I used to live in the area and the “massive flooding all the time” is literally nothing compared to the amount of devastation in the area currently. Entire communities have literally been obliterated by landslides. Thousands of people are stranded because of damaged roads. Hundreds of thousands are still without power. In some isolated areas it is going to take weeks/months to rebuild infrastructure to even access the areas, let alone repair homes and return electricity.
I’m actually upset, because your comment is implying that this is a run-of-the-mill occurrence in the area. This is an unprecedented tragedy and the worst flooding the area has seen since 1916 (and this time it affects thousands more people because of growth in the region.)
I would disagree. I used to live in Rosman, NC, about an hour south of Asheville.
This is absolutely a precedented tragedy. It is run of the mill. That’s because of climate change. Because of climate change, these 100 year floods are occurring once a decade. Yes, this is the biggest in those hundred years, but there are communities who are enormously affected by this regularly.
Calling it unprecedented plays into climate deniers hands. It wasn’t normal. But it is becoming normal. It is precedented. We caused it. If it’s unprecedented, people will ignore it as an oddity, an outlier. But people living there should expect this.
I’m not saying this isn’t unprecedented, but flooding (not at this level) has always been a reality of life in Appalachia. I remember going to Kentucky to help out after flooding in 2007 or 2008.
I used to live in the area and the “massive flooding all the time” is literally nothing compared to the amount of devastation in the area currently. Entire communities have literally been obliterated by landslides. Thousands of people are stranded because of damaged roads. Hundreds of thousands are still without power. In some isolated areas it is going to take weeks/months to rebuild infrastructure to even access the areas, let alone repair homes and return electricity.
I’m actually upset, because your comment is implying that this is a run-of-the-mill occurrence in the area. This is an unprecedented tragedy and the worst flooding the area has seen since 1916 (and this time it affects thousands more people because of growth in the region.)
I would disagree. I used to live in Rosman, NC, about an hour south of Asheville.
This is absolutely a precedented tragedy. It is run of the mill. That’s because of climate change. Because of climate change, these 100 year floods are occurring once a decade. Yes, this is the biggest in those hundred years, but there are communities who are enormously affected by this regularly.
Calling it unprecedented plays into climate deniers hands. It wasn’t normal. But it is becoming normal. It is precedented. We caused it. If it’s unprecedented, people will ignore it as an oddity, an outlier. But people living there should expect this.
I’m not saying this isn’t unprecedented, but flooding (not at this level) has always been a reality of life in Appalachia. I remember going to Kentucky to help out after flooding in 2007 or 2008.