4 ms·
Soils have limits to their absorption. July was the wettest one in recorded history in NYC, August was the 4th wettest. And Ida dropped over 3" of rain in a si
by volkl48 5y ago
Soils have limits to their absorption. July was the wettest one in recorded history in NYC, August was the 4th wettest.
And Ida dropped over 3" of rain in a single hour - the highest ever recorded (and >7" of rain for the day - 5th highest ever recorded).
The ground was already saturated and unable to absorb much more before Ida showed up. I don't think any realistic amount of additional absorption-based strategies would have accomplished much here.
- jazzyjackson 5y agothere’s more to absorption than whether the dirt is saturated the more trees and roots that exist in that dirt, the more quickly water is drawn away by capillary action (you see, the roots are a series of tubes…)
- Retric 5y agoAbsorption isn’t limited to soils capacity. A basin in Central Park could have held 7” of rain * 1.3 square miles until it was absorbed by the soil. Change nothing else and there would have been significantly less flooding.