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Monday, April 12th, 2021

As rainstorms grow more severe and frequent, communities fail to prepare for risks

Author:     Jim Morrison
Source:     The Washington Post
Publication Date:     April 9, 2021 at 2:30 a.m. PDT Add to list
 Link: As rainstorms grow more severe and frequent, communities fail to prepare for risks
Stephan:   I have lived most of my life on coastlines on both the Eastern and Western coasts. I live on an island. And I particularly like living near wilderness, because I have spent some of my most memorable time in the woods, or under the water. I like living outside of small towns that have some character. As the climate change increases and I have looked at the submergence maps, and projected climate data I have grown ever more concerned that most of these places, and even much larger communities, are not adequately preparing for what they will face. Here is a good assessment of that. If you are located in one of these places I urge you to get involved with your local government structure. Collective citizen intention -- it is the 8 Laws again -- are what it will take to get things up to speed where you live. Pay attention to the data as it is made available.
The Foxconn factory promises jobs and investment in Wisconsin, but for neighboring Illinois it’s a potential flooding risk.
Credit: Mark Hertzberg/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty

When then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) announced plans in 2017 for a sprawling Foxconn electronics plant, he touted the 13,000 promised jobs and $10 billion investment spread across 1,000 acres, much of it farmland. Downstream across the border in Lake County, Ill., officials focused on a more sinister byproduct: water.

Earlier that summer, more than seven inches of rain drenched the county, setting off flash flooding. Six days later, swollen rivers flowing south from Wisconsin crested at record heights. Families evacuated. More than 3,000 structures flooded. Damage exceeded $12 million.

Where Wisconsin saw jobs and tax revenue, Illinois saw a rising threat. “We realized there were significant storm-water concerns,” said Kurt Woolford, the interim executive director of the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission. “Water doesn’t follow political boundaries, it doesn’t follow state boundaries.”Advertisement

But rainfall estimates used to design storm-water desigsystems do. As they analyzed whether the plans for Foxconn could handle extreme rain, […]

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1 Comment

  1. Kenneth Heck on Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:16 am

    In addition to climate change, there is the expectation of large earthquakes changing the topography of the USA. Google “future maps of America” for examples of predicted future changes.