After months of headlines describing the horrible drought wreaking havoc across the country, it was extremely surprising to hear news of flash-floods in areas of Texas and Oklahoma.
“Record-Breaking Rain Floods North Texas” was the headline of one NBC article this week, while CNN announced, “More Rain Expected for Flood-Hit Texas, Oklahoma.”
Considering that the intense downpour of the past days has ended the drought in Texas, all this water should be a welcoming sight. However, pictures of water covering the hoods of cars, images of wreckages of homes that were literally swept right off their foundations, and news of over 40 deaths make this rain unwelcome.
On Friday, most of Texas and Oklahoma were under flash flood warnings. Hundreds of people have been forced out of their homes. One man saw the water coming towards his house and did not even have time to alert his wife before the water knocked down his door, flooding his house in a matter of seconds. More than 16 inches of rain have fallen this month, making it the wettest May on record in the area. And it seems that we will see quite a few more inches before the disaster is over.
Flash Floods: What Are They?
Simply speaking, flash floods are, as the name suggests, floods that come about quickly and without notice, flooding an area in less than six hours. These events are terrifying and extremely destructive, as seen in the Texas and Oklahoma flash floods.
Flash floods can occur for various reasons. Often, precipitation falls rapidly on soil that cannot absorb the water quickly enough; the runoff begins to collect, eventually causing the flood. In other instances, structures such as dams collapse, and the water being held back by the dam floods out.
In the case of these record-breaking floods, the cause lies in the drought. After many months with very low levels of rain, the ground in the areas hit by the flood was, understandably, dry. This led to subsidence. Subsidence means that over time in an area without water, the ground starts to sink as the water is sucked out from beneath. This is bad because then when it starts to rain, it is more difficult for the ground to absorb the water, which leads to standing water, and then, flooding.
In past years, areas such as Houston which was greatly affected by the drought were sinking at alarming rates of 3 inches per year. Nearly all of Oklahoma suffered from subsidence as well. This meant that a flood like this was practically waiting to happen.
Looking Forward…
The National Weather Service said a cold front is expected to move south and east, bringing widespread rain and thunderstorms to much of the United States. This means that the soggy Texas and Oklahoma areas will be hit again, advancing the disaster. For now, we will have to do something we haven’t done in quite a while: hope for the rain to stop.
