Anglonautes > English vocabulary > Earth > Weather

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Vocabulary > Earth > Weather > Rain, Flooding / floods

Elsie, one of two Stensgard family dogs,

sands on the earthen and sandbag dike surrounding the Stensgard home, not pictured,

which overlooks a flooded outbuilding as the Red River continues to rise,

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in Fargo, N.D.

Due to the flooding, the Stensgard home can only be reached by boat.

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Red River flooding USA 2009
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/red_river_flooding.html

The Guardian G2 pp. 6-7 6.7.2007

rain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2131580,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2131208,00.html

outbreaks of rain

rainfall
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article5704617.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2131580,00.html
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1864311,00.html

the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain November 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/20/torrential-rain-river-floods-cockermouth

raindrops

heavy rain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/01/uk-flood-warnings-rain-weather
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/02/flooding-scotland-wales-weather
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2136316,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2110852,00.html

heavy rain UA
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/us/04storm.html
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2006-09-23-midwest-storms_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2006-05-26-severe-weather_x.htm

severe rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37fsSAhTIT8&feature=channel

torrential rain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/20/torrential-rain-river-floods-cockermouth
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1256140,00.html

torrential tropical rain

downpour
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3231779.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2130635,00.html

torrential downpour

deluge

terrible conditions

precipitation

wet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2135017,00.html

dull

damp

soak

soaked
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/nyregion/remnants-of-tropical-storm-soak-an-already-battered-northeast.html

on a rain-soaked day

drench
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/01/flood-fears-rain-south-britain
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2006-09-02-ernesto_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2006-08-01-tropical-storm-chris_x.htm

drenching rain
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/nyregion/a-look-at-the-crimes-committed-in-new-york-city-during-irene.html

sheets of rain

monsoon rain

persistent rain

rainfall of up to 2.8 inches

bucket down

piss down (col)

a little bit of rain

low pressure

unsettled

unsettled system

water

shower

blustery shower
http://blogs.news.sky.com/theweathergirls/Post:31a11478-8d03-4e69-8a77-c5772f8a74c0

hefty shower

the odd shower

scattered showers

thundershower
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/24rain.html

blowy
http://blogs.news.sky.com/theweathergirls/Post:31a11478-8d03-4e69-8a77-c5772f8a74c0

soggy

soggy ground

Flooded cars and homes are seen
in Painesville, Ohio, near the Grand River,
Friday, July 28, 2006.
Flood water surged into homes and businesses,
forcing people to rooftops to await rescue
Friday morning after 10 inches of rain
filled the rivers and streets of northeast Ohio.

By Jamie-Andrea Yanak AP

Hundreds evacuated from Ohio flooding UT

Updated 7/29/2006 12:52 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2006-07-28-ohio-storms_x.htm

flood

floods USA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2010/dec/22/floods-southern-california-san-diego
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/floods/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/06/13/us/AP-US-Arkansas-Flooding.html
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2007-03-30-texas-floods_N.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flood/
http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/floods/

Mississippi flood May 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/22/americans-gamble-mississippi-floods

Mississippi river floods – pictures May 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2011/may/20/flooding-mississippi-pictures

flood-hit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/21/cumbria-floods-more-rain-barker

July 2007 > floods > pictures
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/gallery/2007/jul/23/flooding?picture=330241388

Australia > Queensland > floods > churning floodwaters 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/world/asia/05australia.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/jan/03/australia-floods-queensland-map
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/01/australian_flooding.html

floodwaters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/31/australian-floodwaters-rise-bushfire-threat
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/mississippi_floodwaters_in_iow.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3196628.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2133463,00.html

flood levels

water levels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2134802,00.html

levee / levee system
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/12/us-flooding-idUSTRE74462I20110512

flood defence
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2133420,00.html

flood victims USA
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/us/flood-victims-getting-fed-up-with-congress.html

flood victims
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2134046,00.html
http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,2111798,00.html

evacuation
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/nyregion/remnants-of-tropical-storm-soak-an-already-battered-northeast.html

evacuated
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2244403,00.html

flooded
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3196628.ece

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Mississippi River flooding USA 2011
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/05/mississippi_river_flooding.html

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Flooding in Tennessee USA 2010
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Red River flooding USA 2009
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/red_river_flooding.html

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Mississippi Floodwaters in Iowa USA 2008
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/mississippi_floodwaters_in_iow.html

flooding
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/flooding
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/nov/20/flooding-keswick-cumbria
http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/page/0,,2119487,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2007/jun/26/flooding?picture=330082575
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2007-05-10-mo-flood_N.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2006-07-28-ohio-storms_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2006-06-29-northeast-flooding_x.htm

flooding rivers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/20/torrential-rain-river-floods-cockermouth

be in risk of flooding

coastal flooding
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2007-04-14-severestorms_N.htm

flood watch
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2006-10-14-buffalo-snow_x.htm

flood alert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z65gY9nsZCc&feature=channel

on flood alert

flood warning
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/01/uk-flood-warnings-rain-weather
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2110852,00.html

flood-swollen streets

worst affected areas

catastrophe
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article2127599.ece

disaster

battle against nature

sea level
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/sea-level

sand

sandbag
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/us/27flood.html

bolster the defences

soaked
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2006-07-09-west-flooding_x.htm

be inundated with flood waters

sodden
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2133122,00.html

swamp
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/floods/2008-06-12-floods_N.htm

wash away

overflow
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1819470520080618

shore up

dry ground

A flooded street

Thursday June 12, 2008,

in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Officials estimated that 100 blocks in Cedar Rapids were under water

forcing the evacuation of nearly 4,000 homes

and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets.

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Mississippi Floodwaters in Iowa USA 2008
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/mississippi_floodwaters_in_iow.html

lake

stream

river
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/us/05flood.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/17/flooding

swollen

rain-swollen
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/us/05flood.html

crest
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/us/27flood.html

reach its crest
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/05/04/us/AP-US-Tennessee-Floods.html

crest
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11river.html

rise
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/17/flooding

inch

surge
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2137080.ece

rising waters

high

gush

peak

subside

recede
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/us/05flood.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/05/04/us/AP-US-Tennessee-Floods.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2133463,00.html

receding floodwaters
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/05/04/us/AP-US-Tennessee-Floods.html

gallon

bank

on the banks

on the Thames

the Thames barrier
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/regions/thames/323150/335688/341764/

drain

draining

sewer

sewage

treatment station

mudslides

unsafe

safe

be stranded

be cut off

be airlifted to safety

emergency response

emergency team

emergency accomodation

rescue
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/20/torrential-rain-river-floods-cockermouth

emergency rescue workers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/20/torrential-rain-river-floods-cockermouth

helicopter rescue

mop up

Environment Agency EA
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

More Victims Feared as Tenn. Floodwaters Recede

May 4, 2010
Filed at 6:44 a.m. ET
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Cumberland River having reached its crest was little comfort amid fears that receding floodwaters could reveal more victims of deadly storms that swamped much of middle Tennessee.

The death toll was at 29 across three states, but hope was slim that number would stand Tuesday as recovery begins in earnest.

The flooding, which pushed the river's muddy waters into Nashville's historic downtown, came amid severe storms that brought flash floods so swift many could not escape.

Residents and authorities know they'll find widespread property damage in inundated areas, but dread even more devastating discoveries.

''Those in houses that have been flooded and some of those more remote areas, do we suspect we will find more people? Probably so,'' Nashville Fire Chief Kim Lawson said. ''We certainly hope that it's not a large number.''

Thousands of people fled rising water and hundreds were rescued, but bodies were recovered Monday from homes, a yard, even a wooded area outside a Nashville supermarket. By Monday night, the rapidly rising waters were blamed in the deaths of 18 people in Tennessee alone, including 10 in Nashville.

The weekend storms also killed six people in Mississippi and four in Kentucky, including one man whose truck ran off the road and into a flooded creek. One person was killed by a tornado in western Tennessee.

In Nashville, the Cumberland also deluged some of the city's most important revenue sources: the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, whose 1,500 guests were whisked to a shelter; the adjacent Opry Mills Mall; even the Grand Ole Opry House, considered by many to be the heart of country music.

''That's the hub of the whole deal down here,'' 82-year-old businessman John Hobbs said of the entertainment complex. ''Without them nobody would be down here. That's like the star of the whole family.

Floodwaters also edged into areas of downtown, damaging the Country Music Hall of Fame, LP Field where the Tennessee Titans play and the Bridgestone Arena, home to the NHL's Nashville Predators and one of the city's main concert venues.

Carly Horvat, 29, lives in a downtown condo and ventured out with a few friends to look at damage Monday night.

''I have never heard the city so quiet,'' Horvat said. ''Usually, you hear whooping and hollering from Broadway.''

Damage estimates range into the tens of millions of dollars. Gov. Phil Bredesen declared 52 of Tennessee's 95 counties disaster areas after finishing an aerial tour from Nashville to western Tennessee during which he saw flooding so extensive that treetops looked like islands.

The severity of the storms caught everyone off guard. More than 13.5 inches of rainfall were recorded Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, making for a new two-day record that doubled the previous mark.

Dramatic rescues continued into Monday as water crept into areas that had remained safe during weekend downpours.

Authorities and volunteers in fishing boats, an amphibious tour bus and a canoe scooped up about 500 trapped vacationers at the Wyndham Resort along the river near Opryland. Rescuers had to steer through a maze of underwater hazards, including submerged cars, some with tops barely visible above floodwaters the color of milk chocolate.

Bill Crousser was riding his Jet Ski past a neighbor's house when he rescued a man, his wife and their dog moments before flames from a fire in the garage broke through the roof.

''We just got the hell out of there,'' Crousser said.

The water swelled most of the area's lakes, minor rivers, creeks, streams and drainage systems far beyond capacity. It flowed with such force that bridges were washed out and thousands of homes were damaged. Much of that water then drained into the Cumberland, which snakes through Nashville.

The Cumberland topped out around 6 p.m. Monday at 51.9 feet, about 12 feet above flood stage and the highest it's reached since 1937. It began to recede just in time to spare the city's only remaining water treatment plant.

Still, about 50 Nashville schools were damaged and floodwaters submerged hundreds of homes in the Bellevue suburb alone, including Lisa Blackmon's. She escaped with her dog and her car but feared she lost everything else.

''I know God doesn't give us more than we can take,'' said Blackmon, 45, who lost her job at a trucking company in December. ''But I'm at my breaking point.''

------

Associated Press writers Travis Loller, Kristin M. Hall, Lucas L. Johnson II, Teresa Walker, Sheila Burke, Randall Dickerson and Joe Edwards in Nashville contributed to this report.

More Victims Feared as Tenn. Floodwaters Recede, NYT, 4.5.2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/05/04/us/AP-US-Tennessee-Floods.html

Flood-hit Cumbria braces for more rain

Met Office predicting up to 50mm
and warns of waters rising again as county reels from evacuations and policeman's death

Saturday 21 November 2009
15.36 GMT
Guardian.co.uk
David Batty and agencies

Flood-damaged parts of the UK are bracing themselves for more heavy rain today after two days of downpours that inundated homes, swept away bridges, sparked evacuations and claimed the life of a policeman.

PC Bill Barker. Photograph: Cumbria constabulary/PA
Gordon Brown has pledged an extra £1m to help flood-hit communities in Cumbria, which yesterday suffered the worst downpour in British history, with 314mm – more than a foot of rain – falling in 24 hours.

Brown announced the funding on a visit to the flood-stricken county where PC Bill Barker died after a bridge collapsed.

More than 1,300 households across Cumbria have been affected, with hundreds of people displaced and more than 1,000 homes left without power. About 100 people remain in emergency shelters.

A thorough search of houses affected by the flooding began this morning, as the emergency services advised people not to return to their homes yet and forecasters predicted fresh downpours.

The Met Office has predicted another 15mm (0.5in) to 40mm (1.6in) of rain in Cumbria today. Four bridges collapsed in the county and 11 remain closed due to fast-flowing floodwaters.

There are four severe flood warnings in force in Cumbria and 19 flood warnings across Scotland, northern England, the Midlands and Wales. There are flood watches in another 50 areas.

Both rivers that run through Cockermouth – the town worst affected by the flooding – burst their banks, blocking roads and forcing more than 200 people from their homes.

A police spokesman said: "Nobody has been reported missing in the area at this time and the rescue effort is being scaled down.

"Fewer than 100 people remain in reception centres, with the rest having made alternative arrangements to stay with family and friends."

Ian Rideout, a Red Cross worker, said many of those rescued were suffering from shock. "The centre of Cockermouth looks like it has been completely destroyed. I've never seen anything like it. The water has caused so much damage that many of the homes here are completely ruined.

"We've been working non-stop and between the Red Cross and RNLI we've rescued around 200 people from their homes.

"Last night I went up in one of the helicopters to get an idea of the full scale of the disaster and where we should focus rescue efforts. Almost straight away we found four people on the roof of their home who needed to be winched to safety.

"Most of the people we've rescued have been in shock. One minute it's raining heavily, then the next their home is filling with water and they're being evacuated by the Red Cross."

People in the town said they were worried that rain forecast for the weekend would bring more problems. Alan Smith said: "The thing with the river Cocker is it can fall as quickly as it can rise.

"It's come down four foot from last night but the fells are sodden and if we get any more rain it will just come straight off and into the river and the level will rise again.

"If we have persistent rain like last night and the day before, we will be back to square one."

Julian Mayes, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK, said: "What happened was at least a one in 500 years event. It was a historic day which broke all records."

Further showers were likely to give river levels a "temporary upward blip" and flood plain areas would remain flooded, he said.

The Workington MP, Tony Cunningham, said the flood was "of biblical proportions" and he was astonished by the destruction of the Northside bridge, which led to PC Barker's death.

Cunningham, whose constituency covers Cockermouth, said: "If the floods in Carlisle are anything to go by then people were out of their homes for 10, 11, even 12 months.

"There are many broken buildings in Cockermouth but the people are not broken."

At a meeting at Penrith police station in Cumbria, Brown said the government would match the £1m in aid already given by the North West Development Agency.

"We will do everything we can to support the local community in its hour of need."

Brown has paid tribute to Barker, calling the policeman "a very brave and heroic man".

Barker, who would have been celebrating his 45th birthday today, was killed as he directed motorists away from the bridge. It collapsed and he was swept away. His body was found on a beach in nearby Allonby.

The officer, from Egremont, served with Cumbria police for 25 years and leaves a wife, Hazel, and four children.

His wife said her husband was her "forever friend" and "an amazing dad", adding: "I have the comfort of knowing that Bill died doing the job he loved, and the fact that he was helping others is just typical Bill."

Cumbria police Chief Constable Craig Mackey said Barker was "a wonderful police officer and a real family man".

"Bill is a hero who died saving the lives of others and our thoughts are with his family at this devastating time. He was a much loved friend, colleague and an inspiration to everyone he knew – he will be sadly missed."

Flood-hit Cumbria braces for more rain, G, 21.11.2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/21/cumbria-floods-more-rain-barker

A River Prone to Flooding, and Misunderstanding

March 31, 2009
The New York Times
By KIRK JOHNSON

FARGO, N.D. — Predicting the weather has always been at least in part a gambler’s game — a matter of odds and percentages.

But over the last week, as the Red River in North Dakota has surged to potentially catastrophic flood levels, setting off waves of anxiety from here to Washington, forecasters seem to have been betting mostly on the wrong horse.

The flood surge rose much faster than expected in Fargo, the state’s largest city, then peaked sooner and at a lower level than forecast — to the city’s great relief and gratitude. In the last two days — surprise again — it has gone down more rapidly than foreseen.

But the uncertainty has taken a toll.

“It really stresses the city’s system,” said Donald P. Schwert, a professor of geology at North Dakota State University in Fargo, who has been a consultant on landslide and erosion issues to Cass County, which includes Fargo. “The city builds up temporary dikes on a forecast, then a new forecast comes and the city has to respond to that, and on it goes.”

Scientists say they have learned a tremendous amount about the Red River since its last major flood in 1997, using sophisticated modeling systems developed in the wake of disasters up and down the river that year.

But to the chagrin and frustration of emergency workers, one of the biggest lessons from all the new data is that the Red River — obscure to many Americans, but beloved in the world of river hydrology — has emerged as perhaps even more maddeningly complex, and thus in some ways harder to predict, than before.

“It’s like anything else in life — the more you know, the more you know you don’t know,” said Scott Dummer, the hydrologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service’s North Central River Forecast Center.

Mr. Dummer (pronounced DUE-mer) said the Red River, though fairly modest compared with some more famous rivers, was devilishly hard to predict, partly because of its shallow channel. The Colorado River has been carving out the Grand Canyon for millions of years. The Red, by contrast, dates back to perhaps only a few thousand years before the Pyramids. That means it has not had that long to cut deep channels that can contain water during floods.

On top of that, the river flows very slowly across a pancake-flat landscape. Imagine raising an eight-foot-long sheet of plywood just enough to slip a single sheet of paper under the raised end. The resulting minuscule tilt of the board represents the average slope of the Red River’s bed.

What that means is that the river, when it goes awry during a flood, spills every which way across the countryside. This makes predictions of flood levels contingent on thousands of data points, not just depth gauges here and there.

In the Weather Service’s defense, Mr. Dummer said the long-term predictions of this year’s flood — the first warnings went out in December — were right on the money, and justified the expense and work involved in the new computer models, which rely on 58 years of river data.

Other wrinkles of the river’s drainage basin, though, are just now being explored, like the odd legacy of homesteading. The land grant system of the 1800’s divided much of the nation into square-mile sections of 640 acres — a pattern still prevalent on the Great Plains, where many roads follow with geometric, if not downright boring, exactitude the old ruler-straight division lines.

Now comes the Red River question: How much water does each square hold? Nobody knows the exact amount, said Aaron W. Buesing, a hydraulic engineer with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in St. Paul, but the next round of computer models aims to provide an answer.

Mr. Buesing said he thought that grid storage might explain why some flood surge predictions were off. The river’s quick rise, accompanied by a cold snap, may have trapped enough water in the grids to keep the worst predictions from materializing, he said.

Then there’s Canada to worry about. Squashed by glaciers for thousands of years, it has been slowly recovering from the compression. For the north-flowing Red River, that means its downhill slope, already barely perceptible, is getting even less pronounced with each passing year, adding to its complexity, and its propensity to flood.

A River Prone to Flooding, and Misunderstanding, NYT, 31.3.2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/us/31red.html

Fargo Neighborhood Evacuated as Waters Rise

March 28, 2009
The New York Times
By MONICA DAVEY

FARGO, N.D. — Along the banks of this city, the Red River surpassed its highest level in history Friday morning, forcing the emergency evacuation of one neighborhood before dawn and leading city leaders here, once cheerfully upbeat, to sound far more dire.

“We do not want to give up yet,” Mayor Dennis Walaker of Fargo said late Thursday night after receiving yet another piece of gruesome news. Forecasters now believe the Red River will go right on rising, and by Saturday overtake the record set here more than a century ago by two feet or even more, much higher than anyone here had earlier believed possible.

“We want to go down swinging — if we go down,” the mayor said, as he urged his city to summon the energy to build the dikes that protect it yet another foot higher by Friday night.

“I’m going to be devastated if we lose,” said Mr. Walaker, who had, only a few days ago, expressed optimism, even certainty, that Fargo, a city of 90,000 and North Dakota’s most populous, would be fine.

By Friday morning, some hospitals here had transferred patients to other facilities miles away, and nursing homes had sent residents to relatives’ homes on high ground. Major roads here were closed, to allow trucks carrying more loads of sandbags to reach levees as fast as possible. And after about 100 people, including some residents of a nursing home, in one Fargo neighborhood and a large swath of neighboring Moorhead, Minn., were forced to evacuate Thursday night, officials on Friday ordered residents from about 150 more Fargo homes to leave just after 2 a.m. The authorities said they found a leak in a levee near those homes, and were racing to repair it. Residents, meanwhile, could be seen trudging out by foot, bearing belongings in bone-cold temperatures, local news reports said.

While flooding conditions have threatened much of North Dakota and parts of western Minnesota, and some rural communities are already under water, all eyes on Friday were on this city and on Moorhead, a city of 34,700 just across the Red River. More than a thousand members of the National Guard had been called in to add more sand to the area’s already enormous dikes, but even weather forecasters seemed at a loss to be sure what might come next.

“This is definitely ground zero right now,” said Patrick Slattery, a spokesman for the National Weather Service. “Once you get here, into predictions above the levels we have ever seen before, you’re taking about unbroken ground. Even we don’t know for certain what’s going to happen.”

People here found themselves facing added challenges given the singular dimensions of this flood. Once the river crests on Saturday, it is expected to stay at those swelled, highest levels for several days. Dikes that hold for a few hours may be in trouble in a matter of days, the authorities here say.

The temperature here, too — 10 degrees on Friday morning with a wind chill reported at 4 degree below zero — tested the stamina of thousands of volunteers. It also led some to worry about the condition of the piles sandbags. Would sandbags slide and give way on frozen ground? Would frigid sandbags allow water to flow through rather than holding it back?

In Fargo, a city where residents continued to offer applause at public meetings for their political leaders even as the news grew worse and worse this week, tempers were clearly tested by late Thursday. Kristy Fremstad, who owns rental property in Fargo, pleaded with city officials to add sandbags to the dike near her land.

“We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting,” she tearfully told city commissioners at an emergency meeting, (also attended by Gov. John Hoeven, Senator Byron L. Dorgan and Representative Earl Pomeroy). “I need some help.”

Schools and businesses were closed. And some people in between the city’s primary dike system and a second set of newly created emergency dikes were advised to evacuate. Volunteers, now days into their work, went right on filling sandbags at the Fargodome all through the night.

Across the bulging river, in Moorhead, residents who had been advised to evacuate found themselves on roads jammed with other cars, (and, in some cases, still covered in snow). The congested streets led some here, including Mayor Walaker, to worry about how a broader evacuation plan, if one were required, would play out here.

Adding to the complications of such a concept, local officials acknowledged, was the fact that no one could be sure where the dikes might break or what roads — given rising waters and falling snow — might be passable.

In some rural areas to the south of Fargo and elsewhere, water had already filled homes. White caps, one law enforcement officer said, could be seen around what had once been farm fields. Rescues were made with boats and helicopters, even as other residents, surrounded on all sides by water, insisted on staying put.

Around Bismarck, the state capital, flooded neighborhoods sat empty as demolition crews battled dangerous ice jams on the Missouri with explosives. Water levels had dropped some there, offering hope.

“Our biggest concern is an ice jam in the river just 10 miles north of Bismarck, which we’re hoping does not dislodge,” said Bill Wocken, that city’s administrator. “An ice jam is kind of like my teenage daughter. Sometimes there is just no way to predict what they’ll do next.”

In Grand Forks, which was devastated by flooding in 1997, two of the three bridges leading in and out of town were already closed. But city officials seemed hopeful that a $409 million Army Corps of Engineers flood protection project, completed two years ago, would save the city from the Red River this time.

“We remain cautious, vigilant and watchful,” said Kevin Dean, a city spokesman.

Karen Ann Culotta contributed reporting from Chicago.

Fargo Neighborhood Evacuated as Waters Rise, NYT, 28.3.2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/us/28flood.html

Along the Mississippi, Wary Eyes on Rising Water

June 18, 2008
The New York Times
By MONICA DAVEY and ANAHAD O’CONNOR

CANTON, Mo. — The Mississippi River washed over two levees in western Illinois early Wednesday, forcing people out of their homes, destroying countless acres of crops, and bringing the number of levees that have given way to the river this week to nearly 20.

The latest breaks occurred overnight near the small town of Meyer on the western border of Illinois and Missouri, deluging roads and farmland and prompting the authorities to force about 50 people to leave their homes. The river was expected to crest early this afternoon farther downstream in Quincy, Ill., a town of about 40,000 people perched on the banks of the Mississippi.

The rising waters further strained some of the country’s most fertile farmland, pushing corn prices near record highs. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the flooding thus far has left about 12 percent of Midwestern crops in poor to very poor condition, lifting corn prices to $8 a bushel and soybeans to $15.96 a bushel. Those prices were expected to climb as the flooding continued.

Here in Canton, a town of 2,500 in eastern Missouri, people were bracing for the Mississippi to crest by Thursday morning.

Workers on four-wheel ATVs zipped up and down the town’s earthen levee carting an extra layer of protection: 1.3 million sandbags to sit atop a two foot wall that they have built — in less than a week — atop the levee. Looking out from the levee on Wednesday, the Mississippi was only feet away from the top. Farmland, a road, and the welcome sign for Canton were under about 12 feet of water.

Still, officials here say they hope the levee will protect the town. Every time a sign of water slipped through the top — or a puddle appeared in sandbags, more ATVs raced to the spot to shore it up. “We think this is going to hold,” said Richard Dodd, an alderman here, as he drew on his experience in 1993 and directed traffic and ordered more sand bags in different spots. “We were green in ’93, but now we know,” he said, referring to the last enormous flood here, a year when the level crept only a few inches higher than is expected by morning.

As the overflowing waters of tributaries began to recede in Iowa and Wisconsin this week, they had nowhere to go but here, into the legendary Mississippi, a river that was growing mightier by the hour. On Wednesday, in parts of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, all eyes were on this river, which was expected to reach record levels in some areas before cresting later this week.

Law enforcement officials and residents were focused on the patchwork of levees that protect these shores, and altogether officials were closely monitoring at least 27 levees for the possibility the waters might flow over them.

In Clarksville, another quaint town not far away, the residents have been struggling these past few days to keep the river at bay. Already, the new riverfront park is out of sight, under water. Disappearing slowly is the antique mall, the bank, the church, the American Legion hall, the oldest house in town. And the Mississippi River is only getting started.

“You patch one thing and something else falls apart,” Jo Anne Smiley, the mayor of this town of 490, said on Tuesday as a giant water pump churned outside her City Hall door and word of new woes — a sewerage system failure — arrived. “We’ve been through what the Mississippi can do. But I don’t know this time. The fear is if it all goes under.”

On Tuesday, at least four breaks were reported among scores of levees, officials said, three of them in Missouri north of St. Louis. Near Gulfport, Ill., a levee gave way before dawn, allowing the river to surge through a hole that soon grew to 300 feet wide.

That town and thousands of acres of farmland were flooded, and the Great River Bridge, connecting Illinois to Burlington, Iowa, had to be closed, the Henderson County Sheriff’s office said. Four hundred people were evacuated, several by helicopter and boat. By evening, several other levees were showing signs of vulnerability known as sand boils, ant-hill-like formations produced by extreme water pressure.

Elsewhere, some highways and bridges along the Mississippi were closed. Evacuations were suggested, shelters were opened, and free tetanus shots were being dispensed. National Guard members, volunteers and inmates feverishly sandbagged homes, levees and, in towns like Clarksville, nearly everything else that was not already under water.

Water teased at the ankles of Pam Myers, 45, and her three sons as they rushed on Tuesday to surround their house in Meyer with the mound of sand town officials had dumped in her yard. Ms. Myers pointed grimly at the line on her house — hip high — where officials had told her water would probably reach, but said she had no plans to go anywhere, even when the waters are expected to crest here near the end of the week.

“I’ll stay and fight her,” she said of the Mississippi. “I’ve got river in my blood.”

Monica Davey reported from Clarksville, Mo., and Catrin Einhorn from Chicago. Anahad O’Connor reported from New York.

Along the Mississippi, Wary Eyes on Rising Water, NYT, 18.6.2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/us/18cnd-flood.html

FACTBOX: Some major floods in the United States

Mon Jun 16, 2008
2:30pm EDT
Reuters

(Reuters) - Overflowing rivers in Iowa and other Midwest U.S. states forced evacuations and disrupted the region's economy on Friday with fears of worse to come from fragile levees and more rain.

Following are some major floods to hit the United States:

* In June 2006, floods killed at least 16 people in the eastern United States. Authorities ordered hundreds of thousands of people evacuated in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Damage estimates exceeded $1 billion.

* In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and devastated the Gulf Coast, causing more than 1,800 deaths. The $125 billion in damage made it the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.

* In 1998, flooding and deadly tornadoes swept through central, southern and eastern Texas, causing 31 deaths and prompting the evacuation of 14,000 people. Flooding was reported in 60 counties -- about one-fourth of the state. Damage estimates exceeded $1 billion.

* In 1993, floods ravaged nine Midwestern states, killing 48 people and leaving nearly 70,000 people homeless. The cost of flood damage was estimated at $21 billion. The Mississippi River on August 1 crested in St. Louis at a record 49.4 feet.

* In 1972, Tropical Storm Agnes dumped 8 inches to 16 inches of rain over a large portion of upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, with some locations receiving nearly 20 inches of rain in three days. The storm killed 122 people and caused over $3 billion in damage.

* In 1969, Hurricane Camille's torrential rains struck mountainous west and central Virginia. Sixty-seven people were reported dead and 106 missing after floods virtually washed out towns in the mountains.

* In 1927, levees built to contain the Mississippi River broke, and a wall of water pushed its way across Midwestern farmlands. The flood covered 27,000 square miles (69,920.000 sq km), an area about the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont combined. The flood killed about 1,000 people and displaced some 700,000 more. At a time when the entire federal budget was barely $3 billion, it caused an estimated $1 billion in damage.

* In 1889, more than 2,200 people died in Johnstown, Pennsylvania when the South Fork dam broke after days of heavy rain. The town was destroyed within minutes by a wall of water that rushed down a narrow valley.

Sources: Reuters/National Climatic Data Center/ www.AccuWeather.com / www.2facts.com / www.pbs.org/ www.usnews.com/www.pubs.usgs.gov

(Writing by Paul Grant, Washington Editorial Reference Unit)

FACTBOX: Some major floods in the United States, R, 16.6.2008,
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1321057020080616

Two months of rain in just one day

· Met Office: deluge in south is worst in living memory
· Battered north braced for more as front advances

Saturday July 21, 2007
Guardian
Fred Attewill, Martin Wainwright and Riazat Butt

Some of the heaviest rainfall in living memory deluged southern Britain yesterday, inundating places with up to one sixth of their entire annual rainfall in less than 24 hours.

Downpours knocked out satellite communications, cut power, forced schools and homes to be evacuated, and badly disrupted roads and railways.

Emergency services were severely stretched, while one wedding party was last night preparing to bed down in a church after they were surrounded by rapidly rising floodwaters.

London saw its luck run out after having avoided the worst of the recent downpours, while north-east England, parts of which are still suffering from June's monsoon conditions, braced itself for more damage as the rain moved north.

The wettest part of the UK was Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, which received 121.2mm of rain from midnight Thursday until 5pm yesterday - three times its average rainfall for July and a sixth of what it would expect for the whole year.

Steve Randall, a forecaster for the Met Office, said: "I've never seen anything like it, and I've been in the Met Office for 34 years. It's an extraordinary amount, more like you would expect in a tropical rainforest."

At Barry in south Wales, residents were trapped in their homes as sewage poured into the street. Firefighters used a boat to rescue three people from knee-high water in one building; a man was briefly trapped in his car in a dip below a road bridge. In Sussex, flooding in the Haywards Heath area led to serious train delays, while in Worthing the hospital was flooded to a depth of 18 inches.

The Thames Valley was also hard hit, with Reading and Maidenhead town centres flooded; there were long delays on the M4 after a landslip caused by heavy rain left just one lane open on the eastbound carriageway.

Parts of south-west London saw floods two-feet-deep, and the Underground was badly disrupted.

At Heathrow, 141 flights were cancelled as air traffic controllers grounded aircraft in the worst of the downpours.

A severe weather warning will remain in force today for north Wales and the west Midlands, but the rain is expected to ease off overnight. Summer has no plans to return, however. Sunday is forecast to be showery and dull in most areas, and heavy rain may return to the south on Monday.

The only bright spot was that the worst of the rain kept away from the battered north, where a huge recovery operation is installing thousands of temporary homes for people whose houses have already been wrecked. Only a short-lived outrider of today's storms reached the devastated areas of Yorkshire and Humberside, penetrating as far as Richmond, North Yorkshire, where the sudden volume of water burst the banks of Skeeby beck, flooding homes in six villages.

In Cheltenham, one couple's plans for the perfect wedding went down the drain as they and 100 guests were marooned in their church by floodwaters 5ft deep.

As Sarah Parfitt, 34, married Andy Holtom, 31, at Holy Trinity, torrential rain caused a stream next to the church to swell and burst its banks, sending filthy brown water churning towards the church building. They were confronted by floodwater on stepping out for photographs, and, after calling the fire service, were told to stay put. The new Mrs Holtom said: "When I imagined my wedding day as a little girl, I always thought it would be sunny and totally perfect - I had no idea it would end up like this."

Two months of rain in just one day, G, 21.7.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2131580,00.html

4.15pm update

Rain, rain and yet more rain hits UK

Friday July 20, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Martin Wainwright and Mark Oliver

More heavy rain swept across Britain from the Atlantic today, triggering flash floods to add to more than £1.5bn worth of damage caused by storms in the past three weeks.

A blanket severe weather warning was issued by the Meteorological Office for the whole of Wales, the Midlands and East Anglia and everywhere in southern England except Cornwall.

Forecasters said the downpours could dump up to 10cm (4in) of rain in less than 24 hours in some areas, with central and southern England and Wales the worst affected.

Five people trapped on the first floor of a building in Barry, south Wales, were rescued by firefighters amid a busy day for the emergency services.

Brief heavy showers passed in successive belts as council flood controls and insurance call centres doubled staff for the weekend.

Berkshire was among the worst hit areas. In Hampshire, where scores of roads were closed, the Fire and Rescue Service said it had received more than 200 calls.

There were appeals for the public not to call emergency numbers unless life was in danger or there was a risk of serious damage to property.

Electrical cables were brought down in Basingstoke and a BMW car left stranded in 60cm (2ft) of floodwater that hit large parts of the town.

The only piece of good news was that the worst of the rain kept away from the battered north, where a huge recovery operation is installing thousands of temporary homes for people whose houses have been wrecked.

More than 1,000 caravans have been installed in Hull and a complete new caravan park is being built at Toll Bar, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, where 80% of properties were badly damaged in June.

Plans to use a cruise ship as a floating shelter have been drawn up in Hull, in case evacuees currently staying with friends and family need a home later in the year. Many damaged houses will take eight months to dry out and redecorate.

Only a short-lived outrider of today's storms reached the devastated area, penetrating as far as Richmond in North Yorkshire, where the sudden volume of water burst the banks of Skeeby beck, flooding homes in six villages.

Phil Rothwell, head of flood risk policy at the Environment Agency, said: "Everyone should stay fully aware of the weather situation over the weekend. Where there is the danger of rivers rising people should check for flood warnings in their area."

The Highways Agency warned drivers to use headlights and double the distance between cars because of the level of rain and spray.

Severe weather warnings will remain in force tomorrow for north Wales and the West Midlands. Sunday is forecast to be showery and dull in most areas, and heavy rain may return to the south on Monday.

The Conservative leader, David Cameron, was visiting Lincoln this afternoon to meet victims and rescue workers, including salvage teams who were shifting mounds of ruined furniture and belongings to landfill sites.

In one of the worst-hit areas, Doncaster, a couple said their flooded home in Adwick le Street had been burgled twice since waist-high water filled it a fortnight ago.

Simon Young, 35, the director of a multimedia firm, said he and his wife, Cheryl, 28, had nothing left. "They've taken the kiddies' money box, Cheryl's grandmother's jewellery, the newborn's clothes, even nappies. I think we need to put a sign up outside - 'burgled twice, please don't bother'."

Rail travel has also been disrupted throughout Wales, south-west England and southern England, and some firms have been forced to provide bus replacement services.

The Virgin Cross Country service had to suspend its services between Birmingham New Street and Gloucester because of the flooding. Other train firms affected were Arriva Trains Wales, Chiltern Railways, First Capital Connect, First Great Western, South West Trains, Southeastern and Southern.

Parts of the London underground system have been also been affected and at one stage 15 stations were closed. Transport for London's website was updating details of which services were disrupted.

Police in London warned motorists to avoid the Wandsworth area, especially where there are roads that pass under bridges.

Rain, rain and yet more rain hits UK, G, 20.7.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2131208,00.html

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