Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Augusta Practices Resilience in Fighting Floods

By Terri  L. Turner, AICP

The first event, under Declaration DR-880, occurred on October 12, 1990, when, as a result of the convergence of the remnants of both Tropical Storm Marco and Hurricane Klaus (then downgraded to a tropical storm, as well), Augusta experienced some of the worst flooding in its recent history as 15 inches of rain fell during a 100-year-plus storm event causing more than $150 million in property damage. At one point, 2.79 inches of rain fell in approximately one hour, causing widespread flooding, roads flooding to a depth where people had to be rescued from their vehicles, and evacuation of numerous homes.
Another event that same month had localized rainfall exceeding 8.5 inches, producing flooding characterized as a 100-year event.
August 1992 was marked by an intense rain event that caused localized flooding of a number of roads and “rapid local flooding” of several homes. Evacuations of residents occurred in Hollywood Subdivision along Rocky Creek.
In August 1994, the Weather Bureau reported 4.2 inches in a 24-hour period.
The Rocky Creek/Hollywood Subdivision area continued to be plagued by flooding when 3.75 inches of rain, characterized as a 10-year storm event, fell in September 1995, causing traffic accidents along major transportation routes near Rocky Creek and evacuation of 12 families in the Hollywood Subdivision.
Rainfall from 2 to 4 inches in a six-to-nine hour period in March 1996 caused several streams to flood beyond their banks and into homes, including those in Hollywood Subdivision. The flash flooding experienced during that storm event closed several major highways, which were virtually underwater.
Flash flooding in December 1997 caused several highways to be flooded by nearby creeks. The flooded roads included the highly traveled Richmond Hill Road.
March 8, 1998, found Rae’s Creek flooding low-lying areas, although no homes were reported to have flooded. A subsequent storm on March 11 resulted in DR 1209, as more than 3 inches of rain fell on already saturated ground and caused major road and residential flooding in the Rocky Creek area.
March was not to provide the only major storm event for 1998. September delivered 8.5 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Earl over a 14-hour period, causing flash flooding along several streams. About 50 people were evacuated from two subdivisions, several streets were closed due to flooding, and one shelter was opened to house 82 people.


similar posts:

Design For Flooding: Architecture, Landscape, And Urban Design For Resilience To Climate Change

Urban Resilience: Research Prospectus, A Resilience Alliance Initiative for Transitioning Urban Systems towards Sustainable Futures

URBAN RESILIENCE: ENERGETIC PRINCIPLES AND A SYSTEMS ECOLOGY APPROACH

Resilience meets architecture and urban planning

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