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My logical follow up to this question, about flooding that Vermont is suspectible to, how come is it that during the snow melt months of late-March to late-April, why there is not similar flooding?
Because snow doesn't melt at 10 inches per hour.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike0421
I remember when Hurricane Floyd hit NJ in 1999, that the damage inflicted on coastal North Carolina was vast. However, I also recall that Virginia, Delaware and Maryland were relatively spared. Then, we were hit in Northern NJ. Bound Brook was nearly devastated. I lived in Randolph at the time, and remember my car being washed off the road, I had to abandon it. Worst storm I have ever been involved in. The only reason I bring up Floyd is because much like this storm, it seemed to pack an unanticipated punch to an area further north, in this case, New Jersey. That's the parallel I drew with Irene, as it pertains to Vermont.
I was in Virginia during Floyd and it was pretty terrible. We had tons of flooding, my house was without running water for a week. For some towns in VA it was the worst flooding in modern history.
These things don't strengthen over land. Sometimes they speed up and slow down, so more or less rain may fall over a given area. The topography has a lot to do with it as well, since rugged terrain results in more runoff, and higher elevations can result in more rising air, which can have an effect to "wring a storm out." But looking at the rainfall totals in VT, they didn't get any more rain than we did, and they had lower wind speeds than NJ, NY, CT, or MA. They just have less flat land to collect the water.
Check this link. It has the top 10 rainfall and wind speed locations for Irene. If you scroll down you'll see the top 3 in each state. Irene's Infamous Top Ten Statistics (http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/54348/irenes-infamous-top-ten-1.asp - broken link)
There just now inspecting Trenton , so anywhere from a day to 3 days?
Thanks buddy. I'm so grateful for your inside info o n NJT. I'm praying for Thursday... I'll have to commute to the city for a few weeks starting then.
This thread now consists of 48 pages (and counting...)
By contrast, the "hurricane thread" in the Vermont forum of City Data currently consists of only 3 pages.
The destruction and damage in our state was pretty bad in many areas, but for overall statistics regarding death and destruction, certainly Vermont far exceeds NJ at this point. Yes, the population of Vermont is just a fraction of the population of NJ, but I am forced to ponder whether NJ residents are just much more prone to complaining than the self-sufficient, "stiff upper lip" folks in Vermont.
Just sayin'--as the younger folks like to say.
Stiff upper lip? From the state full of whiners who want to secede from the rest of the country because they are so "special" while they whine about everything else under the sun all day long?
Maybe "we" haven't heard from those same "folks" because they can't get to their free internet access at the local public library or Star Bucks just yet. Especially those clowns who live on the communes...or in Burlington.
And you know what? Knock it off. This isn't an "us" vs. "them" situation.
you know, all those people overreacting to this hurricane were so crazy. it's only one of the 10 costlilest disasters in the country's history. and of course, the insurers somehow dodged a bullet.
you know, all those people overreacting to this hurricane were so crazy. it's only one of the 10 costlilest disasters in the country's history. and of course, the insurers somehow dodged a bullet.
im sorry, i didnt realize all this hysteria was about people's basements getting flooded. i thought people were more concerned about losing homes and lives.
That said, if what happened here in Missouri occurred in the NYC area, it would have been a 'bleed/lead' major news story nationally several days consecutively. Joplin Missouri was probably the worst weather event since Katrina in this country, and it didn't register more than a ripple. Most definitely there is a corollary between population density, and news coverage, especially as it pertains to weather-related speculation. The same premise holds true when it comes to the Weather Channel prognosticating "Northeast Blizzard" during the winter season. The Boston-NYC-D.C. corridor is always going to dominate the news head lines when it comes to matters such as these.
This hurricane caused extensive damage in Vermont, and this is a lesson learned: hurricane forecasts are tricky. How did Irene re-gain strength, and cause exponentially more damage in the Green Mountain State?
Vermont has only 600,000 people, so in part, it was ignored during this media buildup. Here's an excerpt: "The state appeared to be an afterthought as the national media geared up for the storm as it threatened New York last week, but by Monday, the Vermont flood dominated mainstream and social media."
I read a lot of coverage on Joplin, including a cover story on Sports Illustrated and many other magazines. I wouldn't say it didn't register more than a ripple. Also, yes, if that storm hit NYC metro area, it would have been world news. I don't see why we need to compare though. NYC being shut down for multiple weeks would cause a lot of lost productivity in our country's economy, and the world economy. It's not to say one area is more important than another, but the impact would be different for reasons due to population, company headquarters locations, etc. Maybe Joplin was the "worst weather event since Katrina" as far as the pure strength of the storm, but Irene is proving to be far costlier than people are giving it credit for. It may not have costed lives as many other storms have, and no doubt, lives are far more tragic than having to rebuild a bridge or repair roads and buildings...but the impact of Irene, if anything, was underestimated, not overhyped.
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