WHY FLOATING HOMES MIGHT BE YOUR NEXT HOME
A long-term solution for projected flood prone areas and costal living
Part I
Overview
South Beach, Miami on May 3, 2007 Out of the world’s 22 megacities with a population of more than 10 million, 15 are located along the ocean’s coasts. No city is immune to the effects of a warming world, but a few are more vulnerable than the rest. 30 US cities could be underwater by 2060, and Miami is predicted to be one of them https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-sea- level
Nebraska Faces Over $1.3 Billion In Flood Losses Homes and businesses are surrounded by floodwater Wednesday in Hamburg, Iowa. The "bomb cyclone" that swept through the Midwest this week has caused more than $1 bill Wisconsin Public Radio wpr.org https://www.npr.org/2019/03/21/705408364/nebraska-faces-over-1-3-billion-in-flood- losse
PERU CALAMITY. Residents wade through the water as a flash flood hits the city of Trujillo on March 18, 2017, bringing mud and debris. Across Peru, dozens have been killed and tens of thousands displaced after sudden warming of Pacific waters off the coast unleashed torrential downpours in recent weeks. It is part of a localized El Niño phenomenon that is forecast to stretch into April. Photo by Celso Roldan/AFP https://www.nbcnews.com/slideshow/floods-mudslides-hit-peru-displacing-tens-thousands- n739846
Flash floods arrive over the span of a few hours, which leaves little room to prepare once the threat is imminent. The safest approach to preparing for a flood or any natural disaster is to have a plan in place well before the threat actually arises
A woman walks past a cabana complex pulled off its foundations by Superstorm Sandy in Sea Bright, N.J., in November. Seth Wenig/AP
Always be Prepared, and you will survive and thrive, no mater what the circumstances might be
Slow-Onset Floods usually last for a relatively longer period, it may last for one or more weeks, or even months. As this kind of flood last for a long period, it can lead to lose of stock, damage to agricultural products, roads and rail links
Rapid-Onset Floods last for a relatively shorter period, they usually last for one or two days only. Although this kind of flood lasts for a shorter period, it can cause more damages and pose a greater risk to life and property as people usually have less time to plan out there execution plan and get to safety in a quicker time
NO CITY IS IMMUNE TO THE EFFECTS OF A WARMING WORLD, BUT A FEW ARE MORE VULNERABLE THAN THE REST. NO OTHER KIND OF NATURAL DISASTER IN AMERICA HAS CAUSED MORE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION THAN FLOODS. LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLOODS AND WHAT CAUSES THEM
30 US cities could be underwater by 2060 By 2030, approximately 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities that are exposed to grave economic, social, and environmental pressures. Further, approximately 90 percent of the largest global cities are vulnerable to rising sea levels. Out of the world’s 22 megacities with a population of more than 10 million, 15 are located along the ocean’s coasts. In the 1980s, Antarctica lost 40 billion tons of ice annually. In the last decade, that number jumped to an average of 252 billion tons per year. By the end of 2012, Greenland had lost more than 400 billion tons of ice almost quadruple the amount of loss in 2003. Except for a one-year lull between 2013 and 2014, those losses continue to accelerate. A new study has revealed that melting Greenland ice has contributed to more than half an inch of global sea-level rise since 1972. Half of that increase happened in the last eight years. If all of Greenland's ice were to melt, it would raise sea levels 23 feet, submerging some coastal cities. In the US, that would put everything south of West Palm Beach, Florida underwater.
What classifies a flood?
Flood definition: a flood is defined as a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres and two or more properties of normally dry land.
Flood damage can only be caused by the following water sources: Overflow of inland or tidal waters.
How floods form?
A flood occurs when water inundates land that's normally dry, which can happen in a multitude of ways. Excessive rain, a ruptured dam or levee, rapid melting of snow or ice, or even an unfortunately placed beaver dam can overwhelm a river, spreading over the adjacent land, called a floodplain.
Coastal flooding occurs when a large storm or tsunami causes the sea to surge inland. Most floods take hours or even days to develop, giving residents time to prepare or evacuate. Others generate quickly and with little warning.
So-called flash floods can be extremely dangerous, instantly turning a babbling brook or even a dry wash into rushing rapids that sweep everything in their path downstream.
Climate change is increasing the risk of floods worldwide, particularly in coastal and low-lying areas, melting glaciers and other factors are contributing to a rise in sea levels.
One of the keys to understanding flood risk is understanding the nuances of the type (or types) of flood you face. Why? A flood’s a flood, right? Wrong. There are several different kinds of flood, and each one bears a different impact in terms of how it occurs, the damage it causes, and how it is forecasted. Here’s a crash course on three common types of flood to help you better assess your risk.
There are three Common Types of Flood
I COASTAL (SURGE FLOOD)
Coastal flood, as the name suggests, occurs in areas that lie on the coast of a sea, ocean, or other large body of open water. It is typically the result of extreme tidal conditions caused by severe weather.
Storm surge — produced when high winds from hurricanes and other storms push water onshore — is the leading cause of coastal flooding and often the greatest threat associated with a tropical storm. In this type of flood, water overwhelms low-lying land and often causes devastating loss of life and property.
Coastal flooding is categorized in three levels:
- Minor: A slight amount of beach erosion will occur but no major damage is expected.
- Moderate: A fair amount of beach erosion will occur as well as damage to some homes and businesses.
- Major: Serious threat to life and property. Large-scale beach erosion will occur, numerous roads will be flooded, and many structures will be damaged. Citizens should review safety precautions and prepare to evacuate if necessary.
II FLUVIAL (RIVER FLOOD)
Fluvial, or riverine flooding, occurs when excessive rainfall over an extended period of time causes a river to exceed its capacity. It can also be caused by heavy snow melt and ice jams.
The damage from a river flood can be widespread as the overflow affects smaller rivers downstream, often causing dams and dikes to break and swamp nearby areas.
There are two main types of riverine flooding:
- Overbank flooding occurs when water rises overflows over the edges of a river or stream. This is the most common and can occur in any size channel — from small streams to huge rivers.
- Flash flooding is characterized by an intense, high velocity torrent of water that occurs in an existing river channel with little to no notice. Flash floods are very dangerous and destructive not only because of the force of the water, but also the hurtling debris that is often swept up in the flow.
III PLUVIAL (SURFACE FLOOD)
A pluvial, or surface water flood, is caused when heavy rainfall creates a flood event independent of an overflowing water body. One of the most common misconceptions about flood risk is that one must be located near a body of water to be at risk. Pluvial flooding debunks that myth, as it can happen in any urban area — even higher elevation areas that lie above coastal and river floodplains.
There are two common types of pluvial flooding:
- Intense rain saturates an urban drainage system. The system becomes overwhelmed and water flows out into streets and nearby structures.
- Run-off or flowing water from rain falling on hillsides that are unable to absorb the water. Hillsides with recent forest fires are notorious sources of pluvial floods, as are suburban communities on hillsides.
Always be Prepared, and you will survive and thrive, no mater what the circumstances might be
No mater what your believes about climate change are, the facts and the raw reality according to the following authors are: NOAA National Oceanic and atmospheric Administration - (Part I) https:// oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html6/25/18
Ocean Facts university of Calgary - Energy Education - (Part II) https:// energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Land_vs_sea_ice
Union of concerned scientist - (Part III) climate hot map, global warming effects around the world https://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming- .../land-ice.html
Yale Climate Connections Loss of Land Ice (Not Sea Ice) = More Sea Level Rise - (Part IV) https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/.../loss-of-land-ice- .../
Smithsonian Ocean - (Part V) by The Ocean Portal Team Reviewed by Dr. Joshua K. Willis, NASA-JPL, Dr. Andrew Kemp, Tufts University, and Dr. Benjamin H. Strauss, Climate Central https://ocean.si.edu/through-ti.../ ancient-seas/sea-level-rise
GeoSmart Information - (PartVI) https://geosmartinfo.co.uk
University of south florida scholar commons - (Part VII) 2009 Aquatecture: Architectural adaptation to rising sea levels Erica Williams GRADUATE THESES AND DISSERTATIONS https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/ viewcontent.cgi...
Definitions of FEMA Flood Zone Designations - (Part VIII) https:// snmapmod.snco.us/.../.../fema-flood-zone-definitions.pdf
Cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons - the same hazard with a different name in different parts of the world - arrive with a few days warning, and annually we know when the cyclone season is likely to occur in specific regions, so that preparations can me made for their arrival. Floods can arrive very fast, but the conditions in which floods are likely to occur are quite predictable.
Coastal flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Jersey Shore in October 2012.
In September 2013, heavy rain caused catastrophic river flooding along Colorado's Front Range.
Torrential rain caused extensive pluvial flooding in the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007.