Vermont Inundated as 1-in-1,000-Year Rainfall Event Destroys Homes, Prompts Rescues

[Think. Again.]

By: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
Published: July 31, 2024
Source: https://www.ecowatch.com/vermont-flooding-2024.html

Since Monday night, northeast Vermont has been inundated with heavy rain and flash flooding that washed out roads, damaged buildings and left residents stranded, reported Reuters.

Nearly eight inches of rain fell in only six hours in St. Johnsbury — considered a one in a thousand year event, CNN reported.


The aftermath of flash flooding on Red Village Road in Lyndonville, Vermont on July 30 2024. Danielle Parhizkaran / The Boston Globe via Getty Images

“This is devastating and was completely unexpected. I had no idea this was coming,” said one of the town’s residents Vanessa Allen, as reported by The Associated Press. “It’s just all unbelievable how bad the roads are. We’re trapped. We can’t go anywhere.”

-snip-

Peter Banacos, a weather service operations officer, said there had been four flooding events in Vermont in the past year, caused by the mountainous terrain of the state combined with climate change. Banacos said increased rainfall and more frequently saturated soil have made it more susceptible to flooding.

-snip-

[democrank]

1. The devastation is heartbreaking around here.

Two floods, just under three weeks apart. As usual, Vermonters will be there for one another. So many reminders to count our blessings.

A hug to all Vermonters~

[Think. Again.]

3. BIG hugs...

[Jim__]

2. Some other recent massive rainfall events.

30 dead, dozens missing after torrential rain in central China

Pakistan's second-largest city Lahore hit by record rain

Climate change is already causing catastrophic events. Governments need to react to try to prevent things from getting worse.

[Think. Again.]

4. It's just the beginning.

[Brenda]

10. I think some of us have become broken records.

Maybe we have to get louder or more obnoxious since we roundly get ignored.

Hah, I bet people under 40 don't know what broken records means.

Thanks for posting the horrible news, TA. I've had to cut back on my climate readings, too frustrating.

[OKIsItJustMe]

11. When I see a posting show up in a search engine, I am encouraged to post again

I like to think that at least the headline is seen, if not the full posting.

[Brenda]

12. Yes, but since this Group is so slow moving

sometimes having so many "headlines" does not really help. Good articles and discussions can get buried if dozens of headlines appear at once.

Maybe we should all start cross-posting these things in GD. I mean the weather chaos is hitting every state, every country so it seems like it would be of "general" interest.

I mostly read climate related websites for this news, not the MSM, and often read stories that I would like to post here at DU but they don't get much visibility in this Group and sometimes they get outright hostility if not ignored in GD. So, I often don't bother.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. AP: Why does Vermont keep flooding? It's complicated, but experts warn it could become the norm

https://apnews.com/article/vermont-flooding-climate-change-severe-weather-3f1e3c5f55a69cd75d5b5ad0f31792f3

Why does Vermont keep flooding? It’s complicated, but experts warn it could become the norm

BY PATRICK WHITTLE AND MICHAEL CASEY
Updated 3:50 PM EDT, July 31, 2024

…

A combination of factors leaves Vermont susceptible to these kinds of devastating floods. Here’s a look at a few, along with photos and video from the latest storms.

Climate change warming the atmosphere
Extreme flooding conditions like these are often the result of random, short-term natural weather patterns heightened by long-term, human-caused climate change.

With climate change, storms are forming in a warmer atmosphere, making extreme rainfall a more frequent reality. The additional warming that scientists predict is coming will only make it worse, with the Northeast U.S. among the regions vulnerable to heavier rains in the future.

…

A study last year in the journal Climate Change found that extreme precipitation in the Northeast will increase 52% by the end of the century. One of the study’s authors, Jonathan Winter, an associate professor of geography at Dartmouth College, also took part in research that found there had been a 50% increase in extreme precipitation events from 1996 to 2014.

…

[Think. Again.]

6. Yes, it's the quickness of these changes that causes so much damage...

Our total environment, the world around us, does change constantly but oh, so slowly.

The addition of massive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere in only a few short decades is triggering ecological pressures that the lands, oceans, air currents, geography, etc just can not suddenly adapt to, and so, we have these massive, sudden, over-responses.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Change in the Magnitude of River Flooding, 1965-2015

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bdd9567a847a4b52abd20253539143df/page/Weather-and-Climate/?views=Legend------%2CRiver-Flooding

(Note this is only to 2015.)

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Change in the Frequency of River Flooding, 1965-2015

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bdd9567a847a4b52abd20253539143df/page/Weather-and-Climate/?views=River-Flooding%2CMap-Layers------

(Note, this is only through 2015.)

We were warned fifty years ago that these changes in precipitation were likely to occur.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. Change in Precipitation, 1901-2023

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bdd9567a847a4b52abd20253539143df/page/Weather-and-Climate/?views=Map-Layers------%2CU.S.-Precipitation