FLOODING IN THE N/E

[williamlayton]

To begin with I am asking for information, not for the purpose of bragging, putting anyone down just for outright information.
I live in Texas, on the Gulf Coast. In fact I live within 2 miles of Galveston Bay, about 14 ft above sea level.
It is not uncommon for us, in this part of the USA to get 5 or 6 inch rains, most often in one gulp or within an hour or two.
Now we have the occasional tropical front which comes in, sets in one spot and rains itself out--15 inches or so, rarely but in 2000 we got 30 inches in about 5 hours and everybody flooded.
It seems that Up in the N/E, upward of Alabama, folks get a 5 or 6 inch rain and it becomes a catastrophe.
I know it is a catastrophe because I see it on TV.
Now, You folks live in an area that I thought was much more able to shed water than in the flatlands I live in, therefore; the question-"Why is this the case"? Is there something, and obviously there is, that I am missing here?
I am looking, today, at the flooding up there, and I really feel for those folks, and wondering these things.
Blessings

[Graybeard]

Kinda like the NOLA thing. Folks chose to live in areas they know are low lying with no easy exit for the water. Kinda like a lak that needs rain to fill it. When it rains the lake fills and they are flooded.

Kinda hard to sympathize really with folks who keep on living in areas the KNOW are gonna flood every time it rains hard. But they do. B'ham, AL has a lot of people living in such areas. I guess most areas do.

About the front 250'-300' or so of my property is a designated flood zone. Not legal to build there. Until recently I just called it my swamp. Caught it in a dry enough state and had the dozer remove the trees and brush. Soon I hope to be calling it my lake.  :lol:

[Leverdude]

I'm in south western CT & we havent had any real flooding other than low lieing streets & neighborhoods. TM has it pretty right on the money when he says the fall leaves cause alot of issues as if the water cant get into storm drains it goes down the streets instead. Add in higher than normal tides & alot of the storm drains go backwards pumping sea water onto low lieing roads.
GB's right too in that folks build homes in places they ought not alot of times.
I work in construction & am constantly amazed at some of the places people put up homes & huge ones at that. I think since it doesn't often happen here people tend to forget it can.

I'v got a camp in NH & they got hit pretty hard. Was up there last weekend & I'd say the CT river up in North Stratford was 5' higher than normal & it was obvious that it had been much higher. Thats 300+ miles north of my home &  on the way home Monday the river was way flooded in CT, looked to be almost 1/2 mile across in places its usually only a few hundred yards across. Was still in its banks so to speak but alot of parks & such were just not there but for the fishes.

Most of our local rivers & streams are hemmed in pretty good with urban sprawl so as soon as these drainages overflow their banks its trouble. The good part is its mostly a good bit above sea level a rather short distance inland so the water doesn't stick around like down south but just finds its way into LI sound.

[williamlayton]

Well, I understand the tide backing up the run off. I had not considered this to affect where I thought the flooding was, guess this is closer to the coast than I thought.
I, also, had not considered this was valleys flooding. It is hard to tell from the news coverage and me not knowing the lay of the land.
In 2000 when that tropical front squatted over Houston and we in Deer Park got 15 inches in 5 hours the North side of the Houston ship channel got 30 inches in the same rain.
The water got about 3 feet from my front door. This was due to the strong southerly winds from the front and a coinciding high tide. The winds backed the bay up and our Harris County Flood Control system could not drain. By 7:30 am the tides turned and by 8:30 am the water was gone.
Bless you folks up there, I understand flooding.
Thanks for clueing me in on the causes.
Blessings

[Leverdude]

Hi L-dude....do you know what the status is around Plymouth, NH with the Pemmigawasett River and all?


...............................TM7

Cant say as I do TM but from the news reports & such on my way home I gather alot of folks had problems. There were deaths & houses lost but I'm not sure exactly where. Your familiar with the area so you know just about everything up theres pretty steep & when you dump all that rain on terrain like that the streams & rivers get busy fast. I imagine most of the lower portions of the rivers up there are flooded pretty good.

We used to hike by the Pemmigawasett (I think we're talking about the same river) in the forrest off 112 I think it was, the Kankamagus Hwy is what they call it if I spelled it right. Spent alot of time in that area before the wife started having kids.

I live almost right on LI sound, theres a tidal pond in my back yard but its a good 6' drop to it & so far its stayed where it belongs. You guys keep most of the bad tides & storm surges from getting us & I sure appreciate it.  :lol:

[magooch]

I've been thinking for years that a good course to teach in high school would be on how and where to select a home.  Buying a home is probably most peoples biggest investment.  Young folks and even some older ones who should be a little wiser make some very bad mistakes when they choose where to buy.  The old addage, location, location, location is so right on.

I wish that when I was younger, someone would have led me through all the pitfalls and problems of home owning.  I'd even take it a step further and wish that someone would have educated me on the weather extremes of various parts of the country.  I've come to believe that there are very few locations in this country that are really fit for human habitation and even in those areas, one has to be very selective.