(no subject)

[olivermoss]

Fuuuuuck this windstorm. I've had branches fall within about 5 yards of me, twice.

Also, the sheer amount of flooding, all the fully flooded intersections, why can't our city handle rain?

Comments

[dine]

man, it was awful just to listen to it - can't imagine being out in it! glad you weren't hit by falling branches

[olivermoss]

At least it didn't last as long as projected!

[mistressofmuses]

Ugh, wind fucking sucks. I hope no more fallen branches. :(

It surprises me that rain causes so much flooding, since I think of it as being so rainy there! (At least compared to CO.) I realize that means the ground is probably always pretty saturated, but... why can't the infrastructure manage? (Rhetorical - I know Portland has *interesting* infrastructure all around.)

[olivermoss]

We flood here on the regular. It's part of the local character, like the green tinge to all the concrete.

[mistressofmuses]

Yeah, it sounds like it's a pretty regular/expected occurrence... it just seems like they should be prepared! But no, part of that local quirky charm.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Fuuuuuck this windstorm. I've had branches fall within about 5 yards of me, twice.<<

Yikes. O_O

>> Also, the sheer amount of flooding, all the fully flooded intersections, why can't our city handle rain? <<

Common issues include:

* a city built largely on flat land, so the water has nowhere to go

* poor urban planning, so there is not a good system for handling water safely

* the city used to have an adequate system but has since outgrown it, and the stormwater system is now aging and insufficient to the current population

* almost all American cities are broke due to a combination of poor planning choices, sprawl, and irresponsible math; which necessarily leads to deferred maintenance and infrastructure that fails to do its job.

There's a small city just north of us that is rather old and in a flat area, has always had a tendency to flood -- many of the underpasses have water rulers because they will flood several feet deep -- and these imbeciles are now building skyscrapers. Imagine placing all that new demand on a system that is a hodgepodge of new and old, where the old definitely cannot handle the added demand. I'm happy to shop there but boy howdy I would not live there because one of these days they're going to get hit by a monsoon and really have problems.

There are actually lots of great ideas in water-handling nowadays, like rain gardens, permeable pavement, and routing a city's stormwater through a kidney marsh into a lake or pond instead of into the sewers. But not all cities are using those. :/