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Tag: Flooding

  • Flood Insurance: Is Congress Doing Enough To Fight Rising Costs?

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency rolled out new flood maps to show which Americans live in areas more prone to flooding and therefore require flood insurance coverage.

    The map sent flood insurance rates through the roof in certain locations.

    Jack Crook and his wife are having to cope with their insurance costs jumping from $350 per year to $1,800 per year.

    Crook called the 500 percent increase “outrageous”. The idea of seeing rates jump so much due to a risk that is “nine tenths of one percent”.

    FEMA insists that Crook lives in a high risk location. With high risk comes higher insurance costs.

    Skeptical, Crook plans to get his home surveyed by an engineer. Should his home prove to be out of the danger zone, he fully intends to appeal FEMA’s findings.

    As thousands of American families balk at the sharp increase in flood insurance rates, Congress is doing what it can to level off the cost for homeowners.

    The Flood Insurance Affordability Act was signed into law by President Obama back in March.

    It was meant to offer relief to Americans who saw steep increases in their flood insurance rates.The legislation also led to refunds for those deemed to have overpaid for insurance premiums.

    Said FEMA spokesman Rafael Lemaitre, “These reforms slow some flood insurance rate increases and offers relief to some policyholders who experienced steep flood insurance premium increases in 2013 and early 2014.”

    The affected persons will have seen a greater than 18 percent rate hike.

    Though the majority of Americans did not see a rate increase steeper than 18 percent, it’s believed that upwards of 1 million of the 5.5 million flood insurance policy holders will receive a check in the near future.

    With nearly a fifth of all American flood insurance customers negatively affected by rising costs, Congress is hoping that a high-deductible option will help make flood insurance affordable for Americans who require it and those who do not, but wish to err on the side of caution.

  • Washington Mudslide Kills Three, Fears Of Flood

    At about 10:50 am on Saturday, residents near the Stillaguamish River in Arlington, Wash. were caught in a vicious mudslide. Local authorities claim that it was likely brought on by heavy rains from last month.

    The terrifying incident took place just forty miles north of Seattle and resulted in the destruction of several homes.

    Snohomish County officials said in a statement that prior to the mudslide they’d encouraged local citizens to voluntarily evacuate.

    Three people were killed as a result of the mudslide. The bodies of two victims were discovered at the scene. Tragically, a third individual died of their injuries in an area hospital. The names of the deceased have not been released to the public at this time.

    Five others remain in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, including an 81-year-old man and 6-month-old boy. At Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington there are four individuals who were treated, three of which reported minor injuries. One patient was released.

    A 68-year-old unidentified man was treated at Skagit Valley Hospital for fractures to his lower body.

    The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement that following the mudslide, emergency responders searched the debris all Saturday afternoon and into the evening for additional victims. They received help from the U.S. Navy in their efforts. The search and rescue effort is likely to continue well into Sunday.

    As for the site of the deadly mudslide, it was said to have measured approximately 45 by 60 yards.

    Even now there are concerns that the worst may not be over for area residents

    A flood warning has been issued for the region by the National Weather Service, though some experts say a massive flood is unlikely.

    The mixture of debris left by the mudslide is now acting as a sort of dam, but it’s uncertain how long it will hold. Should flood waters break through the debris, it’s possible even more lives could be threatened.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • ‘No Man’s Sky’ Creators’ Offices Flooded

    ‘No Man’s Sky’ Creators’ Offices Flooded

    This year’s Spike video game awards show was a bit of a bust when it came to game announcements (actually, it was an all-around bust). Buried amongst the Telltale games and the Cranky Kong gameplay at the rebranded VGX, however, was No Man’s Sky.

    No Man’s Sky will be an exploration-based game where players can explore entire procedurally-generated worlds, then blast off into space to explore other planets and systems. The game’s incredible ambition and slick art was emphasized by the sincere excitement of the developer announcing the game for Hello Games.

    With that hype coming out of the VGX, Hello Games set about the task of actually finishing No Man’s Sky, only to hit a major roadblock this week.

    According to a tweet from the No Man’s Sky Twitter account, the company’s studio was met with a Christmas Eve surprise – and not a good one:

    The entire Hello Games office in Guildford, UK has apparently been destroyed in a flash flood. Subsequent posts on both the Hello Games and No Man’s Sky Twitter accounts have revealed that nearly everything in the offices has been lost.

    Though the situation is obviously a disaster, Hello Games demonstrated its good sense of humor, joking about floating laptops and Joe Danger cardboard cutouts:

    Luckily for No Man’s Sky fans it doesn’t appear that the flood has ended the project or the studio. Hello Games is keeping its chin up and promising to carry on:

  • Colorado Floods: Latest Reports Show Toxic Spillage

    The latest reports from Colorado on the flooding damage are indicative that we have gone from the “worst flood in a century” stage to the “environmental catastrophe” stage. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported yesterday that state regulators are working with gas and oil industry workers to assess exactly how many of Weld County wells are leaking toxic sludge. Locals are pessimistic because there are 20,554 active oil and gas wells in Weld County, representing over a third of all wells in Colorado.

    ThinkProgress is reporting that the floods have completely overwhelmed the oil and gas infrastructure. Apparently, fracking fluids and gasoline can join the list of toxic chemicals released by the floods, right next to pesticides and human wastewater.

    Mark Salley, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said that “Many contaminants, such as raw sewage, as well as potential releases of chemicals from homes, businesses and industry, may be contained in the floodwaters… People are encouraged to stay out of the water as much as possible, and wash frequently with warm water and soap if they do come in contact with contaminated water.”

    Although industry workers are working on unspecified remedies, that didn’t stop environmental watchdog groups that were locally monitoring fracking practices from saturating the social media world with images featuring flooded wells, busted chemical holding tanks and wastewater escaping into the surrounding area.

    Cliff Willmeng, the spokesman for East Boulder County United, a local environmental group, said on Monday that “hundreds, if not thousands of wells [are] underwater right now and we have no idea what those wells are leaking… it’s very clear they are leaking into the floodwaters though.”

    The executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Mike King, told the Denver Post that the scale is unprecedented… we will have to deal with environmental contamination from whatever source.” King added that the possible contaminants would be a stew of oil field pollution, agricultural pesticide, sewage and gasoline. No mention from him of fracking fluids, but they’re certain to be included in the floodwater stew.

    Water and debris from the floods has already damaged the above-ground fracking instruments that hold the chemical fluids used in natural gas drilling, called condensate tanks. Willmeng, speaking about the damage, said “Because the condensate tanks are either halfway empty or halfway full, they’re the pieces of infrastructure that are being torn off their anchors… So you’re seeing these things that are strewn about the flood areas and some are filled up, some are knocked over, and some are completely washed away.”

    If you want to see some of the photos, East Boulder County United’s Facebook page has some good ones.

    [Image via the East Boulder County United Facebook page]

  • Lyons, Colorado: Returns Attempted as Deaths Hit 8

    Coloradans are attempting to return to homes, some of which are no longer there, as the death toll reaches eight due to severe flooding in the Centennial State. Waters still rage and overrun their boundaries in rivers and canals and the ground is unable to sop up any excess waters as it is already saturated.

    The town of Lyons, located in Boulder County about 15 miles north of Boulder, was one of the hardest hit areas. Houses were tossed around like bath toys by the flood waters. Residents were forced to evacuate early as water from St. Vrain Creek about swallowed the town which falls at the meeting of the creek’s two branches. In order to return to the town, residents are required to provide identification and in exchange, are provided travel vouchers from the sheriff’s office to allow them access for one round trip to the town per day, during daylight hours.

    Lyons residents surveying the damage today found most of their possessions had been swept away. Abe Vasquez found himself sunk in two feet of raw sewage that had invaded his elderly mother’s home that had survived for 79 years, “Here’s what’s left… That’s her walker.”

    Kelly Hunt said in a CNN interview, “Today is our first day up here since we’ve been evacuated and I feel like it’s worse than I thought it would be. We lost absolutely everything we own.”

    Almost 6,500 Colorado residents have applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency aid due to the flooding. FEMA reported Tuesday that over $430,000 had so far been approved for individual assistance, including temporary housing and home repairs. Reports count about 18,000 homes around the state that were damaged in the disaster.

    Rescuers as of Tuesday were still working to gather residents stranded in their homes and blocked off from escape. Monday numbers counted 215 people airlifted in Boulder County and 420 evacuated in Larimer County. About 600 more are stranded in remote parts of Larimer County. Forecasts are reported to only call for slight chances of an afternoon storm this week, making rescue efforts easier than they had been over the weekend and last week.

    “At this point the mission is getting folks down off the mountain, getting them down safely,” Nick Christensen, Larimer County Sheriff executive officer said. Airlift work is now counted as the largest such effort since 2005 with Hurricane Katrina, according to the National Guard.

    [Video, Image via YouTube.]

  • Colorado Floods: Over 1200 Are Still Missing

    Colorado has been hit with some disastrous flooding that devastated several areas including Boulder. The Denver Post reported this morning that the historic floods have killed at least six people, but the truly terrifying figure is the state’s 1,253 missing persons who are unaccounted for, many of whom are presumed dead.

    FEMA deployed two Incident Management Assistance Teams with accompanying staff to assist Colorado emergency centers, and three federal search-and-rescue teams are reported to already searching for those missing with an additional two search teams expected to join them later today.

    The worst of the flooding started last Wednesday along the South Platte River and moved downstream to the northeastern part of Colorado. FEMA has reported 17,494 homes damaged by flooding with 1,502 houses destroyed and 11,700 evacuees from the disaster zone. The disaster relief organization also provided 22,000 meals and over 65,000 liters of drinking water.

    A White House statement released yesterday said President Obama has officially declared the area a disaster zone, and talked to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper for updates on the situation. During the conversation, Obama reiterated his desire to provide whatever aid necessary to ameliorate the disaster.

    Meanwhile, LiveScience reported that the University of Colorado’s Natural Hazards Center had listed a Boulder flash flood as one of several “disasters waiting to happen” on a report in 2004, and the U.S. Geological Survey has mapped the ancient remains of flash floods that occurred thousands of years ago along the Colorado Front Range.

    After the 1976 Big Thompson Canyon flood that drowned 145 people, Colorado officials bought undeveloped land along the flood zones to prevent development, and the city’s bike paths also served as floodwater channels with breakaway fences that prevented debris from clogging a flood’s path.

    Matt Klesch, a hydrometeorologist for the University Corporation for Academic Research based in Boulder, said that “We knew this kind of rain was possible [and] Big Thompson Canyon was a wake-up moment. Prior to that, we weren’t really prepared.”

    Referring to the 2013 flooding, Klesch said that the relief effort was “pretty well prepared for it, but it doesn’t mean all the residents were well prepared for it… Part of emergency management preparations is knowing a certain percentage of people are going to make bad decisions.”

    The Denver Post collected a series of stories about the flood, both sad and heroic, that you can read here at the end of their article.

    [Image via this AP YouTube video of footage and images from the flooding]

  • Colorado Road Closures Present Dangers

    The devastating floods have led to multiple power failures, cancellations of recreational sporting events, and even, in many cases, there have been counties experiencing periodic flash-flood watches. These difficulties are not the only concerns residents have confronted as a result of the dangerous floods. Travelers have also suffered from the weather-inflicted damage. Businesses needing to utilize transportation on the roads which were impacted by the flooding have also been affected.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56TU0AjuOw

    According to the spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Transportation, Bob Wilson, there is a multifaceted level of destruction caused by recent flooding episodes where unique approaches have been needed in order to handle specific concerns and considerations. “It’s creating havoc for so many different areas,” Bob Wilson said before continuing, “will have to hold off where the roadways are closed.”

    Wilson expressed time-sensitivity expectations regarding the process for repairing the roads. While residents are unlikely to expect the roads to return to fully operable service overnight, various routes will be more readily accessible. “They’ll have to wait to try to get to Lyons or Estes Park. Luckily, the tourist season for Estes Park is over,” Bob Wilson said.

    Even though authorities are working to improve conditions as quickly and efficiently as possible, truck drivers needing to travel on routes damaged by the flooding have seen their workload increase while the ease of completing job duties has drastically decreased. Santiago Robles expressed his frustration at driving a ten mile trip that took a total of four hours. “Today I probably did half the work I was supposed to get done, because it took me so long to get across town. I-70 going east was stop-and-go all day,” he said.

    The frustration for drivers like Santiago Robles has occurred partly as a result of unexpected delays, but also due to the maneuvering of slow, tedious detours which leads to immeasurable time delays, restricting daily job duties. The initial flooding presented dangers; however, the aftermath is demanding patience from residents.

    [Image and Video Via YouTube]

  • Hikers Stranded in Colorado Rescue Themselves

    Two women who had been stranded in the Colorado Rockies during an ice storm walked out to safety on their own Friday after rescuers were unable to reach them. Suzanne Turell, 33, and Connie Yang, 32, are experienced mountaineers but got trapped for over two days below the Longs Peak summit.

    The Tumblr account set up in service of the rescue efforts reports that the women are reportedly being transported to Grand Lake, CO, though at the time of posting, their families had yet to speak to them.

    Mark Pita, a ranger for Rocky Mountain National Park, stated, “They came out on their own. They are in fine condition. They were not injured.” The Park is currently closed due to the heavy rains.

    The women were able to send a text message at 7:07 am (MT) on Thursday: “We need help. At top of Longs Peak. 13400 feet. Whiteout snowstorm. No injuries. Iced over risk of hypothermia.” Their phone batteries were dying and after authorities and friends were unable to reach the women, two search and rescue teams were sent out.

    The plight of the York, Maine, residents prompted a broad community effort to retrieve them. Text messages flew back and forth to family and friends who contacted Colorado’s congressional delegation and a private aviation firm, Colorado Heli-Ops, which was retained to drop supplies to Turell and Yang. But owner Dennis Pierce said pilots were working on flood-related demands at the time. Rocky Mountain National Park rangers also sent a party in on Thursday that was forced back by flooded roads and closures (photo below of Roaring River flooding in the Park).

    (image)

    Recent storms and flooding hampered efforts to reach the hikers. Weather in the Centennial State is notoriously capricious but current severe rainfall and flooding is breaking records as it targets the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains from Fort Collins in the north to Colorado Springs in the south. Forecasts anticipate showers and thunderstorms will continue to pummel the area through the weekend. So far, four lives have been claimed by the turbulent weather.

    [Image via Tumblr and Rocky Mountain National Park official website.]

  • Boulder, Colorado Floods Kill At Least Two

    Torrential rainfall around Boulder County, Colorado has caused severe, 100-year flooding, with waters overtaking 12 damns. So far, there have been two confirmed deaths, and one confirmed missing person. The National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.have been called in to assist.

    According to Boulder County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Heidi Prentup, a man died Thursday morning near Linden Avenue in Boulder, and the female passenger in the car he was driving is currently missing. Another man in Jamestown was killed when a structure collapsed. Multiple buildings in the Jamestown and Fourmile Canyon areas have been swept away by rising floodwaters. “We are still in life-safety mode,” says Prentup, and officials expect the death toll to rise.

    A team of local scientists document the floodwaters in Boulder: (Audio NSFW)

    Cinematographer “MrBrandash” exclaims,”I’m so wet right now!” Clearly. Luckily, no one was injured during the expedition.

    According to Boulder Sheriff Joe Pelle, officials fear that more fatalities will be discovered as rescue crews make their way into the mountain towns and the most heavily flooded areas. “We’re bracing ourselves for the worst,” Pelle said. Also, according to city spokeswoman Sarah Huntley, there is added danger to the floodwater, because it contains sewage.The water in Lyons has been reported as unsafe to drink, and residents should boil it first.

    Pelle said the floodwaters and debris have prevented more crews from reaching the mountain towns, and residents have been ordered to evacuate from Jamestown and Fourmile Canyon. Pelle adds that “all the preparation and want-to in the world can’t put people up the canyon while the debris and water is coming down. This is not your ordinary day, this is not your ordinary disaster.”

    The University of Colorado campus was closed today, and will remain closed Friday. University spokesman Bronson Hilliard has urged students to stay indoors. “Stay away from the water,” Hilliard said, adding, “even if it’s pretty. It could be the last picture you ever take.” Interestingly, in a paper published at Colorado University in 2004, Boulder made a nationwide list of 6 “disasters waiting to happen.”

    There hasn’t been a 100-year flood in Boulder since 1894, and the well-read city’s website has long said that a major flood was a question of when, and not if.

    Image courtesy of YouTube.

  • Lourdes Flooding Kills 1, Closes Pilgrimage Sites

    Heavy rains in the southwestern French town of Lourdes have caused massive flooding, closing down a Catholic holy site and killing at least one person.

    According to France 24, the flooding has closed down the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, a famous French pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics. The site is sacred to Catholics due to reported sightings of apparitions of the Virgin Mary around the area in 1858. The holy site draws millions of tourists each year, causing Lourdes to have the second greatest number of hotels per square mile in France, just behind Paris.

    One 70-year-old woman was reportedly killed in the nearby village of Pierrefitte-Nestalas while trying to exit her car. The vehicle had become caught in the flooding after the Gave de Pau River became overflown.

    Some roads in the area have been cut off by water and around 200 people have been evacuated. This is the second year in a row that holy sites in Lourdes have been closed due to flooding.

    The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes has posted videos to its YouTube account showing the extent of the flooding and the damage the water has caused to the Basilica of St. Pius, a Catholic church at the pilgrimage site:

    (Image courtesy Milorad Pavlek under Creative Commons License)

    (via France 24)

  • Spiders Invade Australian Countryside

    Spiders Invade Australian Countryside

    Thousands of spiders have descended upon Wagga Wagga, Australia, seeking refuge from floodwaters. Eerie spider webs resembling snow drifts were reported around the inland city in New South Wales, where 8,000 residents were recently forced from their homes due to flooding.

    Entomology collections manager Graham Milledge of the Australian Museum has said the spiders‘ swarming was known as ballooning, and was typical of what spiders do after being forced to flee from floods. “They often do it as a way of dispersing and getting into a new area,” said Milledge, adding that “in an event like this, they are just trying to escape the floods.”

    Owen Seeman, arachnid expert at Queensland Museum claims that “what we’ve seen here is a type of wolf spider – They are trying to hide away (from the waters).”

    The general consensus on the matter via Twitter seems to be feeling of arachnophobia:

    I’m not scared of spiders but that wagga wagga spider photo made my skin crawl(image) 1 day ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Worst nightmare ever! RT @rob_sheridan: Flood causes Australian town to become blanketed in thousands of spiders: http://t.co/hT9UDc0n #NOPE(image) 12 minutes ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Displaced spiders…. whoa… creepy! http://t.co/TG1n0PLq #NSWFloods(image) 1 day ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto