Earth Watch Report - Flooding
Flooding on the Etowah River (Photo by Tim Cavender at Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services.)
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Flash Flood in USA on Monday, 07 October, 2013 at 12:19 (12:19 PM) UTC.
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A flood warning remains is in effect through Monday evening for a
creek in Atlanta's northern suburbs that's expected to rise above flood
stage. The National Weather Service projects that flooding along Big
Creek in Alpharetta will cause minor flooding in parts of Fulton and
Forsyth counties. The creek was at 6.2 feet late Sunday night and
rising. Flood stage is 7 feet. At that level, woodlands and fields along
the waterway typically begin to flood from Cumming in Forsyth County to
Alpharetta and Roswell in Fulton County. Forecasters expect the creek
to reach nearly 7.1 feet by late Monday afternoon.
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JASPER, Ga. -
A Flash Flood Watch is in effort for portions of the FOX 5
Atlanta viewing area until 8:15 a.m. Thursday. This is includes the
cities of Marietta, Atlanta, Lawrenceville, Athens, Carrollton,
Douglasville, East Point, Decatur, Conyers, Covington, Newnan, Peachtree
City and Griffin.
A flood warning is in effect Banks, Cherokee, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer and Pickens counties.
A flood watch is in effect for most of the rest of the state through Thursday morning.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF CURRENT WATCHES/WARNINGS
Heavy rains soaked these areas throughout Wednesday, once again
prompting fears of flooding. Some areas received estimates of up to 10
inches of rain, according to FOX 5 Storm Team Chief Meteorologist Ken
Cook.
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Efforts to delay devastating rate increases continue
wwltv.com
Posted on October 7, 2013 at 10:25 PM
Updated
yesterday at 10:41 PM
Bill Capo / Eyewitness News
Email: bcapo@wwltv.com | Twitter: @billcapo
NEW ORLEANS -- Even as Tropical Storm Karen threatened possible
flooding on Friday, a conference call was underway in the Terrebonne
Parish president's office on delaying huge flood insurance rate hikes.
"Some of us we hear could be up into the $10,000 and $20,000 range,” said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet.
The Biggert Waters Reform Act required the flood insurance program to
become financially stable, resulting in major premium increases for
many property owners.
But now those leading the fight in Louisiana say they're no longer alone.
"Believe it or not, 30 out of 50 states are now showing their, basically, support for changes in Biggert Waters,” Claudet said.
Michael Hecht of GNO, Inc. said, "When you have senators from Nevada
and North Dakota testifying as to the problem this is going to create in
their own state, this has gone national. It's no longer just New
Orleans or Louisiana."
But now the focus is on finding solutions to the rate increase
problem – solutions that would allow owners to be able to afford to keep
their homes.
"If they play by the rules and maintain their insurance to keep their
current levels,” Hecht said. “It's critical that if they do everything
right, you don't see your insurance skyrocket 3000 percent."
And where there is flooding, a potential solution would keep rate hikes manageable by tying them into the value of the property.
"It could be that after you flood, your rates then go up 1 percent of
your value, then if you flood a second time, it could go up 2 percent,”
Hecht said.
"I think that the way it's proceeding, I think we're definitely going to be able to make some changes,” Claudet said.
Hecht said accurate maps showing steps taken to reduce flooding,
including levees, are critical to reducing the flood insurance rate
hikes.
Read More and Watch Video Here
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New basin opens as flooding overwhelms Louisville system
Posted:
Oct 07, 2013 11:13 PM CST
Updated:
Oct 07, 2013 11:26 PM CST
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – Louisville's stormwater system was powerless
against this weekend's storm despite hundreds of millions of dollars in
improvements, Metro Sewer District administrators said.
Metro administrators have completed about half of the $850 million in
planned improvements to the system and have added capacity. Twelve
retention basins have been collecting floodwaters for the past several
years.
Record-setting rainfall totals of nearly six inches in parts of
Jefferson County this weekend overwhelmed the system – but flooding
could've been worse if new retention basins hadn't been built, Bingham
said.
"We've done a lot of work, we've added about a billion gallons of
storage to the system, but there's always going to be a storm that's
bigger than what we designed for," said Brian Bingham, the sewer
district's regulatory services director.
It's a misconception that the city's pumping stations should've been
activated this weekend, Bingham said. They're designed to be used if
water levels are high both on the Ohio River and inland creeks. Gates
would keep the Ohio from spilling inland and the pumps could still move
water into the river.
But the Ohio River was low this weekend, allowing inland creeks and
streams to move the water into the river as they normally would, Bingham
said.
"Those (pumps) do not move the water out as efficiently as the gravity system does naturally," he said.
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