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I'm assuming you're thinking about Helene. That was a very unusual situation that had a lot to do with local topography and geology on top of a very unusual wea
by devilbunny 1y ago
I'm assuming you're thinking about Helene. That was a very unusual situation that had a lot to do with local topography and geology on top of a very unusual weather situation (ground-saturating rains in the week prior to a hurricane).
This area hasn't been underwater in a meaningful way since the 1927 flood of the Mississippi.
- dylan604 1y agoDo you think these 100 year events are going to occur more or less frequently now?
- devilbunny 1y agoDoes it matter what I think? Any situation that floods that area is going to be well beyond 100-year floods, likely beyond 1000-year, and (like the 1927 flood) predicated on catastrophic levee failures that result in the Mississippi being over 100 miles wide. Is it possible? Of course. Is it likely? No. Would there be much bigger issues than a server farm being offline? Yes. The worst-case scenario from a storm that hits locally (which, e.g., the 1927 flood was absolutely not a consequence of - it was water from upstream, which climate change will weaken because of decreased snowmelt) is like Harvey over Houston (similar terrain). But this is much farther inland and could not replenish itself from the Gulf. That said, it is in the middle of nowhere.