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Flooding in New York Flooding in New York State. Floods happen, but sometimes they are large and very expensive to repair. New York has many rivers, but all flood from time to time.

Maps

What is…  2011 Hurricane Irene  1972 Hurricane Agnes  A number of smaller localized events  Common in spring from winter melt and spring rains.  These floods help to keep water in ground for the summer months.  Most floods occur in low lying areas, but the larger floods can occur near waterways and in flood plains

Flood plains A flood plain is an area adjacent to a river or waterway that is susceptible to higher water. Normal flooding can fill a valley but a larger flood will combine valleys and both flood.

When…  Current speculations states that the current 100 and 500 year floods will occur every 5-20 years.  Most floods occur in the spring months, but large storms can create them anytime.  Hurricane Irene September 2011  Hurricane Agnes June 1972

What causes this event?  Ice jams  Melting ice blocks the rivers and water backs up  Hurricanes  These storms drop many inches or feet of rain.  Snow melt  We tend to get a lot of snow and if it melts quickly it can flood.

Who is affected? Hurricane Irene Eastern New York, Catskills and Hudson valley. Damaged roads, bridges and homes. Hurricane Agnes Binghamton and Elmira hardest hit. Damaged roads building.

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Agnes

Possible Warning  Levee system developed form southern New York state  Along Susquehanna, Mohawk and numerous Catskill rivers.  Cannot prevent a storm, but ice jams have been attacked with explosives and machinery.  Is there any way to predict?  Many times flooding is predicted ahead of time so preparations can be made.  Evacuation plan There are evacuation plans setup but people need to use them.

Facts Hurricane Agnes  13.7 inches of rain  homes destroyed  $200 million in damages Hurricane Irene  10 deaths  $296 million in damage  Landslides (too numerous to count) in the high peaks

DEC authorized immediate action to relieve flood waters and fix damage, ordered by Governor. Towns and villages then took plows and bulldozers to the creeks to shape them and make them wider to let out the water. – This damaged the rivers in an area that most of its tourism come for. (Catskills and Adirondacks) Bad for animals who live in stream. Increased stream erosion. Took out meanders from the streams which increases discharge. DEC is charged to protect environment from all others, not just when times are good. (money to remediate all the streams has been astronomical so far.)

What If...  Both hurricane names were retired from ever being used to name hurricanes again!  It will likely occur again and the state governments can learn from their mistakes. “I’ve lived in this house for 40 years,” he said. “I wait until the storm is gone, and then I clean up the mess. I don’t do much in the way of preparation except make sure the doors are closed.”

Works Cited  ull/nclimate1487.html ull/nclimate1487.html     _Irene_in_New_York _Irene_in_New_York