OFF TOPIC, since New Hampshire is making the news

I may be on the coast, but I'm STILL above the hundred year flood plain.

Elizabeth (hoping everyone else is dry and safe)

And thank goodness for that!

Cheryl

As Cheryl says I am fine. My basement only has a quarter inch of water in it so far. My rain guage has recorded 11 inches between Saturday night, and this morning and its still raining. The road I live on is partailly closed, and the main road I use to get to the highway was barely passable. My DH called and its now closed. So I'll just have to take the long way home. Things could be much worse. One of my co-workers has 4 feet of water in his basement, and another has the river within 2 feet of his house, and its still rising. This isn't much fun.

-Margaret

-- \\ o o |\/ o\ o

|/\ / Let it snow!!

Send some over here - we`ve had a drought warning for our part of the UK!

Pat P

I'm fine in Manchester NH. Even the field stone basement in our very old house isn't weeping.. One of my sisters on Shirley Hill was flooded and both of the other seamstresses didn't make it in today. One has 4 inches of water in her house, Not her basement and the other couldn't get in because of washed out roads. So far So good. Bobbie V.

I'm thinking of her too. I have coworkers in similar situations, one of which is now evacuated. If anyone wants to see how bad it is go to

Well, let's just say it's never good to see your hometown on the Weather Channel.

My sister and her family, and my in-laws will soon be isolated with no way in or out by road. Fortunately no one has been hurt so far. Property damage, yes.

And I'd be looking for record mosquito populations in June. Along with an increase in EEE and West Nile virus.

Feeling helpless in Virginia, Donna

Send her my regards and tell her get out if that is what is needful. Hopefully this deluge stops soon, supposedly I "might" see the sun on Thursday.

I've bought the BT rings to put this puddle that forms in the lower part of the front yard. Right now it is draining nicely.

Cheryl

After looking at the pictures, I couldn't help but remember a series of conversations from when I was getting my degree in geology in New Jersey in the 70's. There is an area near Trenton that repeatedly floods. The idea at the time was to buy out the peolple whose houses were within the 50-year flood plain and turn those areas into parklands.

Seemed like a good idea since these people never seemed to have flood insurance and expected the government (ie taxpayers) to rebuild thier flooded homes. Did it go anywhere? No, for a variety of reasons, mostly political - it was bery unpopular.

As I watched what happened this weekend, I could not help but be struck by the fact that it's the same issue in NE as it is in NJ - people building on the floodplains right up to the river banks.

One major reason is history - people in the NE settled on the flood plains because that was the best farmland. Also, NE is very hilly, and the only really flat places are the flood plains. Then, as time went by and the area industrialized, factories were build next to the streams for power and water, and people built thier houses near thier place of work. Industry moved out, but the towns remained where they were.

The results - lots of buildings on the flood plains, meaning nowhere for the water to go, meaning floods and ruined housing. Again, the smart idea would be to not build on the flood plains. Will it happen? No. Why not? Geography, mainly. There's not really any other place to build in the NE. Whose going to pay for all this? Same people that are paying for Katrina - you and me. Maybe this time, people will be required to build thier houses high enough to escape most flooding. I'm not holding my breath, though.

There's an area here which is much the same. Most of the people in that area are poverty-level. FEMA comes in and gives them $15,000, which is intended to pay for raising the house, and instead they spend the money on other stuff, so a few years later, they can get another $15,000 in "free money".

I've proposed -- and it also got nowhere -- a once-in-a-lifetime payout. If you choose to spend the money on a new truck instead of a new foundation, then you have only yourself to blame when your house floods again.

Or here's a government voucher for the foundation-raising contractor, guaranteeing that he will be paid in full by FEMA upon inspection proving that he really did raise your house the required amount, but the resident doesn't see any cash.

Several years ago, when I was working for Emerergency Planning Canada, I read a book called something like "Act of Man; Act of God", pointing out that when such things as floods occur in the USA, governments pay money, so that this guarantees that the next time the emergency occurs, more money will need to be paid out. Here in Canada, our government has divided the country into different potential disaster zones, flood plains, etc. There is no law prohibiting you doing anything, but whatever you do, if the expected disaster happens, you get no government compensation. The result of this sort of program was quite dramatically shown during the Red River floods in Manitoba this year. Very little damage was done. I am reminded of what occurred in Anchorage, Alaska, many years ago, after an earthquake. A lovely subdivision, called Turn Again Park (or something like that), was destroyed. the city decided to avoid a future problem, and zoned the area as park; no houses to be built. It took just

fran ( snipped-for-privacy@volcanomail.com) writes:

Bingo!

San Diego is a city with a constant influx of new residents. Therefore, you have people buying houses with no knowledge of prior history.

For many years, wisely, there was an empty swath in the flood plain. The temptation to build that close to downtown was too great. A few bribes in the right places, the promise of more tax dollars, a number of condo projects were approved.

And January came, and the dry gully became a raging river, and all these people found out there was something the real estate agent forgot to mention. "Oh, this is an unusual year." And the next January came, and they all had water in their garages again, "oh, two unusual years in a row". And the next January came, and the smart ones had figured out that there was a reason the condos were built with garages on the bottom and living quarters on top, and hauled everything stored in the garage up to the living room for the rest of Rainy Season.

And if you held out long enough, you could find a new-to-the-area person who was willing to pay you full price for your condo, because they didn't know you were selling because that dry gully isn't dry year-round.

Hi Margaret,

Thanks for pointing out those pictures.

I'm fine here in Chelmsford MA. Just a little puddle in my basement-no big deal. I've learned the hard way from previous times that I can't put carpeting down there and to keep things I store raised so it's OK.

I took a little walk by the Merrimack in Lowell with my daughter after work today and the place where it goes over the dam reminded us of Niagra falls. Not as big of course but impressive flow. And the river was way wider and faster than usual going around trees on the side where it normally does not reach. It was actually fun to watch. Glad I'm not affected by it. The Brunswick bowling building across from the road going next to the river had a hose going out of it with water flowing out at a steady rate so it must be pretty badly flooded. And the near by soccer field was covered with water and had ducks and seagulls swimming in it. I feel bad for those affected. Donna, I wish the best for your sister and family.

It was great to f> > On 5/16/06 8:02 AM, in article