Flooding in California - Image via Maven's Notebook[/caption]
Californians are about to appreciate Noah’s epic flood on a whole new level.
Apparently (according to researchers), California is due for a massive flood. Caused by atmospheric rivers (basically a fire hose in the sky), major flooding takes place in and around California every 200 years. Well, guess what…It’s been about 200 years since the last time it happened.
Bust out your brollies and wear your wellies, because things are about to get wet.
Of course, California is already experiencing some roads-turned-rivers, new lakes in their backyards, and waterfalls spilling off the mountainsides that didn’t used to exist. Sorry to break the news, California, but this is just the tip of the rapidly melting iceberg.
[caption id="attachment_21526" align="alignright" width="300"]Yes, that's a waterfall behind the house. Anderson dam spillway in full force now. #CaliforniaStorms @CBSSF pic.twitter.com/B54AWVHbsM
— Len Ramirez (@lenramirez) February 20, 2017
Flooded streets - Image via The City of Roseville, California[/caption]
According to The Verge, this flood of Biblical proportions could happen at any time. The last flood of this magnitude in California happened between 1861 and 1862 – more than 150 years ago. If history is to repeat itself (and history has taught us that it usually does), then it’s high time to get your home on stilts and walk around with a life preserver around your waist.
OK, so perhaps a house on stilts and a life preserver as a belt is a little much, but there are certainly things you should do to prepare. For starters, having a water barrel or two (or three or four…) is a great way to always ensure you have drinkable water. In a flood, you might not think you have to worry about water – after all, it’s everywhere! But that’s just the problem, it’s everywhere.
Despite all the water a flood brings in, it’s not drinkable as-is. Flood water has a nasty tendency of contaminating potable water sources. Aside from water barrels, another way to counter this is to make sure you have at least one water filter so you can use the flood water as drinking water (you may also need a way to purify the water alongside filtering it, because of itty bitty organisms and other icky things).
If you live near the ocean, a desalinator wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. Desalinators take the salt out of the ocean, making it drinkable. Besides a flood, a desalinator is also good for droughts, since the water is just sitting there, unused.
Of course, it never hurts to have a massive ark sitting in your back yard…just in case.
Written by Steven M.
1 comment
jaxun
I can see my house in that top pic! Just read an article today, 5 years after this was posted, about the impending “biblical” flood of the central valley in CA due to rising temps and the capacity for warmer air to carry moisture, which in the mountains usually turns to snow. Time to get our waders on!