Realizing I didn’t know how floods work

A story from the devastating flooding along the Guadeloupe River in Texas.

A young woman was on a family camping trip when the floodwaters swept her away, along with her mother and father. They held on for a while, but got separated.

The young woman was found high in a tree - beat up - but conscious.

In order to get to where she was found, she had been washed 14 miles through debris-clogged surging currents.

Five of her family members are still missing.

I had never thought about that, probably because I lived most of my life in the mountains, where such flooding was not expected. That flood victims could be swept so far, still alive, surprised me.

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samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

Such a horrible disaster. I hope the death count stops rising.

Those who want to live near rivers, in areas that have experienced floods in the past though, need to realize that whatever you don't think, nature always wins!

Mamapolo2016 · F

@samueltyler2 Amen. They apparently had little to no warning. Hard to imagine how that can be true.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@Mamapolo2016 apparently the forecast was not accurate as to amount of rain and subsequent river in the river. This is almost identical to that in N Carolina. The state and locals need to look at ways to dissuade development in flood-prone areas, ways to mitigate the storm surge. We are seeing once in a lifetime rains and floods several times each year b

exexec · 70-79, C

@samueltyler2 The storm cell stalled, dropping much more rain than expected. Although the total was much less on Friday, it is a similar situation to what happened to us with Hurricane Harvey when we got over 50 inches of rain.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@exexec somehow though, you were better prepared. Disaster planning is getting not just important, but critical given the increase in numbers and sever

3Dogmatic · 46-50, M

@samueltyler2 having lived through Harvey, preparedness is not a word I would use to describe anything about that hurricane. The forecasts were completely wrong and if it were not for the citizens going above and beyond, it would have been much worse. For those affected. We housed a family that lost everything and had to swim out of their neighborhood.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@3Dogmatic i spent my adult life trying to prevent unintentional injuries, preparing for all cause disasters. Ignore preparation at your own risk is my motto. There are so many things that can be and should be done. I remember when no cars had safety features such as seat belts, reinforced driver cages, controlled crushed ares, because it was not thought they could help. We now look back and ask, what were we thinking?

exexec · 70-79, C

@3Dogmatic Our daughter's family had 3 feet of water in their house. We ended up with two families staying with us after Harvey. We only got an inch of water in our house.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@exexec you also prepared for some of the problem by installing a generator. That is part of what I am trying to express the need for.

exexec · 70-79, C

@samueltyler2 Correct. We have the generator and windows to withstand most hurricane winds.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@exexec exactly the point I have been trying to make. It amazes me that few people care to plan ahead, to study issues and institute preventive measures. At some point, "we" need to look into discouraging people to build housing in high risk areas. To my thinking, it is unfair to allow the richest among us to build in areas we know will inevitably be hit by a disaster that the rest of us will spend money to help them out, either with higher insurance rates and it rebuilding support.