Floods

A new tool from Rebuild by Design shows climate change is an equal opportunity hazard. But spending money ahead of time on mitigation and prevention can be more cost-effective than committing it after disaster strikes.

The company, which already serves the federal government, has released a data-based product to other public agencies. The goal is to help officials with flood response, management and recovery operations.

Following heavy rain and a series of dam breaches, and ahead of “considerable” flash flood warnings, emergency crews are racing to evacuate residents from the town, about 55 miles east of St. Louis.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for five South Florida counties Wednesday evening after severe rain caused life-threatening flash floods. Additional heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast over the next several days.

They are among 16 states and one Tribal Nation eligible for the federal funding, which will allow those entities to receive mitigation funding faster after a flood-related disaster.

The Bay Area's vast network of gauges, strategically placed and linked to powerful telecommunication lines and computers, offer early warning of rising waters, helping protect lives and property from flood damage.

Heavy rainfall Sunday night into Monday morning brought 10 inches of rain and created potentially lethal conditions for drivers across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has revised its hurricane prediction from May, including a slightly lower chance of an above-average season and fewer named storms.

After a series of severe storms Tuesday caused extreme flooding, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency in Buchanan County. Initial reports indicate more than 100 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Representatives with the Army Corps of Engineers met with Wilson County officials on Tuesday to discuss area floodplains and how the county can more effectively stand up against damaging flood scenarios.

The state is working on deploying a Hydrology Information Center like the one in Iowa, after a period of severe drought followed by unprecedented flooding, to get a handle on the trend of warmer, wetter weather.

To mitigate the effects of climate change and environmental racism that impact certain hotter and more polluted areas of the city, a group in Stockton, Calif., has secured funding from a state grant program.

Instead of sandbags, a nearly 2,000-foot-long temporary wall of boxes made of chain-link, lined with fabric and filled with gravel, was placed between the highway and the railroad tracks for flood protection.

One at a time, community members stepped up to a microphone to confront state, county and city decision-makers with difficult questions about what could have been done to reduce the impact of the mid-November storm.

Hawaii’s rains will continue as long as the stream of moisture through the atmosphere continues to drag over the islands. Residents have been warned to stay away from “streams, rivers, drainage ditches and culverts.”

After already spending a year learning remotely during the pandemic, students and educators at the middle and high school in New Jersey went back to the same virtual pattern after the town was rocked by the remnants of Ida.

A growing body of research shows that storms are growing stronger faster, a trend that will challenge coastal cities’ ability to safely move residents out of danger zones — and climate change may be a factor.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in Whatcom and Skagit counties, as well as the Olympic Peninsula, all areas that recorded as much as 4.5 inches of rainfall between noon Saturday and noon Sunday.