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Wow. Why have this much critical infrastructure near flood zones? Given that climate change is increasing the frequency of major floods, why hadn’t they hardene
by dd36 8y ago
Wow. Why have this much critical infrastructure near flood zones? Given that climate change is increasing the frequency of major floods, why hadn’t they hardened their protections?
- philwelch 8y agoAirfields tend to be easier to build on flat, level ground. Strategic reconnaissance and airborne command aircraft make sense to base in a geographically central location so they can easily cover the entire continent.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- namenumber 8y agoFrom the omaha.com article on the subject it seems like there was a desire from Offett and an intent to put in greater flood-resistance infrastructure but it was stonewalled by questions about whether it was needed. So i guess the answer is in the realm of "some people knew and planned, but others tried to disregard both warnings and previous near-disaster floods." https://www.omaha.com/news/military/one-third-of-offutt-underwater-at-least-buildings-damaged-in/article_631f9b34-5271-50e8-b5eb-19f488daaf32.html https://www.omaha.com/news/military/one-third-of-offutt-unde...
- dd36 8y agoSounds like what’s happening at a larger scale =(
- oliveshell 8y agoI’d imagine that the location was seen as useful during the Cold War years due to being far inland in a rural area away from likely targets of a nuclear attack. As for flood mitigation, I’m sure it’s the same as it is anywhere: risk assessments probably considered the likelihood of ‘really bad’ flooding, and the potential impacts, too low to be worth the cost. (As to whether that was wise or not, I’ve got no idea.) (Edit— from Wikipedia: ”Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington chose to locate the Air Force's crucial long-range atomic strike force at Offutt primarily because the base was centrally located on the North American continent, placing it well beyond the existing range of long-range, nuclear-armed bombers to (then) stay safely out of range of hostile missiles or bomber aircraft.”)
- ricudis 8y agoWhat climate change? :P
- zamalek 8y ago> Given that climate change is increasing the frequency of major floods Climate change doesn't exist according to the government, remember?
- sambull 8y agoJust politics to keep diverting from the reality. Scientists and Military agree: https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/612710/ https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/612710/
- adwww 8y agoTo be fair, The Pentagon has repeatedly listed climate change as one of it's biggest threats for a number of years, but it's currently too politically touchy to do much about. One report in particular... > The 22-page assessment delivered to Congress on Thursday says about two-thirds of 79 mission-essential military installations in the U.S. that were reviewed are vulnerable to current or future flooding, with more than half vulnerable to current or future drought. About half also are at risk from wildfires, including the threat of mudslides and erosion from rains following the blazes.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- giardini 8y agoYes, but concerns about building air bases in locations that flood predate the Pentagon's relatively recent concerns about "climate change", which is little more than political spin. The truth is that the location of military bases is a political decision and the wisest decision-making processes (e.g., one that included good flooding estimates) are not always used. Of course, reality has a way of intruding into political thinking and decision-making but usually only long after critical decisions were made. But the crows eventually come home to roost. IOW not everything is driven by the political topic "climate change". Sometimes its simply flooding, flood zones and extremely capitalistic local land developers.
- dd36 8y agoFrequency of extreme flooding is increased by climate change. It's not political. It's climate science.
- sitkack 8y agoWe should start a War On Mother Nature!
- sehugg 8y agoThe feds wanted to expand the floodplain, but the business-friendly local NRD wanted to shrink it to save on insurance costs: https://www.omaha.com/news/metro/nrd-s-flood-plain-map-might-save-millions-in-insurance/article_f4c468fe-ef78-59d8-bfa3-1eac0162a1be.html https://www.omaha.com/news/metro/nrd-s-flood-plain-map-might...
- yters 8y agoHow is the flooding related to climate change? Seems like 'climate change' is now a catchall bucket for unexpected weather, regardless of being too hot or too cold.