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Moderator cut: ot
My wife and I were in El Paso physically for the days of the worst of the flooding in 2006. I saw the news and read the local papers. Family members and friends LIVE in El Paso who I talk to constantly and care about very much...they obviously reported back to me of the aftermath when I was back in Albuquerque, a city in the region that had similar flooding issues.
Moderator cut: OT
Quote:
Originally Posted by Muhnay
I will say that it was extreme in 2006, but we have had many similar events.
If you would again read my post instead of just looking for a reason to attack me for any reason possible because I "don't live in El Paso", you will see that I noted that yes, of course, flooding in desert cities in the SW during monsoon season IS a concern.
Here is a link to a study by the Federal Flood Assessment Conference convened by Congressman Silvestre Reyes, assessing the floods in El Paso in 2006. Let's read a quote from page 3 of it:
"According to the National Weather service, the July 31 to August 4 rains alone were more like a 100-150 year recurring event over the areas hardest hit.
I will disagree with you EnjoyEP, see that is why you should live here to know what your talking about. I will say that it was extreme in 2006, but we have had many similar events.
El Paso has had many flood events, and the pictures I posted above are pretty close to what we have each year here. See as El Paso builds it has destroyed Arroyos all over the city. When it rains the mountains drain and they have no place to go but city streets.
The City is now requiring all new buildings to build drainage pits near its housing areas to try to avoid further flooding.
Now if you are worried about buying a house that has been damaged or may contain mold, etc from flooding, have a good house inspection... get 2 different opinions. If you don't trust the local inspectors, get an out of town one. I would.
wow 4 the first time we agree muhnay [lol], i know dyer has been flooding for
years, my grandpa lives in Chapparral and everytime we have a heavy downpour, its almost impossibe to go trough Dyer, by the old Good Time and by the firestation, it gets like a lil Rio Grande.This has been going on for about 10 yrs to my recollection, i dont live in the n.e., but thats how long i personally remember.
wow 4 the first time we agree muhnay [lol], i know dyer has been flooding for
years, my grandpa lives in Chaparral and every time we have a heavy downpour, its almost impossible to go trough Dyer, by the old Good Time and by the fire station, it gets like a lil Rio Grande.This has been going on for about 10 yrs to my recollection, I don't live in the n.e., but thats how long i personally remember.
Quick everyone look outside.. is it raining fire and brimstone.. lol.
I am glad someone else knows what I am talking about. I have even complained to the city about how bad my street gets when it rains.
It doesn't hurt to go stand up on top of the Franklins to get an idea of where the water will be trying to go before you buy. You can see where the ancient arroyos start -- way at the top of of the mountains and you can see where the arroyo widens out further down the mountain and then has been filled in with sand and houses are built.
The problem for some areas now that didn't used to have problems is that upstream of them the developers have destroyed the arroyos -- only you can't really destroy an arroyo, eventually nature will take them back.
The mountain is mostly rock for a reason -- hard rains washed the dirt away and will aways wash it away. It's pretty obvious what happens lately in the floods. Dirt comes sliding off the mountain into living rooms and streets. All the houses built on the dirt are sitting on poor foundations.
In town -- buy a house built on rock and not sitting below a newer housing development built on sand, pay attention to the arroyos. In the valleys make sure the builder did things right and scooped out some of the clay and filled it in with gravel and has your house sitting up at least 18 inches from the ground. There are actually homes that were built right on the ground and even below street level.
Quick everyone look outside.. is it raining fire and brimstone.. lol.
I am glad someone else knows what I am talking about. I have even complained to the city about how bad my street gets when it rains.
In the older parts of town it's usually that they let what drainage there is become clogged.
2006 was a bit worse than usual -- I even saw rattlesnakes up while hiking in the Franklins --- angry rattlesnakes that lost their burrows apparently -- normally you almost never see the snakes. Some areas around town always flood, there are always some streets that become lakes -- but 2006 I think was from the wild development that has taken place recently.
But many houses didn't get one drop of water in them from the 2006 rains. The river never overflowed it's banks -- came close at one point but that isn't really rare. The river itself wasn't the problem it was the water that normally goes to the river having it's way blocked and the rains were heavier.
Here is further evidence that the floods of 2006 in El Paso were absolutely out-of-the-ordinary...these were two fairly regular and respected posters in the EP forums when this forum first started - NativeTXn and desert*rat - I don't think either post here anymore, but here are their posts from back during the flooding of 2006 as it was happening...
Quote:
Originally Posted by NativeTXn
.... El Paso is usually safe from natural catastrophes, but not today..we ended up getting pounded with rain these past three days. The city got about 6 inches of rain over the last few days and today some areas of town really got hit bad. I saw on the news that the Northeast side of El Paso has received about 15 inches during that same time and parts of the Westside received around 10 inches (7 inches today alone). Major flooding occurred in several areas of town, there was some damage to buildings, homes, and properties in the areas that were severely affected. Luckily for me in the Eastside of town, we ended with about 2.5 inches today and nothing really bad happend around Eastside. The best news that I have heard so far is that no major injuries have been reported.
El Paso is not really used to this amount of rain in this amount of time, we only average around 9 inches a year. This was the largest amount of rainfall in such a short period of time for El Paso in over a hundred years. The Rio Grande was filled to capacity and almost overflowed its banks, it was at it's highest level since the 50's, luckily the water levels went down and the levees held.
What I love about this town is how the people pulled together through this, there are about 435 people in shelters around the county tonight, and people here have just been pouring in their emotional support and every type of supplies to help them. Local pizza shops were donating lots of pizzas to the people in need. I too will be looking to see in which ways I can help tomorrow. I have some extra blankets, clothes, diapers, baby formula, and few extra bucks that will hopefully help someone out there that needs it more than me right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desert*rat
I have heard more people say in this past week, that they have never in their lifetime seen weather like this. ...
I am going to check in with Red Cross and local officials to see what I can do. I heard they are in the need of volunteers. I am sure if the rain keeps coming, their needs will rise.
Again.. I don't need what someone else says to know WHAT I HAVE LIVED THOUGH.
Humm wonder if they live here too.. if they do they must live on a hill, because Like I have said and so did LEVOW, it floods all the time in the North East. I have had water to my doorstep each year for many years before 2006 flood.. 2006 flood did however make it ankle deep in my house, and in 2005 it was foot deep in my house, and the year before that filled my garage, and came in the living room, but not very deep water in the house. The year before that it was at my door step 3 times in a year.. and so on and so forth. So Like I have said. 2006 was bad yes, as it was more city wide.. but where I live it has flooded here since I was a kid.. in recent years its been more sever.
1.
The title of this thread wasn't "yearly flooding in El Paso" -
it was specific to the flooding in El Paso in 2006. The flooding in 2006 was the topic presented by the original poster, and that is what I am addressing. It was the worst overall flooding by far that El Paso has seen in decades.
2.
Unless I am mistaken, the area asked about by the original poster was Upper Valley related, not Northeast side related.
3.
I "lived through" that flooding as well, as I was at my wife's grandmothers house on El Paso's east side for a prolonged stay during the heart of the flooding (end of July / early August). Neighbors, family members, and friends attested to it being the most widespread and by far destructive flooding they'd seen in decades. Fortunately, with her house's location on the east side, her house was relatively unaffected. I personally witnessed people boating across the "lake" formed in Album Park that later was found to have e-coli.
The original poster asked about the floods of 2006...I have supplied him/her with the facts of those floods.
I didn't read every post here but I did live in the Upper Valley during those storms. Doniphan was a river from Artcraft both west to Canutillo and east to at least Country Club. From Country Club east to about Frontera, there was heavy property damage and flooding between Doniphan and the river. Most of this was closest to Doniphan just beyond the tracks. Upper Valley was mostly passable with lakes on both sides that lasted about two months following these rains. Johnny Bean horse ranch pastures were under water. My home did not have problems but I was the only home with concrete driveway in my block. The river did exceed its banks in our area but there were low lands on either side that took the run off. The bridge over the river was closed for a day or two due to high water.
While none of this was life threatening, it certainly did flood and there was property damage. We have no street drains folks and it takes a while for this amount of water to either run to the river or dry up.
Here is the thing about the 100 year flood statement: I am a Californian and I lived through at least three 100 year floods and one 500 year flood. Thankfully I am neither 100 nor 500 years old. Statistics are just that. When did the 100 year flood cycle begin and when will it end (there are always different opinions on that)? I really got tired of hearing from the city folks (as some of my property did flood elsewhere in El Paso)the excuse that they don't plan for 100 year events. It just doesn't work that way in nature. Nature trumps statistical models every day. This is the desert and as long as we have unregulated building, no thought to future flooding issues, no arroyo perservation plans, you are going to get floods and they could be the result of a 20 minute downpour or a twelve day rain period.
Again.. I don't need what someone else says to know WHAT I HAVE LIVED THOUGH.
Humm wonder if they live here too.. if they do they must live on a hill, because Like I have said and so did LEVOW, it floods all the time in the North East. I have had water to my doorstep each year for many years before 2006 flood.. 2006 flood did however make it ankle deep in my house, and in 2005 it was foot deep in my house, and the year before that filled my garage, and came in the living room, but not very deep water in the house. The year before that it was at my door step 3 times in a year.. and so on and so forth. So Like I have said. 2006 was bad yes, as it was more city wide.. but where I live it has flooded here since I was a kid.. in recent years its been more sever.
I remember being in the NE side once in a downpour that wasn't special and cars were floating. There are parts of Doniphan that flood every time it rains more than a few drops. You can see the white salt of areas that saturate with water often.
2006 was a heavy rain -- but most of the people I know had no damage to their houses at all. One family had a roof leaking. A lot of the flooding here takes place on higher ground -- not especially close to the river.
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El Paso is usually safe from natural catastrophes, but not today..we ended up getting pounded with rain these past three days. The city got about 6 inches of rain over the last few days and today some areas of town really got hit bad. I saw on the news that the Northeast side of El Paso has received about 15 inches during that same time and parts of the Westside received around 10 inches (7 inches today alone). Major flooding occurred in several areas of town, there was some damage to buildings, homes, and properties in the areas that were severely affected. Luckily for me in the Eastside of town, we ended with about 2.5 inches today and nothing really bad happend around Eastside. The best news that I have heard so far is that no major injuries have been reported. 
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