.....But Those Floods Are Anything BUT Normal

This aerial view shows many homes already flooded in Oklahoma
by the Arkansas River. Photo via Twitter from the Tulsa World newspaper.

Yesterday, I remarked upon our nation's busy tornado year. I said that as tragic as it has been, it's not that far from what is regarded as "normal," at least so far.

What's really, really abnormal this year is the flooding. I've been saying this since March, when the opening salvos of severe flooding hit the Midwest. Since then, it's only been getting worse and worse.

This is more and more reminding me of 1993, which is considered the epic, worst year of Midwest flooding. That year, broad areas of the middle of nation, basically from Wisconsin south and down along much of the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys, spend months in the spring and summer dealing with devastating floods.

So far this year, the flooding has been going on for more than two months and shows few signs of stopping. The Weather Channel reports 70-year-old earthen levees are just barely holding back the record high Arkansas River in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and parts of that city might flood.

In Fort Smith, Arkansas, the Arkansas River is expected to crest at a level four feet higher than the previous record high crest, set in 1945.

This same general areas, from Iowa down to Missouri and Oklahoma and Arkansas, can expect another three to six inches of rain in the next seven days, with locally higher amounts.

Some rivers have been above flood stage since March, and this forecast is sure to prolong this agony.

In Louisiana, officials expect to open the Morganza Spillway for only the third time in history, beause the Mississippi River remains so high, and is expected to be at major flood stage into early June at least.

The spillway, built in 1954, diverts excess Mississippi River floodwater onto an expanse of farmland. It's a last ditch effort as the water coming through the open spillway ends up in the Atchafalaya River to the west, which of course would worsen flooding there.

The last time the spillway was open, in 2011, it flooded about 4,600 square miles of rural Louisiana near the Atchafalaya River, says the Category 6 blog. So as you can see, there are no really great solutions to dealing with this large amount of water.

Flooding does seem to be becoming more frequent and serious in recent years and decades. Part of that has to do with land use. More parking lots, roofs, roads, houses, etc. mean water can't soak into the ground so much. So it runs off, worsening flooding.

Part of it has to do with climate change. Warmer air can hold more water vapor, and if the right kind of storm comes along, that extra water vapor gets released as extra heavy downpours, which makes floods worse than they otherwise would be.

After this week, it's unclear whether the relentless rains in the Midwest will finally taper off. The weather pattern is changing somewhat, which could cut down on the amount of rain drenching the middle of the nation.