Hurricanes and Inland Flooding

# 4597

Note: I’m having intermittent Internet problems (the tech is on his way for the 2nd visit in 2 days), so I’ll make this a short post.

Today is day four of National Hurricane Preparedness Week, and the focus today is on inland flooding.

On Saturday, I listed some of the major inland flooding events caused by hurricanes in You Don’t Have To Live On The Coast.

This is from NOAA’s Hurricane Preparedness page.

"In the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, inland flooding was responsible for more than half of the deaths associated with tropical cyclones in the United States."

Ed Rappaport

National Hurricane CenterWhen it comes to hurricanes, wind speeds do not tell the whole story. Hurricanes produce storm surges, tornadoes, and often the most deadly of all - inland flooding.

While storm surge is always a potential threat, more people have died from inland flooding from 1970 up to 2000. Intense rainfall is not directly related to the wind speed of tropical cyclones. In fact, some of the greatest rainfall amounts occur from weaker storms that drift slowly or stall over an area.

Inland flooding can be a major threat to communities hundreds of miles from the coast as intense rain falls from these huge tropical air masses.

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