Rain, rain, go away
Too little and it鈥檚 a drought, too much and it鈥檚 a flood. And this year, like last year, the rains have been relentless, especially in the middle part of our country.
Flooding began in March from heavy snow melt and early rains in the Upper Midwest and slowly the flooding kept spreading down the mighty Mississippi River, eventually including the Arkansan and Missouri rivers and most of their tributaries. Day after day, we see the pictures of the destruction of homes and business establishments and sometimes entire cities and towns are inundated and the destruction just continues long after the waters recede. For people who live along our riverbanks and coastal areas, this may be the new normal as storms worsen and become more numerous. Simply rebuilding may no longer be the answer; and taxpayers grow wary of continuously bailing out a flood insurance system that has been broken for decades.
Last year, we pumped in $24 billion to take care of old problems and the future does not look good. Unfortunately, the flood insurance system is based on politics and not on actuarial sound data. There is talk of reforming the system to reflect actual risk of flooding. Perhaps we need to move away from the old model and folly of continuing to rebuild in the flood plain. The old 100 year flood data just does not seem to work anymore. New flood models that take into account the increased number and severity of storms and rains will need to be implemented and people are just going to have to rethink were they want to live if they want to be safe.
Many places have been underwater for weeks as these big rivers are slow to flood and slow to recede and the rains have continued to fall. Imagine having to wait weeks before you can get back to your flooded home to begin any cleanup, and then, that big decision as to what to do about the future. Something big is going on and I believe we need to begin to listen to the scientists.
The past year was our third wettest in the United States. Here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, we had our wettest year ever and records in Pittsburgh go back to mid-1800s. Rainfall rates across our area averaged some 12 to 17 inches above normal. Normal rainfall in the Uniontown area is 40 inches and 54 inches in the mountains.
So far in 2019, rainfall across our region continues to be above normal, but nothing like last year. January and April were close to average, while March was on the dry side with two inches below average; however, both February and May had averages of 2.40 and 2 inches above normal. We had 20 days in May with rain and local farmers are eagerly awaiting any stretch of drier weather to get their planting done. In the Midwest, the entire season may be lost as much of the area remains under water.
Let鈥檚 hope for a good balance of sunshine and rain and that is what appears to be in the forecast for our area.