• Weather

Experts Say Record Flooding in Australia Is a Symptom of Accelerating Climate Change

• Australia
• climate change
• extreme weather
• Flooding
• rain

Thousands evacuated in Australia's worst flooding in almost half a century https://t.co/IMuH3ctNtm pic.twitter.com/InQuvXtCZB — Reuters (@Reuters) March 23, 2021 by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer The Australian Government along with the state of New South Wales have signed 16 disaster declarations after heavy rains and flooding forced 18,000 residents to evacuate the region.  Some affected areas have […]

• Weather

La Niña Brings Rain, Avalanches, Floods, Tornadoes to the U.S.

• La Niña
• Pineapple Express
• rain

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer This March will continue to bring more severe weather to the United States. An atmospheric river event — the “Pineapple Express” — is forecast to induce a rainy season in Washington and Oregon, as well as an increased risk of avalanches in the Pacific Northwest.  As the Pineapple Express […]

• Weather

Hurricane Sally’s Slow Movement and Rapid Intensification Underscore Need to Adapt

• destruction
• Flooding
• hurricane
• Hurricane Sally
• rain
• rescues
• storm surge

Hurricane Sally finally slammed onshore along the Alabama-Florida border early yesterday morning after more than a day picking up moisture over the Gulf of Mexico.

Why This Matters: Severe storms like hurricanes Sally, Dorian, and Harvey, but even thunderstorms, are becoming wetter, more intense, have longer staying power, and are harder to predict.

• Weather

Tropical Storm Isaias Crawling Up the East Coast, Could Make Landfall In the Carolinas Overnight

• #HurricaneIsaias
• damage
• Flooding
• National Hurricane Center
• rain
• storm surge
• wind

Tropical Storm Isaias is slowly moving up the Eastern seaboard today, with its biggest risk for damage now in the Carolinas, as the storm remained offshore of Florida causing flooding due to storm surge rather than wind damage.  It will be a very wet few days for the East Coast with heavy rains and storm surge, and inland flooding all the way up to New England.

Why This Matters:  A new study out last week found what we are seeing play out with Tropical Storm Isaias.

• Weather

Tropical Storm Bertha Makes Landfall In South Carolina After Flooding South Florida

• #climatecrisis
• conservation
• environment
• Flooding
• rain
• severe weather
• tropical storm

The second named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Bertha, strengthened quickly overnight Tuesday and made landfall yesterday morning about 20 miles east of Charleston.   On Tuesday, as a result of the storm, Miami experienced more than 7 inches of rain — 6 of which fell in 2 hours, flooding streets across the city.

Why This Matters:  Tropical Storm Bertha is following an increasingly familiar pattern of unprecedented amounts of rainfall along with strong winds that persist into the interior portions.

• Water

Dam Failures a Risk Across the Country Due to Climate Change

• #climatecrisis
• climate change
• dam
• dam failure
• environment
• extreme weather
• rain
• storms

The Edenville Dam failure in Michigan causing thousands to evacuate puts a spotlight on a problem that the American Society of Civil Engineers highlighted in 2017 when it gave our country a “D” for dam safety (yep – that’s it’s grade) but this grade has not significantly improved in the last 20 years.

Why This Matters:  When we think about the security risks to our nation, we need to start counting infrastructure failure due to climate change as one of the most troubling.