5 inches of rain in 90 minutes

[Sigarms]

The New Orleans area just got 5 inches of rain in 90 minutes. There is street flooding and some minor home flooding but no real damage other than to a few of the well known low-lying areas.

I wonder how many areas of the country could survive this much rain in such a short time?

Just please don't tell me that the people of New Orleans is going to sue again claiming that the U.S Army Corps of Engineers was at fault for the flooding.

Honestly, with all the relief efforts that everyone in this nation has done for that city, and then to have them sue kind of makes my blood boil.

Hmmm, a city built on the coast below sea level that can be prone to flooding? Nah, never in a million years.

 

[biggerten]

Yikes,that gotta be finger nail bitter.

Like Dave said,us folks up here would pay heavy price in road damage etc...rather have snow instead.

That'd be nearly 5' (it can vary, but the rule of thumb is 11" snow = 1" rain) of snow in 90 minutes.

Back in July '87, we had 13" of rain one time. Basement walls caved in due to hydraulic pressure, storm sewers failed, the under passes were flooded - kids were literally swimming in the middle of the freeways, I remember going over the underpasses and seeing the vehicles, semis, etc, underwater. Tow trucks and suba divers were at work, the divers hooking up cables and the trucks winching them out. Afterwards, one park near us was excavated about 5', as were many playgrounds and vacant lots, to function as holding ponds during severe rain events. While we've never been tested to that extent since, things have improved during heavy downpours.

 

[dave1949]

Just please don't tell me that the people of New Orleans is going to sue again claiming that the U.S Army Corps of Engineers was at fault for the flooding.

Honestly, with all the relief efforts that everyone in this nation has done for that city, and then to have them sue kind of makes my blood boil.

Hmmm, a city built on the coast below sea level that can be prone to flooding? Nah, never in a million years.

Never thought about it that way, I think you have a good point.

Do we really need the Army Core of Engineers? So many of their projects have 'issues' it seems. New Orleans would seem to be an example of a grandios plan no one can afford to finish.

In Wells, ME, they built a stone jetty out into the ocean. It was to keep the harbor (for about 20 lobster boats) from silting up. It still silts up and the jetty changed the near-shore currents such that the sand gets scoured off the beach

Now, they dredge the harbor and 'nourish' the beach with the dredgings. After 2 or 3 decent Nor'easters, 90% of that sand is gone.

This is a lot of tax dollars for 20 stinkin' (literally) lobstah boats. They are just underwater insects that eat whatever falls to the seabed And, if your grandfather didn't own a mooring in the harbor, you won't get one either.
Dave.

 

[Sigarms]

Dave

If I built a house next to a river and the goverment told me that it was safe to build there without worries about the chance of a flood taking my house out, who is more stupid, the goverment or me?

I'm a pretty stupid guy, but even I know you don't build at the lowest point next to the ocean.

 

[dave1949]

Dave

If I built a house next to a river and the goverment told me that it was safe to build there without worries about the chance of a flood taking my house out, who is more stupid, the goverment or me?

I'm a pretty stupid guy, but even I know you don't build at the lowest point next to the ocean.

There you go. I'm thinking there are background stories behind some of those obviously flood-prone house locations.

If we could dial back the clock to the very first levee built in New Orleans, or pick any location, what was the motivation? Someone stood to profit in some way or it looked like a sweet pork project. They should have just let it be a crawdad farm or alligator ranch.

I do feel for the folks that are flooded due to changes in the watershed from more development, wet-land draining, etc. I believe many of those homes are in places that never or hardly ever had flood waters.

I remember the videos from the big floods in ('93 ?). There was no place far enough from the river to escape the flood for miles in some areas.
Dave.

 

[tallyho8]

Just please don't tell me that the people of New Orleans is going to sue again claiming that the U.S Army Corps of Engineers was at fault for the flooding.

Honestly, with all the relief efforts that everyone in this nation has done for that city, and then to have them sue kind of makes my blood boil.

Hmmm, a city built on the coast below sea level that can be prone to flooding? Nah, never in a million years.

I didn't want this thread to morph into one where I had to defend New Orleans from remarks made by those who watched the media circus after Katrina but I have to respond to some of those remarks.

I guess if the Corps of Engineers were to build a large faulty dam uphill from your home and it collapsed and washed your home away that you would not sue them but I'll bet most of your neighbors would. This is the type of situation that existed in New Orleans when the Corps built the canal that caused the lower 9th ward and St. Bernard Parish to flood. The Corps has admitted this canal caused the problem and has begun filling in this multi-billion dollar mistake.

Second, New Orleans was not originally built below sea level and the older parts are all still above sea level and did not flood during Katrina. Only after the Corps built faulty levees to protect the low lying areas did people start building in these below sea level areas. After the Corps built levees on the Mississippi River downriver from New Orleans, it stopped the natural flow of sediment into the lower Louisiana swamps and caused the land to subside and made many areas that were originally above sea level sink to below sea level.

Third, New Orleans is not and never was a coastal town like Galveston, Biloxi, Pensacola, Miami etc. New Orleans was built upriver more than 100 miles from the gulf. Since the Corps built the levee system, the gulf has moved 50 miles closer to New Orleans.

I am glad that I live a good distance upriver from New Orleans on ground that is a whopping 13 feet above sea level because I could never stand to live in a city like that but I just wanted to straighten out some incorrect statements about a city that has enough real problems that it doesn't need to be criticized for incorrect ones.

 

[Sigarms]

I guess if the Corps of Engineers were to build a large faulty dam uphill from your home and it collapsed and washed your home away that you would not sue them but I'll bet most of your neighbors would.

I said I'm a stupid guy, not an idiot. I would never build, nor buy a house downhill from a dam that the goverment built.

 

[dave1949]

TallyHo8 - Not my intention to offend or put you on the defense. You have to understand how it looks from a distance I guess. It looks bad. We just don't comprehend the situation. Lot's of details and history outsiders don't know.

I have to agree with Sigarms, if anyone wanted to build a dam above my home, I would be dead set against it, and I wouldn't buy one in such a location. I was really surprised they didn't decide to abandon parts of NO. I think the election rhetoric got in the way of that.

If sea level rises continue and NO continues to subside, which seems likely, I don't know if it is smart to throw money at projects there.
Dave.

 

[whistlepig]

With 4" of rain in 45 minutes nothing matters. This was in an industrial park in Cincinnati. All very flat and all very well drained. I was working night shift and got off work at 12:00 am. I was pushing cars in water up to my knees. When a semi drove by the waves were up to my chest. People were opening car doors and water was running through their floor boards. It's very hard to tell someone about something like this. It's something that has to be seen to be believed. I hope I never see it again.

 

[texasjohn]

Few months ago we had 13 inches of rain in about 5 hours..... washed some really big gullies where none had been before.... Unclear what the max rainfall rate for each 15 minute period was.... this was in rolling country and my house is on top of a hill.... still, water was coming off hill in sheets...none, however, in my house or work shop.

It did fill up the cracks from the extreme drought!

I grew up on the Nueces River, saw it flood too many times to count. Went coon hunting and often would find them hidden in a drift pile stuck 20 feet up in a tree... helped me understand the power of water.... and to respect it.