General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumspics from the Texas flood
Cat up a tree
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3096131/Fears-eight-missing-floods-including-mother-two-young-children-vacation-home-washed-away-surging-waters-Texas.html
Couple rescuing their pets
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32867226
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)They won't build below that. I've seen rivers that you can wade across in the dry season and not get your knees wet turn into a mile wide torrent in just a few minutes.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)There's subdivisions and fancy vacation houses in what used to be pasture by the river. You can drive down those little county roads there by the rivers and see debris 30 feet up in the trees that were 20 feet above the normal river flow.
I've seen worse rains here in TX. 20+ inches in less than 4 hours.
A few years back the Army Corps of Engineers wanted to raise the flood plain level behind Lake Travis from 703 to 714 feet above sea level. People all over the lake had cows about it. The rains came and the lake filled up at better than a foot an hour until it got to 710 feet- and it was rising like that with all the floodgates wide open.
Hundreds of houses were built below 700 feet, some as low as 690 feet. My attitude was "What is the level of the spillway on the dam?" "714 feet-don't build behind a dam below the level of the spillway"
Blanks
(4,835 posts)Isn't the elevation of your house based on your post.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)the nearest flood plain to me in any watershed is about 3/4 of a mile away and I'm on the highest point in my neighborhood.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)build in the flood plains. Do they still get flood insurance coverage?
We just had another 1/2 inch in the last 20 minutes at my house.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)geographical areas for varying events or areas of sin, remind the sick vermin that this...these photos...and many, many more Are In The Buckle of The Bible Belt.
BeyondGeography
(39,276 posts)Yikes. My heart goes out to the victims. Nothing prepares you for that.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)not a "flood".
There must have been some wicked flood currents to put those vehicles on the roofs.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)malaise
(267,791 posts)Water can kill you
Blanks
(4,835 posts)I lived in Manhattan Kansas when they had the wettest month in their history.
They opened the floodgates to Tuttle Creek Reservoir and the water was flowing out at 60,000 cfs.
The erosion on the spillway was incredible. People just don't pay much attention to water's destructive force when that force isn't around.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)my wife and I moved to a hilltop in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas.
No Flood Waters will ever reach here, unless we have another Noah event.
So far, so good.
We have been Flooded In by flash floods at the lower elevations that covered all the bridges and roads out of here,
but we keep plenty of supplies on hand,
and are willing to ride it out.
My heart goes to those trapped in the flood.
The flood waters will take EVERYTHING.
I will never be rid of the images of the drowning of New Orleans.
Texasgal
(17,029 posts)Tornados on the ground just northwest of us.
malaise
(267,791 posts)Texasgal
(17,029 posts)in Austin, Tx. Right now.
CTyankee
(63,768 posts)the poor pets must have been traumatized...