Are you familiar with the Johnstown, PA flood of 1889 when a dam broke due to record setting r*ins? Catastrophic floods have been taking place since Biblical times-just ask Noah. Here is a list of the damage from the Great Johnstown flood:Sgt Eddy Brewers wrote: ↑Jul 18th, '23, 17:53Well ... The "Mud Slide" was a MASSIVE event at Killington. I have a place at Sunrise so it matters to me and I am truly grateful for those that started this thread. It was a GREAT thread. I had no particular intent to "highjack" the thread and make it about climate.
But... when the conversation segwayed into "500 year events" and blaming this on "climate change" I felt the justification to push back against the developing narrative. I truly want to minimize the damage caused by these recurrent events, for everyone's sake. I think Vermonters are amazingly resilient folks who has been consistently brave and clever and impressive in response to flooding events. I love Vermont. I admire (most) Vermonters more than most other populations.
In my opinion, if people think the proper response to this is to blame "human induced climate change," the effect will be destructive. Instead of planning for future events which WILL OCCUR not matter what we do... we are told we will need to change over to EVs and mass transit. That is real wealth spent poorly. If we ignored the climate alarmists we would have cheaper energy, good for people of modest financial resources, and thus more available wealth to build resilient infrastructure.
In any case, sorry to have offended anyone by RESPONDING to claims about the impact of CO2 on the mudslide.
And... you gotta admit those are cool flooding pictures?
I actually have lots more,including a few books. I have been obsessed about flooding in Vermont since the 1973 floods destroyed my favorite tiny trout stream: Pinney Hollow Brook.
The scale of the Johnstown flood of 1889 is difficult to visualize. Summarizing the flood’s impact in statistics and facts is a quick way to convey the enormity of the event. Here is a list of some of the most descriptive facts about the Johnstown flood.
•2,209 people died. (Click here for a PDF list of flood victims, including their addresses, ages and burial places.)
•99 entire families died, including 396 children
•124 women and 198 men were left widowed.
•More than 750 victims were never identified and rest in the Plot of the Unknown in Grandview Cemetery
•Bodies were found as far away as Cincinnati, and as late as 1911
•1,600 homes were destroyed
•$17 million in property damage was done
•Four square miles of downtown Johnstown were completely destroyed
•The pile of debris at the stone bridge covered 30 acres
•The distance between the dam that failed and Johnstown was 14 miles.
•The dam was owned by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive club that counted Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick among its members.
•The dam contained 20 million tons of water before it gave way, about the same amount of water as goes over Niagara Falls in 36 minutes.
•Flood lines were found as high as 89 feet above river level
•The great wave measured 35-40 feet high and hit Johnstown at 40 miles per hour.
•The force of the flood swept several locomotives weighing 170,000 pounds as far as 4,800 feet
