Downpours on upswing: Research finds flooding on the rise in central U.S.

[Omaha Steve]

MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
Mike Redding surveys the damage in his Council Bluffs neighborhood in August 2011 after an overnight thunderstorm left water over roads and in homes. Heavy rains are becoming more common in Iowa and parts of Nebraska, which means residents like Redding may find themselves bailing out more than they’d like.

http://www.omaha.com/weather/downpours-on-upswing-research-finds-flooding-on-the-rise-in/article_6167cb8a-797f-5fd6-b522-7c969a81242c.html


POSTED: TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015 1:00 AM
By Nancy Gaarder / World-Herald staff writer

The nightmare that was June 20th last year in the Omaha area wouldn’t let up. A train of storms moved through, unleashing successive rounds of wind, lightning and rain. Emergency scanners crackled with a surge of frantic calls, especially from areas south of Interstate 80 where up to nearly 8 inches of rain fell.

Bellevue rescuers hurried from one call to another as motorists became stranded in high water. When the night was over, 29-year-old David “Mikey” Farr was dead after his SUV was lifted off the ground by rising water and he was sucked into a culvert and washed downstream.

Asked to describe that night, Bellevue Fire Battalion Chief Steve Wagner grappled for words and said simply, “it was incredible.”

Powerful storms such as the one on June 20 are a part of life in the central U.S., but research is finding that intense precipitation is becoming more common, and with that is coming an increase in flooding in some areas. While scientists know that the planet is becoming warmer and wetter, what is less understood is how that will play out in regional weather patterns.



FULL story at link. The marina (closed and demolished for a park) pictured below is about a mile downstream of our house.



CHRIS MACHIAN/THE WORLD-HERALD

A section of the marina at Haworth Park in Bellevue that was swept away by flooding. This photo was taken in February 2012.

[Atman]

1. Time to outlaw cisterns and sll the water the Nestle!

Water. It's the next big thing.

Funny how it seems to go you don't know what you've got 'till gone?