More rain on the way in flooded Alaska

[WhiteTara]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4129684.html
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — High water that closed the main corridor between the state's two largest cities dropped steadily Sunday, though weary emergency officials kept a close watch on forecasts calling for more rain.

"We have reports all over the valley of the rivers and streams subsiding," said Clint Vardeman, a deputy director of emergency services.


Roads and bridges were still under water, he said. Both the Parks Highway and the Alaska Railroad remained closed between Anchorage and Fairbanks because of bridge damage and mud slides.

High water forced at least 150 residents from their homes Saturday and sent campers and fishermen scurrying for high ground, officials said.

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[Warpy]

1. We soggy people in New Mexico send our sympathy

We've been drowned here for about 6 weeks. The air is like a wet woolen blanket, oppressive. People who haven't seen floods in decades have lost everything from flash floods, breached arroyos, washed out roads. They demolished a bridge one town over because the bottom of the bridge was impeding the flow of water through the channel.

This is NOT why I moved to the desert.

[Acadia Blue]

4. I have not heard about the rain in New Mexico.

[Warpy]

6. Not surprising, it's a poor state that will go bright blue

this year since we got rid of the voting machines that disenfranchised 17,000 of us and went to 100% paper ballots.

There's some pretty amazing footage out there, shot by people just as their neighborhoods were being washed away. It's just not as much fun as old pictues of Jon Benet Ramsey.

[AnneD]

8. I lived in NM

for 4 years (Cloudcroft). It is the Rodney Dangerfield of states...it gets no respect. I heard about the flooding around Hatch and in ElPaso Tx.. Are there other flooded areas? When you have too much rain in the desert-it can be so bad.

Parts of Alaska have clay subsoil so I can see mudslides etc happening.

[Warpy]

11. The whole state has been hit hard

with overflowed arroyos and diversion channels, one concrete diversion channel in town partially collapsed. Developers who filled in gullies and arroyos have left property owners realizing why that's a bad idea. Roads are washed out all over the state. One of the Pueblos was pretty much under water last week. Although it receded fairly quickly, the cleanup has been miserable.

We've had 6 weeks of at least daily rain around here, and I'm talking about frog strangler type storms. I never thought I'd bitch about rain in the desert, but I'm bitching NOW.

Next year, it'll probably be back to drought.

[AnneD]

13. The up side...

short wild fire season. My mom grew up in the deserts of Az. We lost 2 cousins to a flash flood many years ago (rains up north caused arroyos to flood). You can always tell the non natives...they do stupid things like fill in or build on arroyos. They built a new hospital in Alamagordo-expensive thing. When I went for an appointment, the first thing I noticed was that in was smack dab in the middle of a arroyo and was surrounded on 2 sides by mountains. When I asked, they assured me that they never got enough rain and that they had a series of back up pumps (yeah, and the levees will hold). What morans!:eyes:

[Warpy]

14. That's why I bought on high ground

and in an old part of town. They did stupid things like that in all the new neighborhoods, builders not respecting land and water and filling in arroyos to make for smooth cul de sac roads.

Well, surprise, surprise.

[William769]

2. At least they will still have their bridge to nowhere to drive on.

[aquart]

3. I was just thinking, maybe they need that bridge after all.

So, Alaska, still wanna vote for the guys who don't believe in global warming?

[Toots]

12. Alaskans are laughing at Global Warming since they have had the coldest

wettest summer in over sixty years. La Nina is blamed..

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Meanwhile, OR, WA and BC have a record dry summer

But global warming is a myth. Right?

Speaking of which, I have a great deal for you: land in Greenland, available in a few years once the glacier melts. Buy it now!

[donsu]

7. more and more newly poor due to global warming

nt

[Trailrider1951]

9. PLEASE send us some here in central Texas

This drought is killing us. Lake Travis is 21 FEET below avereage levels for this time of year! :wow:



News Link:

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=168883

We're all going to die of thirst if we don't get some rain.


edited for typo

[crim son]

10. ...as China turns into a desert.

I'm getting a bit worried. You?