ExcessiveRainfallDay2

Get ready for the remnants of Debby

| August 12, 2024

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As we’ve talked about in newsletters and on Delaware Currents, we have to get used to a new reality in our weather systems.

Scientists have warned us that the new “weather” for our part of the world will be more rain when it rains and less rain when it doesn’t — a swing between extremes.

In the past few years, we’ve seen more of the flooding end of the spectrum. Most notably last year when seven people drowned in a flash flood in Bucks County.

The heart of this tragedy, of course, is the lives that were lost. But the story of that flash flood should resonate throughout the watershed. 

Houghs Creek in Bucks County — an otherwise unremarkable creek — became a monster because of the torrential rain that fell.

Right now, many people in the watershed are on their own flood watch as the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby moves to and through the mid-Atlantic. Parts of the watershed face elevated or significant risk for excessive rainfall through Friday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Here are some of the stories we’ve run alerting our readers to the dangers of flooding, and offering the guidance of smart scientists, emergency managers, meteorologists and more from Ready.gov, the American Red Cross and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

We’re in the middle of hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Debby was mixed with the same climatological recipe that produces hurricanes.

NOAA is forecasting a range of 17 to 25 total named storms. Of those, eight to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes, including four to seven major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher). 

Those are alarming statistics. But, again, it used to be that we worried about the high winds that define a hurricane, and that’s still a concern of course, but now we have to pay attention to rainfall. Remember that it can take a day or two for heavy rains to pour downstream, so it may be after you experience the rain that there’s a danger of flooding.

But it would help if we understood the big picture about our water system, and while Delaware Currents is always happy to help, there’s another source that could be useful.

I recently wrote an editorial report on how the Delaware River Basin Commission can help you understand about floods, droughts and the intricacies of our water systems

By the way, when I call an article an “Editorial Report” it’s because I’m suggesting a course of action or espousing a point of view that’s more personal than what we aim for in our regular reporting.

In uncertain times like these, it helps to know that there are ways that you can be part of the solution: Roll out the (rain) barrels to promote sustainability and flood prevention. 

And last, we who live near the Delaware often have a better appreciation of just how deceptive its calm waters can be. Unfortunately, lives are lost — mostly visitors and people who don’t take the precaution of wearing a life vest.

Drownings on the Delaware: What the National Park Service is doing to try to stop them.

It’s important to learn about these challenges, and be prepared to look after each other.

Stay dry and safe.

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