• BakerBagel@midwest.social
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    2 months ago

    The Appalachian mountains getting massive flooding all the time. The only places you can really build anything are along river valleys in the mountains, so they flood when big storms come through.

    • CreateProblems@corndog.social
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      2 months ago

      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.)

      • pachrist@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

      • BakerBagel@midwest.social
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        2 months ago

        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.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Not like this. I’ve lived in a mountain valley that got big storms. Normal prep was one layer of sandbags around doors and other openings. Not trying to hold back 3 feet of mud.

    • Unlearned9545@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The area I live in has flooded 3 times since it was first inhabited in in the 1780s. 1915, 2004, and Helene. Helene had about as much water as those previous two times combined.

      “floods all the time” bite me

      • BakerBagel@midwest.social
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        2 months ago

        Not every town is gonna flood every year. But there are major floods across Appalachia every year because of the geography. It’s always been a high flood rosk area, which was a major reason for the TVA back in the 30’s. Electrify the area and control flooding. I’m not arguing against climate change. I’m just saying that “flooding in the mountains” isnt some Noah’s arc type shit.