I have been watching news of the Baton Rouge area flooding with great interest. I lived there for four years in the early 1980’s. When I first moved there, I couldn’t believe how the skies would open up and pour down with so much intensity. I would often pull off on the side of the road when I was driving because I couldn’t see and wonder at the people who kept blasting along the highway at high speed. By the time I left, I wasn’t pulling over either! But a 20-minute afternoon blast is a far cry from 20” in less than a day. Good grief.
The people of Baton Rouge are the new one-percenters – they have fallen victim to a “100-year flood.” A 100-year flood has statistically a 1% chance of happening in any given year. Odds are against it, but sometimes you are the 1%. Technically though, they are the new 0.1 percenters! – this is being called a 1,000-year rain event. The chance of this happening was once in 1,000 years! I know when I was living there, most of us didn’t worry about flooding too much; there were some known low areas, but for me, flooding was something that happened in New Orleans. I have tried to find flood maps with enough detail to see if it was flooding where I used to live, but I didn’t find one. I remember the stories from work friends with camps about snakes in the water and stinky mud in the houses. It’s a marshy, buggy place without floods.
I have friends in one of the harder-hit areas. Their house is fine, but their camp was flooded. Based on Facebook posts, they are the people now helping those in need. I’ve heard some stories of looting, but it sounds like Baton Rouge and surrounding communities are pulling together. I hope this stalled system moves out so recovery can begin. Laugh all you want at NJ – at least we don’t have much in the way of natural disasters.
The people of Baton Rouge are the new one-percenters – they have fallen victim to a “100-year flood.” A 100-year flood has statistically a 1% chance of happening in any given year. Odds are against it, but sometimes you are the 1%. Technically though, they are the new 0.1 percenters! – this is being called a 1,000-year rain event. The chance of this happening was once in 1,000 years! I know when I was living there, most of us didn’t worry about flooding too much; there were some known low areas, but for me, flooding was something that happened in New Orleans. I have tried to find flood maps with enough detail to see if it was flooding where I used to live, but I didn’t find one. I remember the stories from work friends with camps about snakes in the water and stinky mud in the houses. It’s a marshy, buggy place without floods.
I have friends in one of the harder-hit areas. Their house is fine, but their camp was flooded. Based on Facebook posts, they are the people now helping those in need. I’ve heard some stories of looting, but it sounds like Baton Rouge and surrounding communities are pulling together. I hope this stalled system moves out so recovery can begin. Laugh all you want at NJ – at least we don’t have much in the way of natural disasters.