diego to become director of the center and academic vice-president of the college. In the fall he presented a course at the college on "Scientific Creationism", the first time he is known to have used the term in public. (Two years later, the Creation-Science Research Center split with part becoming the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) led by Morris.)
The Creation Research Society (CRS) had found schoolbook publishers reluctant to take on their textbook, and eventually the Christian publishing company Zondervan brought out Biology: A Search for Order in Complexity in 1970. The ten thousand copies printed sold out within a year, and they produced 25,000 as the second impression, but hardly any public schools adopted the book. A preface by Morris claimed that there were two philosophies of creation, "the doctrine of evolution and the doctrine of special creation", attempting to give both equal validity. The book mostly covered uncontroversial details of biology, but asserted that these were correctly seen as "God's creation" or "divine creation", and presented biblical creation as the correct scientific view. A chapter on "Weaknesses of Geologic Evidence" disputed evolutionary theories while asserting a "fact that most fossil material was laid down by the flood in Noah's time". Another chapter disputed evolutionary theory.
In the Creation Research Society Quarterly for September 1971 Morris introduced the "two-model approach" asserting that evolution and creation were both equally scientific and equally religious, and soon afterwards he said they were "competing scientific hypotheses". For the third printing of Biology: A Search for Order in Complexity in 1974, the editor John N. Moore added a preface setting out this approach as "the two basic viewpoints of origins", the "evolution model" and the "creation model". When an Indiana school decided to use the book as their biology text, the Hendren v. Campbell district court case banned its use in public schools as infringing the Establishment Clause. Judge Michael T. Dugan, II, described it as "a text obviously designed to present only the view of Biblical Creationism in a favorable light", contravening the constitution by promotion of a specific sectarian religious view.
As a tactic to gain the same scientific status as evolution, flood geology proponents had effectively relabeled the Bible-based flood geology of George McCready Price as "creation science" or "scientific creationism" by the mid 1970s. At the CRS board meeting in the Spring of 1972, members were told to start using "scientific creationism", a phrase used interchangeably with "creation science"; Morris explained that preferences differed, though neither was ideal as "one simple term" could not "identify such a complex and comprehensive subject." In the 1974 ICR handbook for high-school teachers titled Scientific Creationism, Morris used the two-model approach to support his argument that creationism could "be taught without reference to the book of Genesis or to other religious literature or to religious doctrines", and in public schools only the "basic scientific creation model" should be taught, rather than biblical creationism which "would open the door to wide interpretations of Genesis" or to non-Christian cosmogonies. He did not deny having been influenced by the Bible. In his preface to the book dated July 1974, Morris as editor outlined how the "Public School Edition" of the book evaluated evidence from a "strictly scientific point of view" without "reference to the Bible or other religious literature", while the "General Edition" was "essentially identical" except for an additional chapter on "Creation according to Scripture" that "places the scientific evidence in its proper biblical and theological context."
The main ideas in creation science are: the belief in "creation ex nihilo" (Latin: out of nothing); the conviction that the Earth was created within the last 6,000 years; the belief that mankind and other life on Earth were created as distinct fixed "baraminological" kinds; and the idea that fossils found in geological strata were deposited during a cataclysmic flood which completely covered the entire Earth. As a result, creation science also challenges the commonly accepted geologic and astrophysical theories for the age and origins of the Earth and Universe, which creationists acknowledge are irreconcilable to the account in the Book of Genesis.
Creationist arguments for a global flood
Fossils
The geologic column and the fossil record are used as major pieces of evidence in the modern scientific explanation of the development and evolution of life on Earth as well as a means to establish the age of the Earth. Young Earth Creationists such as Morris and Whitcomb in their 1961 book, The Genesis Flood, say that the age of the fossils depends on the amount of time credited to the geologic column, which they ascribe to be about one year. Some flood geologists dispute geology's assembled global geologic column since index fossils are used to link geographically isolated strata to other strata across the map. Fossils are often dated by their proximity to strata containing index fossils whose age has been determined by its location on the geologic column. Oard and others say that the identification of fossils as index fossils has been too error-prone for index fossils to be used reliably to make those correlations, or to date local strata using the assembled geologic scale.
Other creationists accept the existence of the geological column and believe that it indicates a sequence of events that might have occurred during the global flood. Institute for Creation Research creationists such as Andrew Snelling, Steven A. Austin and Kurt Wise take this approach, as does Creation Ministries International. They cite the Cambrian explosion – the appearance of abundant fossils in the upper Ediacaran (Vendian) Period and lower Cambrian Period – as the pre-Flood/Flood boundary, the presence in such sediments of fossils that do not occur later in the geological record as part of a pre–flood biota that perished and the absence of fossilized organisms that appear later (such as angiosperms and mammals) as due to erosion of sediments deposited by the flood as waters receded off the land. Creationists say that fossilization can only take place when the organism is buried quickly to protect the remains from destruction by scavengers or decomposition. They say that the fossil record provides evidence of a single cataclysmic flood and not of a series of slow changes accumulating over millions of years.
Flood geologists have proposed numerous hypotheses to reconcile the sequence of fossils evident in the fossil column with the literal account of Noah's flood in the Bible. Whitcomb and Morris proposed three possible factors:
hydrological, whereby the relative buoyancies of the remains (based on the organisms' shapes and densities) determined the sequence in which their remains settled to the bottom of the flood-waters
ecological, suggesting organisms living at the ocean bottom succumbed first in the flood and those living at the highest altitudes last
anatomical/behavioral, the ordered sequence in the fossil column resulting from the very different responses to the rising waters between different kinds of organisms due to their diverse mobilities and original habitats. In a scenario put forth by Morris, the remains of marine life settled to the bottom first, followed by the slower-moving lowland reptiles, and culminating with humans, whose superior intelligence and ability to flee enabled them to reach higher elevations before the flood waters overcame them.
Some creationists believe that oil and coal deposits formed rapidly in sedimentary layers as volcanoes or flood waters flattened forests and buried the debris. They believe the vegetation decomposed rapidly into oil or coal due to the heat of the subterranean waters as they were unleashed from the Earth during the flood or by the high temperatures created as the remains were compressed by water and sediment.
Creationists continue to search for evidence in the natural world that they consider consistent with the above description, such as evidence of rapid formation. For example, there have been claims of raindrop marks and water ripples at layer boundaries, sometimes associated with the claimed fossilized footprints of men and dinosaurs walking together. Such footprint evidence has been debunked and some have been shown to be fakes.
Widespread flood stories
Proponents of Flood Geology state that "native global flood stories are documented as history or legend in almost every region on earth". "These flood tales are frequently linked by common elements that parallel the biblical account including the warning of the coming flood, the construction of a boat in advance, the storage of animals, the inclusion of family, and the release of birds to determine if the water level had subsided." They suggest that "the overwhelming consistency among flood legends found in distant parts of the globe indicates they were derived from the same origin, but oral transcription has changed the details through time".
Anthropologist Patrick Nunn rejects this view and highlights the fact that much of the human population lives near water sources such as rivers and coasts, where unusually severe floods can be expected to occur occasionally and will be recorded in local mythology.
Proposed mechanisms of flood geology
George McCready Price attempted to fit a great deal of earth's geological history into a model based on a few accounts from the Bible. Price's simple model was used by Whitcomb and Morris initially but they did not build on the model in the 60s and 70s. However, a rough sketch of a creationist model could be constructed from creationist publications and debate material. Recent creationist efforts attempt to build complex models that incorporate as much scientific evidence as possible into the biblical narrative. Some scientific evidence used for these models was formerly rejected by creationists. These models attempt to explain continental movements in a short time frame, the order of the fossil record, and the Pleistocene ice age.
Runaway subduction
In the 60s and 70s a simple creationist model proposed that, "The Flood split the land mass into the present continents." Steve Austin and other creationists proposed a preliminary model of catastrophic plate tectonics (CPT) in 1994. Their work built on earlier papers by John Baumgardner and Russell Humphreys in 1986. Baumgardner proposed a model of mantle convection that allows for runaway subduction and Humphrey associated mantle convection with rapid magnetic reversals in earth history. Baumgardner's proposal holds that the rapid plunge of former oceanic plates into the mantle (caused by an unknown trigger-mechanism) increased local mantle pressures to the point that its viscosity dropped several magnitudes according to known properties of mantle silicates. Once initiated, sinking plates caused the spread of low viscosity throughout the mantle resulting in runaway mantle-convection and catastrophic tectonic motion which dragged continents across the surface of the earth. Once the former ocean plates, which are thought to be denser than the mantle, reached the bottom of the mantle an equilibrium resulted. Pressures dropped, viscosity increased, runaway mantle-convection stopped, leaving the surface of the earth rearranged. Proponents point to subducted slabs in the mantle which are still relatively cool, which they regard as evidence that they have not been there for millions of years which would result in temperature equilibration.
Given that conventional plate tectonics accounts for much of the geomorphic features of continents and oceans, it is natural that creationists would seek to develop a high speed version of the same process. CPT explains many geological features, provides mechanisms for the biblical flood, and minimizes appeals to miracles.
Some prominent creationists (Froede, Oard, Read) oppose CPT for various technical reasons. One main objection is that the model assumes the super continent Pangaea was intact at the initiation of the year-long flood. The CPT process then tore Pangaea apart creating the current configuration of the continents. But the breakup of Pangaea started early in the Mesozoic, meaning that CPT only accounts for part of the entire Phanerozoic geological record. CPT in this form only explains part of the geological column that flood geology normally explains. Modifying the CPT model to account for the entire Phanerozoic including multiple Wilson Cycles would complicate the model considerably.
Other objections of CPT include the amount of heat produced for the rapid plate movements, and the fact that the cooling of hot oceanic plates and the raising of continental plates would take a great deal of time and require multiple small scale catastrophes after the flood ended. The original CPT proposal of Austin and others in 1994 was admittedly preliminary but the major issues have not been solved.
The vast majority of geologists regard the hypothesis of catastrophic plate tectonics as pseudoscience; they reject it in favor of the conventional geological theory of plate tectonics. It has been argued that the tremendous release of energy necessitated by such an event would boil off the Earth's oceans, making a global flood impossible. Not only does catastrophic plate tectonics lack any plausible geophysical mechanism by which its changes might occur, it also is contradicted by considerable geological evidence (which is in turn consistent with conventional plate tectonics), including:
The fact that a number of volcanic oceanic island chains, such as the Hawaiian islands, yield evidence of the ocean floor having moved over volcanic hot-spots. These islands have widely ranging ages (determined via both radiometric dating and relative erosion) that contradict the catastrophic tectonic hypothesis of rapid development and thus a similar age.
Radiometric dating and sedimentation rates on the ocean floor likewise contradict the hypothesis that it all came into existence nearly contemporaneously.
Catastrophic tectonics does not allow sufficient time for guyots to have their peak eroded away (leaving these seamounts' characteristic flat tops).
Runaway subduction does not explain the kind of continental collision illustrated by that of the Indian and Eurasian Plates. (For further information see Orogeny.)
Conventional plate tectonics accounts for the geological evidence already, including innumerable details that catastrophic plate tectonics cannot, such as why there is gold in California, silver in Nevada, salt flats in Utah, and coal in Pennsylvania, without requiring any extraordinary mechanisms to do so.
Vapor/water canopy
Isaac Newton Vail (1840–1912), a Quaker schoolteacher, in his 1912 work The Earth's Annular System, extrapolated from the nebular hypothesis what he called the annular system of earth history, with the earth being originally surrounded by rings resembling those of Saturn, or "canopies" of water vapor. Vail hypothesised that, one by one, these canopies collapsed on the Earth, resulting in fossils being buried in a "succession of stupendous cataclysms, separated by unknown periods of time". The Genesis flood was thought to have been caused by "the last remnant" of this vapor. Although this final flood was geologically significant, it was not held to account for as much of the fossil record as George McCready Price had asserted.
Vail's ideas about geology appeared in Charles Taze Russell's 1912 The Photo-Drama of Creation and subsequently in Joseph Franklin Rutherford's Creation of 1927 and later publications. The Seventh-day Adventist physicist Robert W. Woods also proposed a vapor canopy, before The Genesis Flood gave it prominent and repeated mention in 1961.
Although the vapor-canopy theory has fallen into disfavour among most creationists, Dillow in 1981 and Vardiman in 2003 attempted to defend the idea. Among its more vocal adherents, controversial young earth creationist Kent Hovind uses it as the basis for his eponymous "Hovind Theory". Jehovah's Witnesses propose as the water source of the deluge a "heavenly ocean" that was over the earth from the second creative day until the Flood.
Modern geology and flood geology
Modern geology, its sub-disciplines and other scientific disciplines use the scientific method to analyze the geology of the earth. The key tenets of flood geology are refuted by scientific analysis and do not have any standing in the scientific community. Modern geology relies on a number of established principles, one of the most important of which is Charles Lyell's principle of uniformitarianism. In relation to geological forces it states that the shaping of the Earth has occurred by means of mostly slow-acting forces that can be seen in operation today. By applying these principles, geologists have determined that the Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old. They study the lithosphere of the Earth to gain information on the history of the planet. Geologists divide Earth's history into eons, eras, periods, epochs, and faunal stages characterized by well-defined breaks in the fossil record (see Geologic time scale). In general, there is a lack of any evidence for any of the above effects proposed by flood geologists and their claims of fossil layering are not taken seriously by scientists.
Erosion
The global flood cannot explain geological formations such as angular unconformities, where sedimentary rocks have been tilted and eroded then more sedimentary layers deposited on top, needing long periods of time for these processes. There is also the time needed for the erosion of valleys in sedimentary rock mountains. In another example, the flood, had it occurred, should also have produced large-scale effects spread throughout the entire world. Erosion should be evenly distributed, yet the levels of erosion in, for example, the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains differ significantly.
Geochronology
Geochronology is the science of determining the absolute age of rocks, fossils, and sediments by a variety of techniques. These methods indicate that the Earth as a whole is about 4.54 billion years old, and that the strata that, according to flood geology, were laid down during the Flood some 6,000 years ago, were actually deposited gradually over many millions of years.
Paleontology
If the flood were responsible for fossilization, then all the animals now fossilized must have been living together on the Earth just before the flood. Based on estimates of the number of remains buried in the Karoo fossil formation in Africa, this would correspond to an abnormally high density of vertebrates worldwide, close to 2100 per acre.
Creationists argue that evidence for the geological column is fragmentary, and all the complex layers of chalk occurred in the approach to the 150th day of Noah's flood. However, the entire geologic column is found in several places, and shows multiple features, including evidence of erosion and burrowing through older layers, which are inexplicable on a short timescale. Carbonate hardgrounds and the fossils associated with them show that the so-called flood sediments include evidence of long hiatuses in deposition that are not consistent with flood dynamics or timing.
Geochemistry
Proponents of Flood Geology are also unable to account for the alternation between calcite seas and aragonite seas through the Phanerozoic. The cyclical pattern of carbonate hardgrounds, calcitic and aragonitic ooids, and calcite-shelled fauna has apparently been controlled by seafloor spreading rates and the flushing of seawater through hydrothermal vents which changes its Mg/Ca ratio.
Sedimentary rock features
Phil Senter's 2011 article, "The Defeat of Flood Geology by Flood Geology", in the journal Reports of the National Center for Science Education, discusses "sedimentologic and other geologic features that Flood geologists have identified as evidence that particular strata cannot have been deposited during a time when the entire planet was under water ... and distribution of strata that predate the existence of the Ararat mountain chain." These include continental basalts, terrestrial tracks of animals, and marine communities preserving multiple in-situ generations included in the rocks of most or all Phanerozoic periods, and the basalt even in the younger Precambrian rocks. Others, occurring in rocks of several geologic periods, include lake deposits and eolian (wind) deposits. Using their own words, Flood geologists find evidence in every Paleozoic and Mesozoic period, and in every epoch of the Cenozoic period, indicating that a global flood could not have occurred during that interval. A single flood could also not account for such features as angular unconformities, in which lower rock layers are tilted while higher rock layers were laid down horizontally on top.
Physics
The engineer Jane Albright notes several scientific failings of the canopy theory, reasoning from first principles in physics. Among these are that enough water to create a flood of even of rain would form a vapor blanket thick enough to make the earth too hot for life, since water vapor is a greenhouse gas; the same blanket would have an optical depth sufficient to effectively obscure all incoming starlight.
See also
Baraminology
Creation biology
International Conference on Creationism
List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
Polystrate fossil
Pre-Adamite
Scriptural geologist
Searches for Noah's Ark
Notes
References
Books
– History of the Collapse of Flood Geology and a Young Earth, adapted from the book. Retrieved 2008-09-16
Journals
Web
Northwest Creation Network
Other
Further reading
H. Neuville, "On the Extinction of the Mammoth," Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1919.
Patten, Donald W. The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch (Seattle: Pacific Meridian Publishing Company, 1966).
Patten, Donald W. Catastrophism and the Old Testament (Seattle: Pacific Meridian Publishing Company, 1988).
Creation science
Flood myths
Pseudoscience
Young Earth creationism |
601839 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20myth | Flood myth | A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval waters which appear in certain creation myths, as the flood waters are described as a measure for the cleansing of humanity, in preparation for rebirth. Most flood myths also contain a culture hero, who "represents the human craving for life".
The flood-myth motif occurs in many cultures, including the manvantara-sandhya in Hinduism, Deucalion and Pyrrha in Greek mythology, the Genesis flood narrative, the Mesopotamian flood stories, and the Cheyenne flood story.
Mythologies
One example of a flood myth is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Many scholars believe that this account was copied from the Akkadian Atra-Hasis, which dates to the 18th century BCE. In the Gilgamesh flood myth, the highest god, Enlil, decides to destroy the world with a flood because humans have become too noisy. The god Ea, who had created humans out of clay and divine blood, secretly warns the hero Utnapishtim of the impending flood and gives him detailed instructions for building a boat so that life may survive. Both the Epic of Gilgamesh and Atra-Hasis are preceded by the similar Sumerian creation myth ()—the oldest surviving example of such a flood-myth narrative, known from tablets found in the ruins of Nippur in the late 1890s and translated by assyriologist Arno Poebel.
Academic Yi Samuel Chen analyzed various texts from the Early Dynastic III Period through to the Old Babylonian Period, and argues that the flood narrative was only added in texts written during the Old Babylonian Period. With regard to the Sumerian King List, observations by experts have always indicated that the portion of the Sumerian King List talking about before the flood differs stylistically from the King List Proper. Essentially Old Babylonian copies tend to represent a tradition of before the flood apart from the actual King List, whereas the Ur III copy of the King List and the duplicate from the Brockmon collection indicate that the King List Proper once existed independent of mention of the flood and the tradition of before the flood. Essentially, Chen gives evidence to prove that the section of before the flood and references to the flood in the Sumerian King List were all later additions added in during the Old Babylonian Period, as the Sumerian King List went through updates and edits. The flood as a watershed in early history of the world was probably a new historiographical concept emerging in the Mesopotamian literary traditions during the Old Babylonian Period, as evident by the fact that the flood motif did not show up in the Ur III copy and that earliest chronographical sources related to the flood show up in the Old Babylonian Period. Chen also concludes that the name of "Ziusudra" as a flood hero and the idea of the flood hinted at by that name in the Old Babylonian Version of "Instructions of Shuruppak" are only developments during that Old Babylonian Period, when also the didactic text was updated with information from the burgeoning Antediluvian Tradition.
In the Hebrew Genesis, the god Yahweh, who had created man out of the dust of the ground, decides to flood the earth because of the corrupted state of mankind. Yahweh then gives the protagonist, Noah, instructions to build an ark in order to preserve human and animal life. When the ark is completed, Noah, his family, and representatives of all the animals of the earth are called upon to enter the ark. When the destructive flood begins, all life outside of the ark perishes. After the waters recede, all those aboard the ark disembark and have Yahweh's promise that he will never judge the earth with a flood again. Yahweh causes a rainbow to form as the sign of this promise.
In Hindu mythology, texts such as the Satapatha Brahmana ( 6th century BCE) and the Puranas contain the story of a great flood, "manvantara-sandhya", wherein the Matsya Avatar of the Vishnu warns the first man, Manu, of the impending flood, and also advises him to build a giant boat. In Zoroastrian Mazdaism, Ahriman tries to destroy the world with a drought, which Mithra ends by shooting an arrow into a rock, from which a flood springs; one man survives in an ark with his cattle. Norbert Oettinger argues that the story of Yima and the Vara was originally a flood myth, and the harsh winter was added in due to the dry nature of Eastern Iran, as flood myths did not have as much of an effect as harsh winters. He has argued that the mention of melted water flowing in Videvdad 2.24 is a remnant of the flood myth, and mentions that the Indian flood myths originally had their protagonist as Yama, but it was changed to Manu later.
In Plato's Timaeus, written 360 BCE, Timaeus describes a flood myth similar to the earlier versions. In it, the Bronze race of humans angers the high god Zeus with their constant warring. Zeus decides to punish humanity with a flood. The Titan Prometheus, who had created humans from clay, tells the secret plan to Deucalion, advising him to build an ark in order to be saved. After nine nights and days, the water starts receding and the ark lands on a mountain.
The Cheyenne, a North American Great Plains tribe, believe in a flood which altered the course of their history, perhaps occurring in the Missouri River Valley.
Historicity
Floods in the wake of the Last Glacial Period (c. 115,000 – c. 11,700 years ago) are speculated to have inspired myths that survive to this day. Plato's allegory of Atlantis is set over 9,000 years before his time, leading some scholars to suggest that a Stone Age society which lived close to the Mediterranean Sea could have been wiped out by the rising sea level, an event which could have served as the basis for the story.
Archaeologist Bruce Masse stated that some of the narratives of a great flood discovered in many cultures around the world may be linked to an oceanic asteroid impact that occurred between Africa and Antarctica, around the time of a solar eclipse, that caused a tsunami. Among the 175 myths he analyzed were a Hindu myth speaking of an alignment of the five planets at the time, and a Chinese story linking the flood to the end of the reign of Empress Nu Wa. Fourteen flood myths refer to a full solar eclipse. According to Masse these indications point to the date May 10, 2807 BC. His hypothesis suggests that a meteor or comet crashed into the Indian Ocean around 3000–2800 BCE, which created the undersea Burckle Crater and Fenambosy Chevron, and generated a giant tsunami that flooded coastal lands.
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia, like other early sites of riverine civilisation, was flood-prone; and for those experiencing valley-wide inundations, flooding could destroy the whole of their known world. According to the excavation report of the 1930s excavation at Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara, Iraq), the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic layers at the site were separated by a 60-cm yellow layer of alluvial sand and clay, indicating a flood, like that created by river avulsion, a process common in the Tigris–Euphrates river system. Similar layers have been recorded at other sites as well, all dating to different periods, which would be consistent with the nature of river avulsions.
Shuruppak in Mesopotamian legend was the city of Uta-napishtim, the king who built a boat to survive the coming flood. The alluvial layer dates from around 2900 BC.
The geography of the Mesopotamian area changed considerably with the filling of the Persian Gulf after sea waters rose following the last glacial period. Global sea levels were about lower around 18,000 BP and rose until 8,000 BP when they reached current levels, which are now an average above the floor of the Gulf, which was a huge () low-lying and fertile region in Mesopotamia, in which human habitation is thought to have been strong around the Gulf Oasis for 100,000 years. A sudden increase in settlements above the present-day water level is recorded at around 7,500 BP.
Mediterranean Basin
The historian Adrienne Mayor theorizes that global flood stories may have been inspired by ancient observations of seashells and fish fossils in inland and mountain areas. The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans all documented the discovery of such remains in such locations; the Greeks hypothesized that Earth had been covered by water on several occasions, citing the seashells and fish fossils found on mountain tops as evidence of this idea.
Speculation regarding the Deucalion myth has postulated a large tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea, caused by the Thera eruption (with an approximate geological date of 1630–1600 BCE), as the myth's historical basis. Although the tsunami hit the South Aegean Sea and Crete, it did not affect cities in the mainland of Greece, such as Mycenae, Athens, and Thebes, which continued to prosper, indicating that it had a local rather than a region-wide effect.
Black Sea deluge hypothesis
The Black Sea deluge hypothesis offers a controversial account of long-term flooding; the hypothesis argues for a catastrophic irruption of water about 5600 BCE from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea basin. This has become the subject of considerable discussion. The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis offers another proposed natural explanation for flood myths; this idea is similarly controversial.
Comets
The earliest known hypothesis about a comet that had a widespread effect on human populations can be attributed to Edmond Halley, who in 1694 suggested that a worldwide flood had been the result of a near-miss by a comet. The issue was taken up in more detail by William Whiston, a protégé of and popularizer of the theories of Isaac Newton, who argued in his book A New Theory of the Earth (1696) that a comet encounter was the probable cause of the Biblical Flood of Noah in 2342 BCE. Whiston also attributed the origins of the atmosphere and other significant changes in the Earth to the effects of comets.
In Pierre-Simon Laplace's book Exposition Du Systême Du Monde (The System of the World), first published in 1796, he stated:
A similar hypothesis was popularized by Minnesota congressman and pseudoarchaeology writer Ignatius L. Donnelly in his book Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel (1883), which followed his better-known book Atlantis: The Antediluvian World (1882). In Ragnarok, Donnelly argued that an enormous comet struck the Earth around 6,000 BCE to 9,000 BCE, destroying an advanced civilization on the "lost continent" of Atlantis. Donnelly, following others before him, attributed the Biblical Flood to this event, which he hypothesized had also resulted in catastrophic fires and climate change. Shortly after the publication of Ragnarok, one commenter noted, "Whiston ascertained that the deluge of Noah came from a comet's tail; but Donnelly has outdone Whiston, for he has shown that our planet has suffered not only from a cometary flood, but from cometary fire, and a cometary rain of stones."
Art
See also
List of flood myths
References
Footnotes
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Bailey, Lloyd R. Noah, the Person and the Story, University of South Carolina Press, 1989.
Best, Robert M. Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic, Sumerian Origins of the Flood Myth, 1999,
Dundes, Alan (ed.) The Flood Myth, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988.
Faulkes, Anthony (trans.) Edda (Snorri Sturluson). Everyman's Library, 1987.
Greenway, John (ed.), The Primitive Reader, Folkways, 1965.
Grey, G. Polynesian Mythology. Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, 1956.
Lambert, W. G. and Millard, A. R., Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Eisenbrauns, 1999.
Masse, W. B. "The Archaeology and Anthropology of Quaternary Period Cosmic Impact", in Bobrowsky, P., and Rickman, H. (eds.) Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society: An Interdisciplinary Approach Berlin, Springer Press, 2007. pp. 25–70.
Reed, A. W. Treasury of Maori Folklore A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1963.
Reedy, Anaru (trans.), Nga Korero a Pita Kapiti: The Teachings of Pita Kapiti. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, 1997.
Like many other folk-tale elements from around the world, the story of flood survival and human restart (motif A 1021.0.2 and associated elements) appears in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature.
Catastrophism
Comparative mythology
Megafloods
Mesopotamian myths
Jemdet Nasr period |
629870 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%20Flood%20of%201993 | Great Flood of 1993 | The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993.
The flood is among the most costly and devastating to ever occur in the United States, with 50 dead and US$12–16billion in damages (equivalent to $–billion in ). The hydrographic basin affected an area approximately in length and in width, totaling about . Within this zone, the flooded area totaled around and was the worst such U.S. disaster since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, as measured by duration, area inundated, persons displaced, crop and property damage, and number of record river levels. In some categories, the 1993 flood even surpassed the 1927 flood, at the time the largest flood ever recorded on the Mississippi River.
Causes and progression
A volcanic winter is thought to have started with the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. It has been suggested that excess cloud condensation nuclei from the eruption were responsible for the Great Flood of 1993 in the Midwestern United States.
Above-normal rainfall and below-normal temperatures beginning in the summer of 1992 resulted in above-normal soil moisture and reservoir levels in the Missouri and Upper Mississippi River basins. This weather pattern persisted throughout the following autumn. During the winter of 1992–93, the region experienced heavy snowfall. These conditions were followed by persistent spring weather patterns that produced storms over the same locations. Soils across much of the affected area were saturated by June 1, with additional rainfall all running off into streams and rivers, instead of soaking into the ground. These wet-weather conditions contrasted sharply with the droughts and heat waves experienced in the southeastern United States.
Storms, persistent and repetitive in nature during the late spring and summer, crowded the Upper Midwest with voluminous rainfall. Portions of east-central Iowa received as much as of rain between April 1 and August 31, 1993, and many areas across the central-northern plains had precipitation 400–750% above normal. In the St. Louis National Weather Service (NWS) forecast area encompassing eastern Missouri and southwest Illinois, 36 forecast points rose above flood stage, and 20 river-stage records were broken. The 1993 flood broke record river levels set during the 1973 Mississippi and the 1951 Missouri River floods.
Civil Air Patrol crews from 21 states served more than 5,000 meals to flood victims and volunteers, and their pilots logged more than 1,500 hours in the air inspecting utility lines and pipelines.
Over 1,000 flood warnings and statements, five times the normal, were issued to notify the public and need-to-know officials of river levels. In such places as St. Louis, river levels were nearly above flood stage, the highest ever recorded there in 228 years. The -high St. Louis Floodwall, built to handle the volume of the 1844 flood, was able to keep the 1993 flood out with just over to spare. This floodwall was built in the 1960s, to great controversy, out of interlocking prefabricated concrete blocks.
Emergency officials estimated that nearly all of the 700 privately built agricultural levees were overtopped or destroyed along the Missouri River. Navigation on the Mississippi and Missouri River had been closed since early July, resulting in a loss of $2 million (1993) per day in commerce.
James Scott, a 23-year-old Illinois man, was convicted in 1994 for "intentionally causing a catastrophe" and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in causing some of the flooding across the river from Quincy, Illinois. In an attempt to strand his wife on the other side of the river so he could continue partying, Scott allegedly removed several sandbags from a levee holding back the water. The breach flooded of farmland, destroyed buildings, and closed a bridge. His conviction was overturned in 1997, but reinstated in 1998. He maintains his innocence behind bars.
May
The Redwood River in Minnesota began experiencing severe flooding in May. On May 22, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, received of rain in a three-hour period. From May through July, Sioux Falls, South Dakota received of rain, the wettest three-month period in its history.
June
As noted above, rains in South Dakota contributed to flooding downstream. In June, flooding occurred along the Black River in Wisconsin, with flooding also starting to occur along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Kansas rivers. Starting as early as June 7, reports of levees being overtopped and levee breaks became common. These breaches acted to delay the flood crests, temporarily storing excess water in the adjacent lowlands, but the rain kept falling.
In the beginning of June, the Missouri and Mississippi rivers dropped below flood stage and were receding. During the second week of June, river levels rose to near flood stage before yet again beginning their slow recession. By the end of June, the Mississippi River was below flood stage at St. Louis, while many other river locations in the region were near flood stage. Precipitation for the month averaged from above normal in Kansas City, to nearly above normal in Springfield, Missouri.
July
July brought more heavy rain to the Missouri and upper Mississippi River basins in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Illinois, and Minnesota. Rainfall amounts of in 24 hours were common. Precipitation for the month averaged from above normal at St. Louis and Springfield, to between above normal at Columbia and Kansas City, Missouri.
In Iowa, the flood waters brought mass destruction. On July 9, four buildings on Iowa State University's campus flooded; resulting in over 1.4 million dollars in estimated damages and six weeks of construction to reopen. The college's indoor sports arena, Hilton Coliseum, was flooded with as much as fourteen feet of water. From July 11 until July 22, the Des Moines Water Works was flooded by the Raccoon River. This resulted in the plant being powered down, unable to provide running water for that period. On July 13, electricity returned to more than 35,000 residents. That same day President Bill Clinton toured Iowa's capitol and neighboring cities alongside Governor Terry Branstad. He later declared a state of disaster for Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri and asked Congress to approve 2.5 billion dollars in Federal disaster relief. During this time the Army National Guard and American Red Cross set up water stations, and the local Anheuser-Busch distributor contributed water in white six packs with their logo on it. Once running water was restored, there was enough pressure for people to bathe and flush toilets, but the water was not certified potable until July 29. The final usage restrictions were lifted in August.
Major sandbagging activities took place along the higher Missouri River, the River des Peres in St. Louis, the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, and on many other tributaries across Missouri and Illinois. Some of these efforts were successful, while others were not. The copious rain during July sent record-setting crests down the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, causing river gauges to malfunction along the way. The record crests met within days of each other at their confluence near St. Louis. Navigation on the Mississippi and Missouri River was closed in early July, resulting in a loss of $2 million (1993) per day in commerce.
Mississippi River levels stabilized for a few days at April 1973 record stages. When the crest from the Missouri River arrived, levels rose again. The Mississippi River broke through levees, drove people and their possessions to higher ground, and caused havoc through the floodplains.
The crests, now combined as one, moved downstream through St. Louis on the way to the Upper Mississippi's confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. Only minor flooding occurred below Cairo due to the Lower Mississippi's larger channel below that point, as well as drought conditions in the eastern U.S. If the Ohio River watershed had not been in drought while the Missouri and Upper Mississippi were in flood, the 1993 flood might have rivaled the 1927 flood in overall damage on the Lower Mississippi, beyond Cairo.
August
On August 1, levee breaks near Columbia, Illinois, flooded of land, inundating the Illinois towns of Valmeyer and Fults. The released water continued to flow parallel to the river, approaching the levees protecting historic Prairie du Rocher and Fort de Chartres. On August 3, officials decided to break through the stronger Mississippi River levee to allow the water back into the river. The plan worked and the historic areas were saved, although some residential areas were flooded in counties above Prairie du Rocher.
The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested at on August 1, nearly above flood stage. It had a peak flow rate of 1,080,000 ft3/s (30,600 m3/s). At this rate, a bowl the size of Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis would be filled to the brim in 70 seconds.
Costs and damage
Some locations on the Mississippi River flooded for almost 200 days, while various regions by the Missouri neared 100 days of flooding. On the Mississippi, Grafton, Illinois, recorded flooding for 195 days; Clarksville, Missouri, for 187 days; Winfield, Missouri, for 183 days; Hannibal, Missouri, for 174 days; and Quincy, Illinois, for 152 days. The Missouri River was above flood stage for 62 days in Jefferson City, Missouri, 77 days at Hermann, Missouri, and for 94 days at St. Charles in the St. Louis metropolitan area. On October 7, 103 days after the flooding began, the Mississippi River at St. Louis finally dropped below flood stage. Approximately 100,000 homes were destroyed as a result of the flooding, of farmland inundated, and the whole towns of Valmeyer, Illinois, and Rhineland, Missouri, were relocated to higher ground.
Reports in 1994 set the deaths due to the flood at 38, though this had been revised to 50 deaths by 1996. The fiscal cost is estimated at $12–16 billion (equivalent to $–billion in ). Even after the water was gone, large amounts of sand still covered the farmlands and homes.
Comparison with other major floods in Kansas City
Over time, channeling and levee construction have altered how floods affect various areas along the Missouri River. For example, here is a comparison of flood data atand associated impacts onKansas City for three big floods since the early 19th century.
Great Flood of 1844 – This was the biggest flood of the three in terms of rate of discharge at Westport Landing in Kansas City. It is estimated that was discharged in the flood. However, the crest on July 16, 1844, was almost a foot (0.3 m) lower than the 1993 flood.
Great Flood of 1951 – The 1951 flood was the second biggest in terms of rate of discharge at . The crest on July 14, 1951, was almost lower than the 1844 flood and lower than 1993. However, the flood was the most devastating of all modern floods for Kansas City since its levee system was not built to withstand it. It destroyed the Kansas City Stockyards and caused Kansas City to build Kansas City International Airport away from the Missouri River bottoms to replace the heavily damaged Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas.
Great Flood of 1993 – The 1993 flood was the highest of any of the three but had the lowest rate of discharge at . While the 1993 flood had devastating impacts elsewhere, Kansas City survived it relatively well because of levee improvements after the 1951 flood.
References
Further reading
Stanley Changnon, The Great Flood of 1993: Causes, Impacts, And Responses, Westview, 1996.
External links
1990s floods in the United States
1993 floods
1993 meteorology
1993 natural disasters in the United States
Natural disasters in Illinois
Natural disasters in Iowa
Natural disasters in Missouri
Natural disasters in North Dakota
Natural disasters in South Dakota
Natural disasters in Nebraska
Natural disasters in Kansas
Natural disasters in Minnesota
Natural disasters in Wisconsin
Mississippi River floods
Missouri River floods
Volcanic winters |
1008967 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000%20Mozambique%20flood | 2000 Mozambique flood | The 2000 Mozambique flood was a natural disaster that occurred in February and March 2000. The catastrophic flooding was caused by heavy rainfall caused by Cyclone Leon-Eline that lasted for four weeks and made many homeless. Approximately 800 people died, 1400 km2 of arable land was affected and 20,000 head of cattle and food were lost. It was the worst flood in Mozambique in 50 years. The government of Mozambique distributed 15 million dollars to its citizens to account for damage property and loss of income.
Meteorological history
In October and November 1999, heavy rainfall affected Mozambique, followed by a period of heavy rainfall in January 2000. By the end of January 2000, the rains caused the Incomati, the Umbeluzi, and the Limpopo rivers to exceed their banks, inundating portions of the capital Maputo. At Chókwè, the Limpopo River reached a level of on January 24, twice its normal level. Some areas received a year's worth of rainfall in two weeks. The resultant floods were considered the worst to affect the nations since 1951.
Flooding was beginning to recede in late February by the time Cyclone Eline made landfall. Eline was a long-lasting tropical cyclone that struck near Beira at peak intensity on February 22. By the end of February 2000, the situation was considered the country's worst natural disaster in a century.
Impact
By late February, the flooding had already caused increases in malaria and diarrhea. Flooding also disrupted water supply and covered roads, with the primary north-south highway cut in three locations. Widespread areas were inundated, which displaced about 220,000 people, and killed about 150 people before Eline struck.
The combined effects of the preceding floods and Eline left about 463,000 people displaced or homeless, including 46,000 children five years old or younger. Overall, the preceding floods and Eline caused about 700 deaths, half in Chokwe. with damage estimated at $500 million (2000 USD). The cyclone and the floods disrupted much of the economic progress Mozambique had made in the 1990s since the end of its civil war.
Aftermath
Before the arrival of Eline, the government of Mozambique appealed to the international community for assistance in response to the flooding, and countries were beginning to provide relief. Mozambique's president at the time, Joaquim Chissano, requested for additional aid after Eline struck, asking for $65 million for both reconstruction and emergency aid, and later increasing the request to $160 million. By March 17, various countries had pledged $119 million to Mozambique. By March 4, 39.6 tons of various relief goods reached the country, which nearly overwhelmed the small airport at Maputo.
The government of the Netherlands donated 5 million guilders (US$2.2 million) to the country, following an earlier donation of about 2 million guilders (US$871,000). The Italian government earmarked 10 billion lira, half of which for immediate emergency assistance, and Denmark earmarked €2.68 million euros. Sweden sent 10 million krona and Ireland €507,000 to the World Food Programme. Portugal delivered 40 tons worth of aid, including food, medicine, tents, and dinghies, and the Spanish Red Cross sent two flights of aid. Canada provided about $11.6 million (CAD) to Mozambique, while the United States provided $7 million worth of food via its Agency for International Development, part of its $50 million contribution. The European Community Humanitarian Aid Office provided €25 million in early March. Botswana donated P23 million pula (BWP, US$5 million), and Mauritius provided about $100,000 (USD). The nation of Ghana flew $100,000 worth of food and clothing to Mozambique. Australia also provided $1 million to the country, and Saudi Arabia flew two planes' worth of aid. Concern Worldwide allocated $650,000 (USD) at the end of February. Médecins Sans Frontières sent a crew of five people to Buzi to help residents. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sent $350,000 to CARE in early March. Through the Jubilee 2000, most wealthy nations postponed debt payments for one year. The United Kingdom canceled its $150 million debt in late February, and Italy canceled its $500 million debt in March.
The Mozambique government used boats to evacuate residents in flood zones, setting up 121 camps for evacuees. However, the country had a limited capacity for widespread rescues due to insufficient helicopters. South Africa sent a fleet of twelve planes and helicopters to operate search and rescue missions, as well as airdropping food. They were assisted by two helicopters from Malawi, six from the United Kingdom, and ten from Germany. By March 7, the fleet of 29 helicopters had rescued 14,204 people. Residual floodwaters contributed to outbreaks of malaria and cholera, with malaria infections at four times the usual rate killing at least 11 people. Areas in southern Mozambique also lost access to clean water, furthering dehydration and illnesses. In addition, the United Nations Mine Action Service expressed concern that the floods shifted the locations of landmines left over from the nation's civil war. Later, the remnants of Cyclone Gloria halted relief work due to heavy rainfall. Residents began returning home in early March after floodwaters receded.
Notes
References
External links
BBC News special report
Guardian interactive guide
United Nations briefing (broken)
Guardian special report
Floods in Mozambique
flood
2000 floods
2000s floods in Africa
Limpopo River
February 2000 events in Africa
March 2000 events in Africa
2000 disasters in Mozambique |
1014333 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20%28Halo%29 | Flood (Halo) | The Flood is a fictional parasitic alien lifeform and one of the primary antagonists in the Halo multimedia franchise. First introduced in the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved, it returns in later entries in the series such as Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo Wars. The Flood is driven by a desire to infect any sentient life of sufficient size; Flood-infected creatures, also called Flood, in turn can infect other hosts. The parasite is depicted as such a threat that the ancient Forerunners constructed artificial ringworld superweapons known as Halos to contain it and, as a last resort, to kill all sentient life in the galaxy in an effort to stop the Flood's spread by starving it.
The Flood's design and fiction were led by Bungie artist Robert McLees, who used unused concepts from the earlier Bungie game Marathon 2. The setting of the first game, the ringworld Halo, was stripped of many of its large creatures in order to make the Flood's surprise appearance more startling. Bungie environment artist Vic DeLeon spent six months of pre-production time refining the Flood's fleshy aesthetic and designing the organic interiors of Flood-infested spaceships for Halo 3.
The player's discovery of the Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved is a major plot twist, and was one of the surprises reviewers noted positively. The Flood's return in Halo 2 and Halo 3 was less enthusiastically praised. Reaction to the Flood has varied. While some critics have described the Flood as derivative or clichéd, others have ranked it among the greatest video game villains.
Development
The Flood is depicted as a parasitic organism that infects any sentient life of sufficient size. The largest self-contained form that the Flood can produce itself without using other biomass is an "infection form". These forms seeks hosts, living or dead, and attempt to drive sharp spines into the host and thereby tap into the nervous system. The host is incapacitated while the infection form burrows into the host's body and begins the mutation process, bringing the host under Flood control. Depending on the size or condition of the body, the infection form mutates the hapless host into various specialized forms in the continual drive for more food. Larger hosts are turned into forms for combat, growing long whip-like tentacles, while mangled and disused hosts are turned into incubators for more infection forms. The Flood also creates forms known as "key minds" to coordinate the Flood; these include the apex of Flood evolution, known as "Graveminds".
The Flood was added early in Bungie's development of the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved, before the game had made its jump from the Macintosh platform to the Xbox. A design for one Flood form appeared as early as 1997. Commenting upon the inception of the Flood, Bungie staff member Chris Butcher noted that "the idea behind the Flood as the forgotten peril that ended a galaxy-spanning empire is a pretty fundamental tenet of good sci-fi. Yeah, and bad sci-fi too." Another inspiration was Christopher Rowley's The Vang series. Early design for the Flood was done by Bungie artist and writer Robert McLees, who considers himself "the architect" of the Flood; the Flood's roots are reflected in concept art of a "fungal zombie" that McLees did for the earlier Bungie game Marathon 2: Durandal. McLees also did all the early concept art for the Flood.
Based on the behavior of viruses and certain bacteria, the Flood was intended to be "disgusting and nasty"; McLees modeled one Flood form off the memory of his cousin's infected thumb. The creatures were constructed from the corpses and bodies of former combatants, so the artists had to make sure the Flood soldiers were recognizable while changing their silhouette enough to differentiate them from the uninfected. Many concepts and ideas were discarded due to time constraints—initially, the Flood was intended to convert any species of the alien Covenant into soldiers. "We didn't have the resources to make it happen," McLees recalled, so they modified the game's fiction to suggest that some Covenant were too small or too frail to serve as combat troops. The technical inability to create different Flood forms procedurally informed the game's fiction that the Flood had optimized their host forms over years of trial and error, creating standardized templates that the developers used to obfuscate the repeated use of similar models. Likewise, the Flood enemy intelligence was intended to be as complicated as that of the other enemy faction in the game, but full implementation was cut for time. The dinosaur-like terrestrial wildlife that originally dwelled in Halo's environments were dropped due to gameplay constraints and fear that their presence would reduce the surprise and impact of the Flood.
Bungie decided a new visual language for the Flood was needed for Halo 3. The task of developing the new Flood forms, organic Flood terrain, and other miscellaneous changes fell to Vic DeLeon, then Bungie's Senior Environment Artist. Early concepts of what became new morphing Flood types in the game called "pure forms" featured the creatures wielding an array of weapons via tendrils, while forms like the Flood infector and Flood transport concepts never made it into the final game. The pure forms had to morph between three radically different looks, and it proved challenging to make plausible transformations that also looked good once it was developed and animated in 3D. Artist Shi Kai Wang suggested that in the end, they had simply tried to do too much and the results were less than they wanted.
Flood-infested structures were designed as angular to counterbalance Flood biomass, as well as provide surfaces for the game's artificial intelligence to exploit and move on. New additions were designed to be multi-purpose; exploding "growth pods" that spew Flood forms were added to the game to adjust pacing, provide instant action, and add to the visuals. Endoscopic pictures provided further inspiration. Halo 3 added new capabilities to the Flood, including the ability for the parasite to infect enemies in real time. Bungie used Halo 3s improved capacity for graphics to make a host's sudden transformation into Flood form more dramatic; two different character models and skeletons were fused and swapped in real-time.
Appearances
Games
The Flood makes its first appearance more than halfway through Halo: Combat Evolved, during the story mission "343 Guilty Spark". A group of humans fleeing the enemy alien Covenant land on "Halo", a ringworld built by the alien Forerunners. The artificial intelligence Cortana sends the supersoldier Master Chief to find their commander, Jacob Keyes, who disappeared in a swamp while searching for a weapons cache. The Master Chief discovers that the Covenant have accidentally released the Flood. Keyes' squad is turned into soldiers for the parasite, while Keyes is interrogated by the Flood in an attempt to learn the location of Earth and ultimately assimilated. The emergence of the Flood prompts Halo's caretaker artificial intelligence 343 Guilty Spark to enlist the help of the Master Chief in activating Halo's defenses and preventing a Flood outbreak. When Master Chief learns that activating Halo would instead wipe the galaxy of sentient life to prevent the Flood's spread, he and Cortana detonate the human ship Pillar of Autumns engines, destroying the ring and preventing the Flood from escaping.
The Flood returns in Halo 2 (2004), appearing on another Halo ring called "Delta Halo". The Flood on Delta Halo is led by the Gravemind, a massive Flood intelligence that dwells in the bowels of the ring. Gravemind brings together the Master Chief and the Covenant holy warrior known as the Arbiter and tasks them with stopping the Covenant leadership from activating the ring. In the meantime, Gravemind infests the human ship In Amber Clad and crashes it into the Covenant space station of High Charity. Once there, the Flood sweeps through the city, and the Gravemind captures Cortana. As the Flood spreads, the Covenant form a blockade in an effort to prevent the parasite from leaving its prison.
The Flood reappears in the Halo 3 mission "Floodgate", on board a damaged ship that escapes the quarantine around Delta Halo. While the infestation of Earth is prevented, Master Chief and Arbiter form a tenuous alliance with the Flood to stop the activation of all the Halo rings at the Forerunner installation known as the Ark. Once the threat is stopped, the Gravemind turns on them. The Master Chief fights his way to the center of High Charity, freeing Cortana and destroying the city, but Gravemind attempts to rebuild itself on a Halo under construction at the Ark. Realizing that activating the ring will destroy only the local Flood infestation due to the Ark's location outside of the Milky Way, the Master Chief, Arbiter, and Cortana proceed to Halo's control room, activate the ring, and escape. The Gravemind warns them that his defeat will only delay the Flood, not stop it.
The Flood also makes an appearance in the video game spinoffs Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2. In Halo Wars, they are encountered infesting a Forerunner installation and ultimately annihilated by the actions of the human ship Spirit of Fires crew. In the Halo Wars 2 expansion "Awakening the Nightmare", the surviving Flood were accidentally released by the Banished while salvaging the wreck of High Charity. The Flood also serves as an enemy in the game's cooperative "Firefight" mode. The Flood also appear in cooperative play in Halo: Spartan Assault.
With Halo 3, the developers added a multiplayer gametype called "Infection", a last man standing mode based on a fan-created scenario where human players defend against Flood-infected players, with each slain human adding to the infected's ranks. The game mode returned in Halo: Reach (2010), Halo 4 (2012), renamed "Flood", The Master Chief Collection (2014), and Halo 5.
Other appearances
The 2006 anthology The Halo Graphic Novel expands upon the Flood's release during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved in two stories, Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor and "Breaking Quarantine". Whereas the Flood is only hinted at being intelligent in the game, the Halo Graphic Novel shows the Flood has a hive mind, assimilating the knowledge of their hosts rapidly. Lee Hammock, writer of The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor, described the basis of the story as a way to showcase the true danger of the Flood as an intelligent menace, rather than something the player encounters and shoots. Hammock also stated that the story would prove the intelligent nature of the Flood, and "hopefully euthanize the idea that they are just space zombies". The threat of the Flood is also highlighted in a short story from the Halo Evolutions anthology, "The Mona Lisa," which was later adapted into a motion comic.
The Flood also features heavily in Greg Bear's trilogy of novels, the Forerunner Saga, which takes place thousands of years before the events of the main games. The novel Halo: Silentium reveals that the Flood is what remains of the Precursors, an ancient race that was said to accelerate the evolution of a species and shape galaxies. The Forerunners overthrew the Precursors; on the verge of extinction, some Precursors reduced themselves to a biological powder that would regenerate into their past selves. Time rendered the powder defective, and it became mutagenic, reacting with other living organisms to produce what would eventually mutate into the Flood. The Flood would threaten ancient humanity and then the Forerunners, who ultimately build and activate the Halo Array to stop the parasite's spread.
Analysis
The name of the Flood is one of many names taken from religious stories in the Halo franchise. The Flood and especially the Gravemind serve as demonic or satanic figures, and the Master Chief's descent into the bowels of Halo to encounter the Flood can be likened to a journey to hell. Academic P.C. Paulissen notes that the name 'Flood' suggests a reference to the biblical deluge, with the Forerunner Ark being shelter from the Flood's destructive and cleansing power akin to the Bible.
The lifecycle and parasitic nature of the Flood has similarities to the behaviors of real-world parasites. The Flood's induced physiological changes recall the modified eyestalks of hosts infected by Leucochloridium paradoxum, or malformed limbs of Ribeiroia-infected amphibians. The Flood's habit of altering its surroundings has parallels to the parasitoid wasp Hymenoepimecis argyraphagas use of spider's webs for protection.
Cultural impact
Merchandise
The Flood have been featured in four series of Halo action figures, produced by Joyride Studios. For Halo: Combat Evolved, Joyride produced a Carrier Form and Infection form bundle. Halo 2s series contains both a human combat form and infection form (bundled with the Master Chief), which were released after the video game. Armchair Empire's review of the figure expressed the sentiment that Joyride's models could not totally capture the ghoulishness texture and detail of the Flood. McFarlane Toys produced action figures for Halo 3, and the third released series featured a human combat form. Other merchandise includes an Xbox 360 Avatar prop, and a limited edition silver-plated statue of Master Chief fighting a Flood form.
Critical reception
The surprise appearance of the Flood during Halo: Combat Evolved was seen as an important plot twist and a scary moment even after repeat playthroughs of the game. Gamasutra, writing about video game plots, gives the example of the Flood not only as an important reversal to the story of Halo, but an example of how games are made more interesting by twists in the plot. Rolling Stone and Kotaku credited the appearance of the Flood as an excellent way the game kept players on their toes, forcing them to adjust their strategies; Rolling Stone called the twist as shocking "as if, several levels into a game of Pac-Man, the dots suddenly began to attack you". IGN described Flood as one of their favorite video game monsters of all time, stating that "We like the Flood, but we hate them so very much."
Despite the positive acclaim in Halo, the response to the presence of the Flood in Halo 2 and Halo 3 was mixed. A panel of online reviewers noted that the Flood appeared in Halo 2 for no obvious reasons, and was simply described as "aggravating" to play against. Similarly, reviewers including Victor Godinez of The Dallas Morning News felt that the Flood was too derivative of other sci-fi stereotypes, and functioned as "space zombies". Daniel Weissenberger of Gamecritics.com noted in his review of Halo 3 that even though the Flood looked better than ever, its single strategy of rushing the player proved tedious over time. GamesRadar's Charlie Barratt listed the Flood as the worst part of Halo, contrasting what he considered fun, vibrant and open levels before the Flood's appearance with confined spaces and predictable enemies.
The Flood has been recognized as one of the greatest game villains, making lists of greatest villains and enemies from Wizard Magazine, GameDaily, Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition, PC World, and Electronic Gaming Monthly. MTV considered Flood possession in Halo 3 as a "great gaming moment" of 2007, stating that "with the power of the Xbox 360's graphics, this reanimation comes to vivid, distressing life, more memorably than it had in the earlier games. Here are the zombies of gaming doing what they do worst. [...] It's grisly and unforgettable." IGN listed the Flood as the 45th best video game villain, describing it as one of the most hated video game villains.
References
External links
Flood Archives at halo.bungie.org
The Flood profile at Halowaypoint.com
Extraterrestrial characters in video games
Fictional extraterrestrial life forms
Fictional parasites and parasitoids
Fictional superorganisms
Halo (franchise)
Mutant characters in video games
Undead characters in video games
Video game characters introduced in 2001
Video game species and races
Fictional omnicide perpetrators |
1043443 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20control%20%28communications%29 | Flood control (communications) | In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished processing.
Internet forums often use a flood control mechanism to prevent too many messages from being posted at once, either to prevent spamming or denial-of-service attacks. Internet Relay Chat servers will often quit users performing IRC floods with an "Excess Flood" message.
Data transmission
Internet terminology
Internet forum terminology
Internet Relay Chat |
1097662 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood%20basalt | Flood basalt | A flood basalt (or plateau basalt) is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that covers large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Many flood basalts have been attributed to the onset of a hotspot reaching the surface of the Earth via a mantle plume. Flood basalt provinces such as the Deccan Traps of India are often called traps, after the Swedish word trappa (meaning "staircase"), due to the characteristic stairstep geomorphology of many associated landscapes.
Michael R. Rampino and Richard Stothers (1988) cited eleven distinct flood basalt episodes occurring in the past 250 million years, creating large igneous provinces, lava plateaus, and mountain ranges. However, more have been recognized such as the large Ontong Java Plateau, and the Chilcotin Group, though the latter may be linked to the Columbia River Basalt Group.
Large igneous provinces have been connected to five mass extinction events, and may be associated with bolide impacts.
Description
Flood basalts are the most voluminous of all extrusive igneous rocks, forming enormous deposits of basaltic rock found throughout the geologic record. They are a highly distinctive form of intraplate volcanism, set apart from all other forms of volcanism by the huge volumes of lava erupted in geologically short time intervals. A single flood basalt province may contain hundreds of thousands of cubic kilometers of basalt erupted over less than a million years, with individual events each erupting hundreds of cubic kilometers of basalt. This highly fluid basalt lava can spread laterally for hundreds of kilometers from its source vents, covering areas of tens of thousands of square kilometers. Successive eruptions form thick accumulations of nearly horizontal flows, erupted in rapid succession over vast areas, flooding the Earth's surface with lava on a regional scale.
These vast accumulations of flood basalt constitute large igneous provinces. These are characterized by plateau landforms, so that flood basalts are also described as plateau basalts. Canyons cut into the flood basalts by erosion display stair-like slopes, with the lower parts of flows forming cliffs and the upper part of flows or interbedded layers of sediments forming slopes. These are known in Dutch as trap or in Swedish as trappa, which has come into English as trap rock, a term particularly used in the quarry industry.
The great thickness of the basalt accumulations, often in excess of , usually reflects a very large number of thin flows, varying in thickness from meters to tens of meters, or more rarely to . There are occasionally very thick individual flows. The world's thickest basalt flow may be the Greenstone flow of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, US, which is thick. This flow may have been part of a lava lake the size of Lake Superior.
Deep erosion of flood basalts exposes vast numbers of parallel dikes that fed the eruptions. Some individual dikes in the Columbia River Plateau are over long. In some cases, erosion exposes radial sets of dikes with diameters of several thousand kilometers. Sills may also be present beneath flood basalts, such as the Palisades Sill of New Jersey, US. The sheet intrusions (dikes and sills) beneath flood basalts are typically diabase that closely matches the composition of the overlying flood basalts. In some cases, the chemical signature allows individual dikes to be connected with individual flows.
Smaller-scale features
Flood basalt commonly displays columnar jointing, formed as the rock cooled and contracted after solidifying from the lava. The rock fractures into columns, typically with five to six sides, parallel to the direction of heat flow out of the rock. This is generally perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces, but rainwater infiltrating the rock unevenly can produce "cold fingers" of distorted columns. Because heat flow out of the base of the flow is slower than from its upper surface, the columns are more regular and larger in the bottom third of the flow. The greater hydrostatic pressure, due to the weight of overlying rock, also contributes to making the lower columns larger. By analogy with Greek temple architecture, the more regular lower columns are described as the colonnade and the more irregular upper fractures as the entablature of the individual flow. Columns tend to be larger in thicker flows, with columns of the very thick Greenstone flow, mentioned earlier, being around thick.
Another common small-scale feature of flood basalts is pipe-stem vesicles. Flood basalt lava cools quite slowly, so that dissolved gases in the lava have time to come out of solution as bubbles (vesicles) that float to the top of the flow. Most of the rest of the flow is massive and free of vesicles. However, the more rapidly cooling lava close to the base of the flow forms a thin chilled margin of glassy rock, and the more rapidly crystallized rock just above the glassy margin contains vesicles trapped as the rock was rapidly crystallizing. These have a distinctive appearance likened to a clay tobacco pipe stem, particularly as the vesicle is usually subsequently filled with calcite or other light-colored minerals that contrast with the surrounding dark basalt.
Petrology
At still smaller scales, the texture of flood basalts is aphanitic, consisting of tiny interlocking crystals. These interlocking crystals give trap rock its tremendous toughness and durability. Crystals of plagioclase are embedded in or wrapped around crystals of pyroxene and are randomly oriented. This indicates rapid emplacement so that the lava is no longer flowing rapidly when it begins to crystallize. Flood basalts are almost devoid of large phenocrysts, larger crystals present in the lava prior to its being erupted to the surface, which are often present in other extrusive igneous rocks. Phenocrysts are more abundant in the dikes that fed lava to the surface.
Flood basalts are most often quartz tholeiites. Olivine tholeiite (the characteristic rock of mid-ocean ridges) occurs less commonly, and there are rare cases of alkali basalts. Regardless of composition, the flows are very homogeneous and rarely contain xenoliths, fragments of the surrounding rock (country rock) that have been entrained in the lava. Because the lavas are low in dissolved gases, pyroclastic rock is extremely rare. Except where the flows entered lakes and became pillow lava, the flows are massive (featureless). Occasionally, flood basalts are associated with very small volumes of dacite or rhyolite (much more silica-rich volcanic rock), which forms late in the development of a large igneous province and marks a shift to more centralized volcanism.
Geochemistry
Flood basalts show a considerable degree of chemical uniformity across geologic time, being mostly iron-rich tholeiitic basalts. Their major element chemistry is similar to mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs), while their trace element chemistry, particularly of the rare earth elements, resembles that of ocean island basalt. They typically have a silica content of around 52%. The magnesium number (the mol% of magnesium out of the total iron and magnesium content) is around 55, versus 60 for a typical MORB. The rare earth elements show abundance patterns suggesting that the original (primitive) magma formed from rock of the Earth's mantle that was nearly undepleted; that is, it was mantle rock rich in garnet and from which little magma had previously been extracted. The chemistry of plagioclase and olivine in flood basalts suggests that the magma was only slightly contaminated with melted rock of the Earth's crust, but some high-temperature minerals had already crystallized out of the rock before it reached the surface. In other words, the flood basalt is moderately evolved. However, only small amounts of plagioclase appear to have crystallized out of the melt.
Though regarded as forming a chemically homogeneous group, flood basalts sometimes show significant chemical diversity even with in a single province. For example, the flood basalts of the Parana Basin can be divided into a low phosphorus and titanium group (LPT) and a high phosphorus and titanium group (HPT). The difference has been attributed to inhomogeneity in the upper mantle, but strontium isotope ratios suggest the difference may arise from the LPT magma being contaminated with a greater amount of melted crust.
Formation
Theories of the formation of flood basalts must explain how such vast amounts of magma could be generated and erupted as lava in such short intervals of time. They must also explain the similar compositions and tectonic settings of flood basalts erupted across geologic time and the ability of flood basalt lava to travel such great distances from the eruptive fissures before solidifying.
Generation of melt
A tremendous amount of heat is required for so much magma to be generated in so short a time. This is widely believed to have been supplied by a mantle plume impinging on the base of the Earth's lithosphere, its rigid outermost shell. The plume consists of unusually hot mantle rock of the asthenosphere, the ductile layer just below the lithosphere, that creeps upwards from deeper in the Earth's interior. The hot asthenosphere rifts the lithosphere above the plume, allowing magma produced by decompressional melting of the plume head to find pathways to the surface.
The swarms of parallel dikes exposed by deep erosion of flood basalts show that considerable crustal extension has taken place. The dike swarms of west Scotland and Iceland show extension of up to 5%. Many flood basalts are associated with rift valleys, are located on passive continental plate margins, or extend into aulacogens (failed arms of triple junctions where continental rifting begins.) Flood basalts on continents are often aligned with hotspot volcanism in ocean basins. The Paraná and Etendeka traps, located in South America and Africa on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, formed around 125 million years ago as the South Atlantic opened, while a second set of smaller flood basalts formed near the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in eastern North America as the North Atlantic opened. However, the North Atlantic flood basalts are not connected with any hot spot traces, but seem to have been evenly distributed along the entire divergent boundary.
Flood basalts are often interbedded with sediments, typically red beds. The deposition of sediments begins before the first flood basalt eruptions, so that subsidence and crustal thinning are precursors to flood basalt activity. The surface continues to subside as basalt erupt, so that the older beds are often found below sea level. Basalt strata at depth (dipping reflectors) have been found by reflection seismology along passive continental margins.
Ascent to the surface
The composition of flood basalts may reflect the mechanisms by which the magma reaches the surface. The original melt formed in the upper mantle (the primitive melt) cannot have the composition of quartz tholeiite, the most common and typically least evolved volcanic rock of flood basalts, because quartz tholeiites are too rich in iron relative to magnesium to have formed in equilibrium with typical mantle rock. The primitive melt may have had the composition of picrite basalt, but picrite basalt is uncommon in flood basalt provinces. One possibility is that a primitive melt stagnates when it reaches the mantle-crust boundary, where it is not buoyant enough to penetrate the lower-density crust rock. As a tholeiitic magma differentiates (changes in composition as high-temperature minerals crystallize and settle out of the magma) its density reaches a minimum at a magnesium number of about 60, similar to that of flood basalts. This restores buoyancy and permits the magma to complete its journey to the surface, and also explains why flood basalts are predominantly quartz tholeiites. Over half the original magma remains in the lower crust as cumulates in a system of dikes and sills.
As the magma rises, the drop in pressure also lowers the liquidus, the temperature at which the magma is fully liquid. This likely explains the lack of phenocrysts in erupted flood basalt. The resorption (dissolution back into the melt) of a mixture of solid olivine, augite, and plagioclase—the high-temperature minerals likely to form as phenocrysts—may also tend to drive the composition closer to quartz tholeiite and help maintain buoyancy.
Eruption
Once the magma reaches the surface, it flows rapidly across the landscape, literally flooding the local topography. This is possible in part because of the rapid rate of extrusion (over a cubic km per day per km of fissure length) and the relatively low viscosity of basaltic lava. However, the lateral extent of individual flood basalt flows is astonishing even for so fluid a lava in such quantities. It is likely that the lava spreads by a process of inflation in which the lava moves beneath a solid insulating crust, which keeps it hot and mobile. Studies of the Ginkgo flow of the Columbia River Plateau, which is thick, show that the temperature of the lava dropped by just over a distance of . This demonstrates that the lava must have been insulated by a surface crust and that the flow was laminar, reducing heat exchange with the upper crust and base of the flow. It has been estimated that the Ginkgo flow advanced 500 km in six days (a rate of advance of about 3.5 km per hour).
The lateral extent of a flood basalt flow is roughly proportional to the cube of the thickness of the flow near its source. Thus, a flow that is double in thickness at its source can travel roughly eight times as far.
Flood basalt flows are predominantly pāhoehoe flows, with ʻaʻā flows much less common.
Eruption in flood basalt provinces is episodic, and each episode has its own chemical signature. There is some tendency for lava within a single eruptive episode to become more silica-rich with time, but there is no consistent trend across episodes.
Large igneous provinces
Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) were originally defined as voluminous outpourings, predominantly of basalt, over geologically very short durations. This definition did not specify minimum size, duration, petrogenesis, or setting. A new attempt to refine classification focuses on size and setting. LIPs characteristically cover large areas, and the great bulk of the magmatism occurs in less than 1 Ma. Principal LIPs in the ocean basins include Oceanic Volcanic Plateaus (OPs) and Volcanic Passive Continental Margins. Oceanic flood basalts are LIPs distinguished from oceanic plateaus by some investigators because they do not form morphologic plateaus, being neither flat-topped nor elevated more than 200 m above the seafloor. Examples include the Caribbean, Nauru, East Mariana, and Pigafetta provinces. Continental flood basalts (CFBs) or plateau basalts are the continental expressions of large igneous provinces.
Impact
Flood basalts contribute significantly to the growth of continental crust. They are also catastrophic events, which likely contributed to many mass extinctions in the geologic record.
Crust formation
The extrusion of flood basalts, averaged over time, is comparable with the rate of extrusion of lava at mid-ocean ridges and much higher than the rate of extrusion by hotspots. However, extrusion at mid-ocean ridges is relatively steady, while extrusion of flood basalts is highly episodic. Flood basalts create new continental crust at a rate of per year, while the eruptions that form oceanic plateaus produce of crust per year.
Much of the new crust formed during flood basalt episodes takes the form of underplating, with over half the original magma crystallizing out as cumulates in sills at the base of the crust.
Mass extinctions
The eruption of flood basalts has been linked with mass extinctions. For example, the Deccan Traps, erupted at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, may have contributed to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Likewise, mass extinctions at the Permian-Triassic boundary, the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, and in the Toarcian Age of the Jurassic correspond to the ages of large igneous provinces in Siberia, the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, and the Karoo-Ferrar flood basalt.
Some idea of the impact of flood basalts can be given by comparison with historical large eruptions. The 1783 eruption of Lakagígar was the largest in the historical record, killing 75% of the livestock and a quarter of the population of Iceland. However, the eruption produced just of lava, which is tiny compared with the Roza Member of the Columbia River Plateau, erupted in the mid-Miocene, which contained at least of lava.
During the eruption of the Siberian Traps, some of magma penetrated the crust, covering an area of , equal to 62% of the area of the contiguous states of the United States. The hot magma contained vast quantities of carbon dioxide and sulfur oxides, and released additional carbon dioxide and methane from deep petroleum reservoirs and younger coal beds in the region. The released gases created over 6400 diatreme-like pipes, each typically over in diameter. The pipes emitted up to 160 trillion tons of carbon dioxide and 46 trillion tons of methane. Coal ash from burning coal beds spread toxic chromium, arsenic, mercury, and lead across northern Canada. Evaporite beds heated by the magma released hydrochloric acid, methyl chloride, methyl bromide, which damaged the ozone layer and reduced ultraviolet shielding by as much as 85%. Over 5 trillion tons of sulfur dioxide was also released. The carbon dioxide produced extreme greenhouse conditions, with global average sea water temperatures peaking at , the highest ever seen in the geologic record. Temperatures did not drop to for another 5.1 million years. Temperatures this high are lethal to most marine organisms, and land plants have difficulty continuing to photosynthesize at temperatures above . The Earth's equatorial zone became a dead zone.
However, not all large igneous provinces are connected with extinction events. The formation and effects of a flood basalt depend on a range of factors, such as continental configuration, latitude, volume, rate, duration of eruption, style and setting (continental vs. oceanic), the preexisting climate, and the biota resilience to change.
List of flood basalts
Representative continental flood basalts and oceanic plateaus, arranged by chronological order, together forming a listing of large igneous provinces:
Elsewhere in the Solar System
Flood basalts are the dominant form of magmatism on the other planets and moons of the Solar System.
The maria on the Moon have been described as flood basalts composed of picritic basalt. Individual eruptive episodes were likely similar in volume to flood basalts of Earth, but were separated by much longer quiescent intervals and were likely produced by different mechanisms.
Extensive flood basalts may be present on Mars.
Uses
The interlocking crystals of flood basalts, which are oriented at random, make trap rock the most durable construction aggregate of all rock types.
See also
References
External links
Basalt
Volcanic landforms
Orogeny
Volcanism
Geological hazards
Future problems
Doomsday scenarios
de:Trapp (Geologie)
es:Trap (geología)
fr:Trapp
ka:ტრაპი
kk:Трапп
nn:Flaumbasalt
pt:Trapp
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fi:Laakiopurkaus |
1238052 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC2%20Floodlit%20Trophy | BBC2 Floodlit Trophy | The BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy (also known as the BBC 2 Television Trophy) was a competition for British rugby league clubs held between 1965 and 1980. It was designed specifically for television, and the then director of BBC2, broadcaster David Attenborough, was instrumental in its creation. When the competition was first mooted not many clubs were equipped with floodlights, but the tournament caused no fewer than twenty-one clubs to install them.
The tournament was not Rugby League's first foray into evening television; the 1955–56 season saw a tournament titled the Independent Television Floodlit Trophy. Eight clubs participated in a series of games played at football grounds in the London area, with Warrington eventually running out 43–18 victors over Leigh.
The tournament was played during the early part of the season. Each week one match would be played under floodlights on a Tuesday evening; the second half of this match that would be broadcast live on BBC2. Non-televised matches were played at various times, depending on clubs' commitments in more prestigious tournaments. Despite the title many matches did not take place under floodlights; clubs such as Barrow and Bramley (for example) did not possess adequate lighting.
The first season, 1965–66, eight clubs - Castleford, Leeds, Leigh, Oldham, St. Helens, Swinton, Warrington and Widnes took part. Seven of the eight teams had floodlights and Leeds installed theirs the following season.
The four-tackles-then-a-scrum rule was first introduced in the competition's second season, in October 1966, before being implemented in all competitions by December.
Castleford won the trophy in the first season, 1965–66 and won the trophy the most times, on three more occasions 1966–67, 1967–68 and 1976–77.
Despite disagreements over shirt sponsorship in the early 1970s, Rugby League remained a mainstay of BBC Television during the 1970s, and 1980s, although the commitment to the Floodlit Trophy decreased before financial cutbacks at the BBC lead to its cancellation after the 1979–80 competition. In the last final, Hull F.C. beat local rivals Hull Kingston Rovers.
List of finals
References
External links
BBC Floodlit Trophy results – Rugby league Project
Hull FC v Hall KR – BBC Floodlight Trophy Final 1979–80
Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom
1965 establishments in the United Kingdom
1980 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Recurring sporting events established in 1965
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1980
BBC events
Defunct rugby league competitions |
1247688 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floodlight%20%28disambiguation%29 | Floodlight (disambiguation) | A floodlight is an artificial light providing even illumination across a wide area.
Floodlight may also refer to:
High-intensity discharge lamp, the class of lamp itself
Stage lighting instrument, the types associated with stage productions
Floodlights (film) |
1303846 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann%20Flood | Ann Flood | Ann Flood (born Maryanne Elizabeth Ott; November 12, 1932 – October 7, 2022) was an American actress, best known for her role as journalist and author Nancy Pollock Karr in the soap opera The Edge of Night, a role she began in 1962. Flood portrayed the show's heroine for 22 years, witnessing the show's transition from live to taped broadcasts and its move from CBS to ABC.
Career
Flood was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York. She had notable roles on Broadway, making her debut in the 1954 musical Kismet and going on to play opposite Don Ameche in Holiday for Lovers (1957). Her television debut came earlier, in a 1952 live production of the W. S. Gilbert play, The Fortune Hunter, for WOR-TV.
Flood became a regular performer on golden age live TV shows, including Sergeant Bilko, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Kraft Theatre, and The Philco Television Playhouse. She was also known for roles in various commercials, including those for Good Seasons salad dressing, Newport cigarettes, Ivory Snow detergent, and Sterling beer. Before starting on The Edge of Night, she played the leading role of another journalist, Elizabeth "Liz" Fraser Allen in the soap opera From These Roots (1958–61).
In The Edge of Night, Nancy's marriage to Mike Karr remains as one of the longest in soap history. Nancy and Mike had no children of their own, but the character of Laurie (Mike's daughter by his first wife Sara) came to consider Nancy as her mother. Flood continued in the role through the series' finale in 1984, by which time she was the show's longest-serving cast member.
For her work on the show, Flood was twice nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, in 1982 and 1984.
After Edge of Night, Flood continued to act in daytime dramas. She was cast in a succession of shorter-term and recurring roles, playing Ella Hobbs, a villain on Search for Tomorrow, who tried to kill the show's leading character, Joanne, and played a variety of society matrons on Another World (Rose Livingston, 1986–1987), One Life to Live (Mrs. Guthrie, 1991), and As the World Turns, recurring from 1992 to 1993 as business executive Ruth Mansfield. In 1987, she joined the cast of All My Children playing the recurring role of Bitsy Davidson, Cecily's snooty mother, and was briefly under contract to the show. Her last appearance aired in January 1990.
Other work included guest-starring roles in prime-time TV programs such as The Cosby Show, and a role in the 1988 feature film, Mystic Pizza.
Personal life and death
Flood was married since 1952 to sportscaster and media network executive Herb Granath until his death in 2019. She had three sons and one daughter.
Flood died in Stamford, Connecticut, on October 7, 2022, five weeks before her 90th birthday.
References
External links
1932 births
2022 deaths
21st-century American women
Actresses from New York City
American soap opera actresses
People from Jamaica, Queens |
1366252 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before%20the%20Flood%20%28album%29 | Before the Flood (album) | Before the Flood is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and The Band, released on June 20, 1974, on Asylum Records in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom. It was Dylan's first live album, although live recordings of earlier performances would later be released. It is the 15th album by Dylan and the seventh by the Band, and documents their joint 1974 American tour. It peaked at on the Billboard 200, reached on the popular album chart in the UK, and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Content
Dylan and his new record label Asylum had planned professional recordings before the tour began, ten separate sessions in total: three in New York at Madison Square Garden on January 30 and 31; two in Seattle, at the Seattle Center Coliseum on February 9; two in Oakland, California, at the Alameda County Coliseum on February 11; and three in Los Angeles on February 13 and 14. To compile the album, recordings were taken from the final three shows at the Los Angeles Forum in Inglewood, California, with only "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" from New York.
The title of the album is thought to derive from the novel Farn Mabul by Yiddish writer Sholem Asch; Dylan had a personal relationship with Moses Asch, son of Sholem and founder of Folkways Records, a record label hugely influential in the folk music revival.
Dylan and the Band had recorded the studio album Planet Waves prior to the tour. In "Wedding Song", the final recording on the album, He sings, "We can't regain what went down in the flood". Few of the album's songs were incorporated into the tour's setlist, and none are represented on Before the Flood. After the double album release, Dylan signed a new contract with Columbia Records in time for his next studio album, Blood on the Tracks, after returning label president Goddard Lieberson made a determined campaign to get Dylan back from Asylum. The Band continued to record on their own for Capitol Records.
Subsequent reissues were on the Columbia imprint, and on March 31, 2009, a remastered digipak version of Before the Flood was issued by Legacy Recordings/Columbia, now part of Sony Music Entertainment.
Critical reception
In a contemporary review for Creem magazine, Robert Christgau felt that the Band followed Dylan in intensifying his old songs for the arena venue and stated, "Without qualification, this is the craziest and strongest rock and roll ever recorded. All analogous live albums fall flat." In a less enthusiastic review, Rolling Stone magazine's Tom Nolan said Dylan's vocal emphasis and the Band's busy arrangements make for an awkward listen, although revamped versions of songs such as "It's All Right, Ma", "Like a Rolling Stone", and "All Along the Watchtower" are successful and sound meaningful. Before the Flood was voted the sixth best album of 1974, in The Village Voices annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it second on his own list.
In a retrospective review, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called the album "epochal", while AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described it as "one of the best live albums of its time. Ever, maybe." Greil Marcus commented, "Roaring with resentment and happiness, the music touched rock and roll at its limits." By contrast, Dylan himself later disparaged the tour, feeling that it was overblown. "I think I was just playing a role on that tour, I was playing Bob Dylan and the Band were playing the Band. It was all sort of mindless. The only thing people talked about was energy this, energy that. The highest compliments were things like, 'Wow, lotta energy, man.' It had become absurd." In a retrospective review, Scott Hreha from PopMatters also felt that each act did not sound collaborative as on The Basement Tapes and that the album "remains a worthy but inessential item in Dylan's catalog—and both he and the Band have better live recordings available, especially the several volumes in Dylan's Bootleg Series."
Track listing
Sides one and four are performances by Bob Dylan backed by the Band; side two and tracks four through six on side three are by the Band; tracks one through three on side three by Dylan alone. "Blowin' in the Wind" is a splice of two separate performances.
Personnel
Musicians
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitars, harmonica, piano
Robbie Robertson – electric guitar, backing vocals
Garth Hudson – organ, piano, clavinet
Levon Helm – vocals, drums
Richard Manuel – vocals, piano, electric piano, organ, drums
Rick Danko – vocals, bass guitar
Production
Rob Fraboni – recording engineer, mixing engineer
Phil Ramone – recording engineer
Nat Jeffrey – mixing engineer
Barry Feinstein – photography, design
Village Recorders – mixing location
Kendun Recorders – mastering location
Jeff Rosen – reissue producer
Steve Berkowitz – reissue producer
Location Recording by Wally Heider Recording,
Recording Crew: Ed Barton, Bill Broms, Jack Crymes,
Biff Dawes and Deane Jensen.
Certifications
References
External links
1974 live albums
Asylum Records live albums
Bob Dylan live albums
CBS Records live albums
Collaborative albums
Columbia Records live albums
Island Records live albums
The Band live albums
Albums recorded at the Forum |
1385513 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%20Sea%20flood%20of%201953 | North Sea flood of 1953 | The 1953 North Sea flood () was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, resulting in extensive flooding.
The storm and flooding occurred at the end of Saturday, 31 January 1953 and in the morning of the next day. A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused a storm tide of the North Sea. The combination of wind, high tide, and low pressure caused the sea to flood land up to above mean sea level.
Realising that such infrequent events could reoccur, the Netherlands and the UK carried out large studies on strengthening of coastal defences. The Netherlands developed the Delta Works, an extensive system of dams and storm surge barriers. The UK constructed storm surge barriers on the Thames Estuary and on the Hull where it meets the Humber Estuary.
Flooding summary
In the Netherlands 20% of the land was below mean sea level (subsequently with the expansion of Flevoland this proportion has increased); the next-highest 30% sat at less than above sea level. Such land relies heavily on sea defences and was worst affected, recording 1,836 deaths and widespread damage. Most of the casualties occurred in the southern province of Zeeland.
In England, 307 people were killed in the counties of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. Nineteen were killed in eastern Scotland.
Twenty-eight people were killed in the north of West Flanders, Belgium.
At-sea fatalities
More than 230 deaths occurred on seacraft along Northern European coasts as well as on ships in deeper waters of the North Sea. The ferry MV Princess Victoria sank in the North Channel east of Belfast with 135 fatalities, and many fishing trawlers sank. Nine small vessels foundered in the seas around the British Isles with the loss of all hands; these included the Swedish steamer Aspo (22 crew lost), the British steamer Yewvalley (12 crew lost), the British trawlers Sheldon (14 crew lost), Michael Griffith (13 crew lost) and Guava (eleven crew lost), the Dutch motor vessels Salland (nine crew lost) and Westland (eight crew lost), the Dutch trawler Catharina Duyvis (16 crew lost), and the Belgian trawler Leopold Nera (five crew lost).
Netherlands
From midday on 31 January 1953, water was driven from the northern reaches of the North Sea between Norway and Scotland by a strong north-west gale. A surge developed along the coast of the Netherlands, which coincided with a high spring tide, leading to many water levels on the Dutch coast on the morning of 1 February 1953 being higher than any previous recorded figures, particularly in the south-western areas of the country.
At 10:30 p.m. on Saturday evening 31 January, it was low tide. But this time the water remained high. The strength of the hurricane had broken the tidal movement.
On the night of 1 February 1953 around 3 a.m., many dykes in the province of Zeeland, the southern parts of the province of South Holland and the northwestern parts of the province of North Brabant proved unable to resist the combination of spring tide and a northwesterly storm. On both the islands and the mainland, large areas of the country were flooded.
At 4 p.m. on 1 February, the flood reached a second high. The water rose even higher than during the first flood, and more dikes broke. Many people who had survived the first flood died, as the houses on which they sheltered on the rooftops collapsed due to the persistent water pressure. At that time, the government did not yet know that Schouwen-Duiveland, Goeree-Overflakkee and Tholen were almost completely under water, and no large-scale rescue operations had yet taken place.
Only on Monday 2 February were fishermen the first to sail deep into the disaster area to save hundreds of people. Rescue operations from the air were hardly possible: the Netherlands had only 1 helicopter and had to wait until other countries offered help.
On Tuesday February 3, a large flow of people and relief supplies started. Planes dropped sandbags, dinghies, boots, food and water over the disaster area. At the same time, thousands of Dutch soldiers, administrators, aid workers and volunteers arrived to carry out coordinated actions in the disaster area. Tens of thousands of residents were being evacuated from the area to shelters elsewhere in the country.
Foreign helicopters and amphibious vehicles also came into action on Tuesday, but the vast majority of rescue operations had already been completed by then.
Donations and relief supplies were pouring in at the National Disaster Fund in The Hague. Other countries, including England, Sweden and Canada sent more than 61 million guilders in relief supplies.
Many people still commemorate the dead during the on 1 February.
Warnings
Rijkswaterstaat had warned about the risk of a flood. At the time of the flood, none of the local radio stations broadcast at night, and many of the smaller weather stations operated only during the day. The following broadcast from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) was made at 6.15pm (18:15) on January 31 1953 on Hilversum Radio:
Another warning was broadcast shortly before midnight on 31 January 1953, followed by the Wilhelmus, after which broadcasts ceased for the evening, as was standard in the Netherlands at the time. As a result, the warnings of the KNMI did not penetrate the flood-threatened area in time. People were unable to prepare for the impending flood. The disaster struck on a Saturday night, and hence many government and emergency offices in the affected area were not staffed.
As telephone and telegraph networks were disrupted by flood damage, amateur radio operators went into the affected areas with their equipment to form a voluntary emergency radio network. These radio amateurs provided radio communications for 10 days and nights, and were the only people able to maintain contact from affected areas with the outside world.
Resulting damage
The Zeeland dykes were breached in 67 locations. Large parts of South Holland, Zeeland and North Brabant were inundated. In North Holland only one polder was flooded. The most extensive flooding occurred on the islands of Schouwen-Duiveland, Tholen, Sint Philipsland, Goeree-Overflakkee, the Hoeksche Waard, Voorne-Putten and Alblasserwaard. Parts of the islands of Zuid-Beveland, Noord-Beveland, IJsselmonde, Pernis, Rozenburg, Walcheren and Land van Altena were flooded, as well as parts of the areas around Willemstad, Nieuw-Vossemeer and parts of Zeelandic Flanders.
The highest death tolls were recorded on the islands of Schouwen-Duiveland and Goeree-Overflakkee. 305 people drowned in the village of Oude-Tonge. 20-year-old Jos de Boet from Oude-Tonge lost 42 family members in the disaster. 200,000 animals died, 3,500 houses and farms were lost in the flood, and another 43,000 were severely damaged.
Afterwards, the government formed the Delta Commission to study the causes and effects of the floods. They estimated that flooding killed 1,835 people and forced the emergency evacuation of 70,000 more. Floods covered 9% of Dutch farmland, and sea water flooded of land. An estimated 30,000 animals drowned, and 47,300 buildings were damaged, of which 10,000 had to be demolished (or were swept away). The total damage is estimated at 1 billion Dutch guilders.
Near flooding of other parts
The Schielands Hoge Zeedijk (Schielands High Seadyke) along the river Hollandse IJssel was all that protected three million people in the provinces of North and South Holland from flooding. A section of this dyke, known as the Groenendijk, was not reinforced with stone revetments. The water level was just below the crest and the seaward slope was weak.
Volunteers worked to reinforce this stretch. However, the Groenendijk began to collapse under the pressure around 5:30 am on 1 February. Seawater flooded into the deep polder. In desperation, the mayor of Nieuwerkerk commandeered the river ship de Twee Gebroeders (The Two Brothers) and ordered the owner to plug the hole in the dyke by navigating the ship into it. Fearing that the ship might break through into the polder, Captain Arie Evegroen took a row boat with him. The mayor's plan was successful, as the ship was lodged firmly into the dyke, reinforcing it against failure and saving many lives.
The Afsluitdijk across the entrance of the Zuiderzee was said to have paid for its construction cost in that one night, by preventing destructive flooding around the three great meers that used to be the Zuiderzee.
Reaction
Several neighbouring countries sent soldiers to assist in searching for bodies and rescuing people. The U.S. Army sent helicopters from Germany to rescue people from rooftops. Queen Juliana and Princess Beatrix visited the flooded area only a few days after. A large aid program, the National Relief Fund, was launched, and soldiers raised funds by selling pea-soup door to door. Internationally, 100,000 commemorative postcards, featuring an illustration by Eppo Doeve, were sold. A national donation program was started and there was a large amount of international aid. The Red Cross was overwhelmed by contributions, and diverted some of the funds to assist residents of Third World countries.
It was found that the flooding could have been higher; the Rijkswaterstaat's plan concerning the protection and strengthening of the dikes was accepted. As a result, the Delta Works were authorized, an elaborate project to enable emergency closing of the mouths of most estuaries, to prevent flood surges upriver.
United Kingdom
The North Sea flood of 1953 was the worst flood of the 20th century in England and Scotland. Over of coastline was damaged, and sea walls were breached in 1,200 places, inundating . Flooding forced over 30,000 people from their homes, and 24,000 properties were greatly damaged. The damage is estimated as £50 million at 1953 prices, approximately £1.2 billion at 2013 prices.
Probably the most devastating storm to affect Scotland for 500 years, the surge crossed between Orkney and Shetland. The storm generated coastal and inland hazards, including flooding, erosion, destruction of coastal defences, and widespread wind damage. Damage occurred throughout the country, with 19 fatalities reported. The fishing village of Crovie (then in Banffshire, now Aberdeenshire), built on a narrow strip of land along the Moray Firth coast, was abandoned by many, as large structures were swept into the sea.
The surge raced down the east coast into the mid-to-southern North Sea, where it was amplified by shallower waters.
On the north side of the Thames Estuary Canvey Island in Essex was inundated, with the loss of 58 lives. Some 41 people died at Felixstowe in Suffolk when wooden prefabricated homes in the West End of the town were flooded. Another 37 died when the seafront village of Jaywick near Clacton was flooded.
In Lincolnshire, flooding occurred from Mablethorpe to Skegness, reaching as far as inland. Police Officers Charles Lewis and Leonard Deptford received George Medals for their part in rescue work. Lewis leapt from a police station upper window to save an elderly couple being swept away in floodwater, carrying them to a house across the road to safety, then continuing rescue work for hours until he found a working telephone to call for help. Deptford was off-duty at his son's party when the wall of water hit. He realised that elderly people were vulnerable as the sea wall was breached and he dragged and carried many to safety. At one house he found a bedridden elderly couple with their middle-aged daughter; in the waist-high floodwater, he lashed together oil cans to make a raft, to which he tied the couple and pulled them to safety. He carried on into day light, his last rescue being a dog.
Reis Leming, a US airman, and USAF Staff Sergeant Freeman A Kilpatrick were also awarded the George Medal for rescuing respectively 27 and 18 people at South Beach, Hunstanton. At Salthouse the Victorian Randall's Folly was badly damaged, resulting in its subsequent demolition.
In south-west Essex, water overspilled the Royal Docks into Silvertown, where it drained into the sewers but flooded back in Canning Town and Tidal Basin. William Hayward, a night watchman at William Ritchie & Son, died of exposure to gas from a damaged pipe – the only fatality in London. Almost 200 people were homeless and took refuge at Canning Town Public Hall. The village of Creekmouth on Barking Creek, the mouth of the Roding, was wholly flooded by the sea surge and later demolished. Residents were relocated elsewhere in Barking.
The total death toll on land in the UK is estimated at 307. The total death toll at sea for the UK, including the , is estimated at 224.
Belgium
The coastal defence of Flanders was severely damaged. Near Ostend, Knokke and Antwerp, heavy damage was done to the sea defence with local breaches. Twenty-eight people died, including musician Robert Dubois.
Responses
After the 1953 flood, governments realised that similar infrequent but devastating events were possible in the future. In the Netherlands the government conceived and constructed an ambitious flood defence system beginning in the 1960s. Called the Delta Works (), it is designed to protect the estuaries of the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt. The system was completed in 1998, with completion of the storm surge barrier Maeslantkering in the Nieuwe Waterweg, near Rotterdam.
In the UK, the Permanent Secretary to the Home Office, Sir Frank Newsam, coordinated the immediate efforts to defend homes, save lives and recover after the floods. After the flooding, the government made major investments in new sea defences. The Thames Barrier programme was started to secure Central London against a future storm surge; the Barrier was officially opened on 8 May 1984. A range of flood defence measures were initiated around the UK coast.
Commemoration
In 2013 a service was held at Chelmsford Cathedral to mark the 60th anniversary of the Great Flood, attended by Anne, Princess Royal. Acts of remembrance were also held in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
A blue plaque marking the level of the flood water was installed by the Leigh Society on the wall of the Heritage Centre in Leigh-on-Sea to commemorate the flooding there.
There is also a blue plaque marking the height of the flood water at Sutton-on-Sea in Lincolnshire.
In 2011 58 years after the flood, a service of remembrance was held outside the library on Canvey Island in Essex to unveil a plaque commemorating the 58 people who lost their lives on the island.
The Watersnoodmuseum or Flood Museum in Ouwerkerk, Netherlands opened in 2001 as the "National Knowledge and Remembrance Centre for the Floods of 1953".
Books, films and music
The composition Requiem Aeternam 1953 by Douwe Eisenga was written as a commemoration of the flood.
The composition Noye's Fludde of 1958 by Benjamin Britten evokes the memory of the North Sea flood.
The Dutch public broadcasting foundation has made numerous documentaries about the North Sea Flood. Two have been adapted as English versions: The Greatest Storm and 1953, the Year of the Beast.
BBC Timewatch made a documentary about the North Sea flood of 1953, called The Greatest Storm. BBC Radio Four broadcast in 2023 an account of the flood and lessons learned, such as the Thames Barrier:
An episode of the ITV series Savage Planet featured the flood.
The 1953 floods were mentioned in detail in the drama film Flood (2007).
In 2009 a Dutch action drama titled De Storm (The Storm) was released.
In 2018 a Dutch documentary titled Stormvloed in De Schelphoek ("Storm surge in the Schelphoek") was released.
The book The Little Ark by Jan de Hartog, published in 1953, depicted the flood. It was adapted as a film by the same name in 1972.
The short story "The Netherlands Lives with Water", by Jim Shepard, contains a passage describing the event.
The 1976 book Oosterschelde, windkracht 10, by Jan Terlouw is the story of the flood in Zeeland, Netherlands. The first part describes the storm, while the second part describes the later conflicts about constructing the Delta Works.
Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop (1978), set in Suffolk in 1959, makes many references back to the 1953 flooding.
The 2012 non-fiction book, The Sugar Girls, by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi, describes the effects of the flood in East London, and on workers at Tate & Lyle's East End factories.
The flood and its effect upon the coastal town of Lowestoft is the subject matter of a painting by British artist Mark Burrell.
'The Great Tide' by Hilda Grieve (published 1959) gives a detailed description of every aspect of the flood in Essex. The author was an experienced historian, commissioned by the Essex County Council.
See also
Flood control in the Netherlands
Floods in the Netherlands
Inundation of Walcheren
Lists of disasters
List of floods in Europe
List of natural disasters in the British Isles
List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
North Sea flood of 1962
North Sea flood of 2007
North Sea flood of 2013
Radio Amateurs Emergency Network
Storm tides of the North Sea
References
Kelman, Ilan. Assessment of UK deaths, 1953; study made for CURBE (Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment)
Lamb, H.H. and Frydendahl, Knud (1991). Historic Storms of the North Sea, British Isles and Northwest Europe. Cambridge University Press.
Instituut voor Sociaal Onderzoek van het Nederlandse Volk, U.S. National Research Council. Committee on Disaster Studies (1955). Studies in Holland flood disaster 1953. Four volumes.
External links
RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre 1953 Floods
BBC — future flood risk
The Flood of 1953 in the Netherlands . Report on DeltaWorks.org; includes animations, images and video
1953 Floods
Suffolk under water — BBC Suffolk
LIFE Magazine article (Feb. 16, 1953)
Video links
Dutch newsreel, on Pathe site
Pathe newsreel, images of Netherlands
Pathe newsreel, images of Netherlands
Pathe newsreel, images of Canvey
Pathe newsreel, evacuation in Lincolnshire
1950s floods in Europe
1953 in Belgium
1953 in England
1953 in Scotland
1953 in the Netherlands
1953 disasters in the United Kingdom
1953 meteorology
1953 natural disasters
January 1953 events in Europe
February 1953 events in Europe
Amateur radio emergency communications
Amateur radio history
Disasters in Norfolk
Disasters in Suffolk
European windstorms
Floods in England
Floods in Scotland
Floods in the Netherlands
Disasters in Essex
History of Lincolnshire
History of North Brabant
History of South Holland
History of Zeeland
History of the North Sea
Natural disasters in Belgium
Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta
Storm tides of the North Sea
1953 in radio
1953 disasters in Europe
1953 disasters in Belgium
1953 disasters in the Netherlands |
1385997 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931%20China%20floods | 1931 China floods | The 1931 China floods, or the 1931 Yangtze–Huai River floods, occurred from June to August 1931 in China, hitting major cities such as Wuhan, Nanjing and beyond, and eventually culminated in a dike breach along Lake Gaoyou on 25 August 1931.
Fatality estimates vary widely. A field survey by the University of Nanking led by John Lossing Buck immediately after the flood found "150,000 people had drowned, and that this number represented less than a quarter of all fatalities during the first 100 days of the flood." The official report found 140,000 drowned and claims that "2 million people died during the flood, having drowned or died from lack of food". A cholera epidemic in the subsequent year, from May 1932, was officially reported to have 31,974 deaths and 100,666 cases. While frequently featured in the list of disasters in China by death toll, a popular high-end estimate of 3.7 to 4.0 million fatalities is instrumental in "helping the 1931 flood to secure its position on sensationalist lists of the world’s deadliest disasters."
Meteorological causes and physical consequences
From 1928 to 1930, China was afflicted by a long drought. The subsequent winter of 1930–31 was particularly harsh, creating large deposits of snow and ice in mountainous areas. In early 1931, melting snow and ice flowed downstream and arrived in the middle course of the Yangtze during a period of heavy spring rain. Ordinarily, the region experienced three periods of high water during the spring, summer and fall, respectively; however, in early 1931, there was a single continuous deluge. By June, those living in low areas had already been forced to abandon their homes. The summer was also characterized by extreme cyclonic activity. In July of that year alone, nine cyclones hit the region, which was significantly above the average of two per year. Four weather stations along the Yangtze River reported rain totalling over for the month. The water flowing through the Yangtze reached its highest level since record-keeping began in the mid-nineteenth century. That autumn, further heavy rain added to the problem and some rivers did not return to their normal courses until November.
The floods inundated approximately – an area equivalent in size to England and half of Scotland, or the states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut combined. The high-water mark recorded on 19 August at Hankou in Wuhan showed water levels above the average, an average of above the Shanghai Bund. In Chinese, this event is commonly known as 江淮水灾, which roughly translates to "Yangtze-Huai Flood Disaster." This name, however, fails to capture the massive scale of flooding. Waterways throughout much of the country were inundated, particularly the Yellow River and Grand Canal. The eight most seriously affected provinces were Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Henan and Shandong. Beyond the core flood zone, areas as far south as Guangdong, as far north as Manchuria, and as far west as Sichuan were also inundated.
Death toll and damage
This flood is frequently featured in the list of disasters in China by death toll, sometimes topping lists of the world’s deadliest disasters.
At the time the government estimated that 25 million people had been affected by the flood. Historians since have suggested that the true number may have been as many as 53 million. Estimated death tolls also vary widely. Contemporary studies conducted by John Lossing Buck allege that at least 150,000 people had drowned in the first few months of the flood, with hundreds of thousands more dying of starvation and disease over the following year. Using contemporary media reports, Chinese historians led by Li Wenhai have calculated the death toll at 422,420. Some Western sources allege that the death toll was between 3.7 and 4 million people based on their own claims of famine and disease. The Tanka people who traditionally live on boats along the Yangtze suffered greatly from the flooding.
The flood destroyed huge amounts of housing and farmland. Throughout the entire Yangtze Valley, around 15% of the wheat and rice crops were destroyed, with the proportion being much higher in the flood-affected areas. The disaster also caused an economic shock with the price of vital commodities rising rapidly. The combined ecological and economic impacts of the disaster caused many areas to descend into famine. With no food, people were reduced to eating tree bark, weeds, and earth. Some sold their children to survive, while others resorted to cannibalism. The most lethal effect of the flood was the diseases that swept through the refugee population due to displacement, overcrowding, and the breakdown of sanitation. These included cholera, measles, malaria, dysentery, and schistosomiasis.
As well as inundating rural areas, the flood caused widespread destruction to a number of cities. Refugees had been arriving in the city of Wuhan since the late spring. When the city itself was inundated in the early summer and after a catastrophic dike failure at just before 6:00 AM on 27 July, around 782,189 urban citizens and rural refugees were left homeless. The flood covered an area of and the city was flooded under many feet of water for close to three months. Large numbers gathered on flood islands throughout the city, with 30,000 sheltering on a railway embankment in central Hankou. With little food and a complete breakdown in sanitation, thousands soon began to succumb to diseases.
The city of Nanjing, then the capital of Republican China, was also severely affected by the disaster. One of the most disastrous single events during the flood occurred on 25 August 1931, when the water rushing through the Grand Canal washed away dikes near Gaoyou Lake. In Gaoyou County alone, 18,000 people drowned and 58,000 died due to famine and diseases the following year.
Rebuilding of dikes at Lake Gaoyou
Thomas Harnsberger, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in Taizhou, Jiangsu, was one of the two central figures (alongside General Wang Shuxiang, a PhD in hydraulics) who supervised the rebuilding of the dikes at Lake Gaoyou, as well as securing the funds for it. However, the flood remains widely unknown to the Chinese. Steve Harnsberger, the grandson of Thomas Harnsberger, wrote in 2007, "The 1931 flood killed 15 times the number of people lost in the Indonesian tsunamis of December 2004, and yet scarcely a word has been written of it. History focused instead on other disasters that year. China’s attention was on a civil war between the Communists and Nationalists and the Japanese were invading in the North, while the world was deep into the Great Depression."
Government reactions
Republican Era (1930s–1940s)
The 1931 flood was one of the first major tests for the Kuomintang Government. As the scale of the disaster became apparent, the government established the National Flood Relief Commission under the auspices of T.V. Soong, a prominent politician in the Kuomintang and brother-in-law of Chiang Kai-shek. The commission employed a range of Chinese and foreign experts, including figures such as famous epidemiologist Wu Liande, health minister Liu Ruiheng, public health worker John Grant, and hydraulic engineer Oliver Todd. It also secured the assistance of the League of Nations. Even the famous aviators Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Lindbergh became involved, as they were commissioned to conduct an aerial survey of the flood zone. Although Song Ziwen remained the head of the commission, the day-to-day running the relief effort was entrusted to John Hope Simpson, a British refugee expert. Charity poured in to help with the relief effort from throughout the world, with overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia being particularly generous. In the United States, the celebrated author Pearl Buck wrote short stories to encourage charitable donations. The relief effort became much more difficult following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in the autumn of 1931, which caused the Chinese bond market to collapse. Eventually, the government managed to secure a large loan of wheat and flour from the United States. In the wake of the disaster, the government set up organizations such as the Huai River Conservancy Commission to address flood problems. However, due to a lack of funding and the chaos of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the subsequent Chinese Civil War, the various commissions were only able to construct small dams along the Yangtze River.
As part of an anti-superstition campaign by the Kuomintang Government, a Dragon King Temple was demolished in Wuhan shortly before the flood-hit. This coincidence led to widespread discontent afterwards, as many locals linked the disaster to the anger of Dragon King, a rainmaking deity. As a response, prominent officials, including He Baohua, mayor of Wuhan, and Xia Douyin, then the local garrison commander and later governor of Hubei Province, held ritual ceremonies and kowtowed to the deity. Meanwhile, many believed that evacuation efforts were hindered by superstition. According to a contemporary report, thousands "are convinced that Hankow is doomed and refuse to help themselves or be helped. They sit stoically awaiting death."
Communist Era (1949–present)
In 1953, after the end of the Chinese Civil War, Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong travelled to areas neighbouring the Yangtze River to promote the Three Gorges Dam flood control project. "The Socialist Three Gorges Dam project should excel other major projects in Chinese history such as Qin Shi Huang's Great Wall and Sui Yang Di's Grand Canal", he stated.
Scientists and officials who raised doubts, such as Chen Mingshu, were persecuted as rightists. Li Siguang, a prominent scientist and minister of geological resources, told Mao he would commit suicide if he could not stop the construction of the dam. The project did not move beyond the planning stage in Mao's time, due to a lack of resources, rising Sino-Soviet tensions and the disruptions of the Great Leap Forward. The project was restarted in the 1980s, and the hydroelectric Three Gorges Dam began full operation in 2012, becoming the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity.
See also
List of disasters in China by death toll
Footnotes
References
Official report available free online
On food relief, refugee camps, farm rehabilitation, sanitation, etc
On the engineering aspect of dyke breaching and their reconstruction
Officially-sponsored report by universities
Monograph
Ni, Wencai (2006). A documentary on uncovering the history of the 1931 Great Flood in Gaoyou and dyke reconstruction. Beijing: Beijing Workers Press. (倪文才. 1931年高邮特大洪灾和运堤修复历史再现纪实. 2006. 北京: 中国工人出版社.)
("The Ten Great Disasters of Modern China" by Li Wenhai et al.)
External links
"The 1931 Central China Flood" DisasterHistory.Org (English and Chinese Versions)
"An Analysis of Flood and Social Risks Based on the 1931 Changjiang & Huai River Flood During the Republic of China". ILIB.cn.
"Extremely heavy meiyu over the Yangtze and Huaihe vaneies in 1931" 1931年江淮异常梅雨 (in Chinese). CQVIP.com.
Yangtze River floods
Huai River floods
China Floods, 1931
20th-century floods in Asia
1930s floods
1931 natural disasters
Floods in China |
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