My second thoughts were about all those hog lagoons in North Carolina and
all those chicken farms on the Delmarva Peninsula. What does 20 inches of
rain do to them? Did they hold up? Or did they fail, making life worse for
the people in the area.
I got the news release from the USGS below. They note that water quality
problems are common after storms like this.
Lester
News Release
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior
Release Date: September 17, 1999
Contacts:
Carolyn DiDonato (703) 648-4463 email:cdidonat@usgs.gov
Donna Runkle (703) 648-4469 email:dlrunkle@usgs.gov
As Hurricane Floyd Moves Up the Atlantic Coast . . . .
USGS Scientists Tackle the Science of the Storm
As Hurricane Floyd continues to bring heavy rain and dangerous storm surges
to the Atlantic Coast, USGS scientists are tackling the challenges that a
storm of this intensity brings to coastal resources - from flood-swollen
rivers, to saturated hillsides, to vulnerable barrier islands, to altered
wildlife habitats.
Flooding
The USGS network of streamflow gaging stations located in every state
continuously provide information on the rising floodwaters from the rain
associated with Hurricane Floyd. Information transmitted via satellite is
available to federal, state and local emergency-management officials and to
the public at http://water.usgs.gov/realtime.html This real-time
information
is indispensable for emergency preparedness and the rapid communication of
flood information to National Weather Service river forecast centers, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Although many USGS offices along Floyd's path were closed on Thursday as a
safeguard for their employees, essential staff were in the field monitoring
the flood conditions, making flood measurements and flagging high-water
marks.
As of Thursday evening, September 16, at 5:00 PM:
* In North Carolina the Tar and Neuse Rivers were above flood stage
and
continue to rise. USGS crews have been hampered in reaching stream
measurement sites due to flooded roads, toppled trees and power lines, and
road blocks as utility crews work to restore power.
* The most severe flooding in South Carolina occurred in the Waccamaw
River
basin. In the area near Longs, South Carolina, the Waccamaw River may
crest near or exceed the historical high streamflow based on 49 years of
continuous streamflow data. Western portions of both North and South
Carolina continue to experience severe drought conditions.
* Flooding in Maryland and Delaware was occurring in the Patuxent
River
watershed and on most of the Delmarva Peninsula.
* Meherrin, Nottoway, and Blackwater Rivers in southeastern Virginia
were
above flood stage.
* In New Jersey, flooding was occurring along the Rahway River near
Springfield and the Raritan River at Bound Brook.
Water-quality Monitoring
As Hurricane Floyd continues along the coast, the immediate water-quality
concern is the material washed into streams by surface runoff from heavy
rains. USGS teams will be in the field for several days collecting stream
water-quality samples. The samples will be analyzed for concentrations of
bacteria, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), pesticides, and sediment.
The possible presence of fecal coliform and E.coli bacteria in
drinking-water supplies is a primary human health concern during and after
floods. An excess of nutrients can result in algal blooms, including
Pfiesteria. Sediment in the water column can significantly reduce the
amount of light that reaches submerged aquatic vegetation relied on by many
organisms.
Large rainfall events associated with tropical storms have caused extended
periods of poor water quality along the coast. The USGS has documented
extremely low dissolved-oxygen concentrations for several weeks after heavy
amounts of decaying organic matter (limbs, leaves, grasses, animal waste)
flowed from swamps and tidal marshes into rivers after hurricanes Hugo,
Bonnie, and Fran.
This past spring, the USGS began a two-year study at the Cumberland Island
National Seashore, near the Georgia/Florida line, to study water-quality
conditions and aquatic communities. Hurricanes and tropical storms in the
area may provide a glimpse of how coastal and climatic processes affect
water-quality conditions and aquatic communities on barrier islands.
Coastal Erosion and Storm Surge
USGS geologists, in cooperation with National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
will monitor changes along the coastline as they relate to storm surge and
wave action. This will be measured from the air using a Scanning Radar
Altimeter. By relating storm surge and wave heights to coastal changes,
future hurricane impacts can be predicted more accurately.
Mapping hurricane storm surge data is critical for understanding the volume
of water and amount of sediment that inundates the coast during a
hurricane. Coastal surveys are scheduled to be flown on Saturday,
September 18 to assess coastal changes resulting from Hurricane Floyd.
Biological work
Hurricanes play a dynamic role in shaping coastal systems because of their
ability to massively change wildlife habitats of barrier islands, coastal
marshes, and forests. USGS scientists are gearing up in the wake of
Hurricane Floyd to assess damage to wildlife and habitat from Florida to
Maine.
USGS biologists will use computer models to predict effects on wildlife
habitat; remote sensing and geographic information systems will be used to
study and monitor wetland responses to hurricanes; and research will be
conducted to determine hurricane effects on coastal erosion and wetland
forests.
While several years of research are needed before fully determining the
effects of hurricanes on birds, USGS biologists expect that shorebird
migration has been seriously disrupted and that many coastal species may
have been pushed to far-inland sites. Sandpipers, plovers, knots, and
others may end up feeding and roosting in agricultural fields in eastern
Tennessee or Kentucky.
The endangered Northeast breeding population of roseate terns may have
dodged the hurricane because it is late in the season. Most terns should be
well on their way from their summer staging area in Cape Cod, Mass., to
northern South America where they spend the winter. USGS biologists will
not know the impact on this particular species until next summer, when a
census is conducted of the major colonies in New York, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, and Maine.
Ongoing USGS studies on the effects of deer browsing on vegetation in the
flood plain of the Patuxent River in Maryland may have been obscured by the
damaging effects of Hurricane Floyd.
USGS biologists will evaluate the impacts of Hurricanes Floyd and Dennis on
sediment deposition in the Virginia coastal marsh study areas established
this spring.
Landslides
Although Floyd has remained near the coast, past hurricanes that traveled
inland to the Appalachian Mountains brought large amounts of rain to steep
hillsides and caused landslides. During Hurricane Camille in 1969, for
example, intense rainfall triggered debris flows in Nelson County, Virginia
causing 150 deaths.
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia rainfall having an
intensity of about two inches per hour and lasting for four hours, or one
inch per hour for 10 hours, is likely to trigger debris flows and other
types of landslides on steep slopes. As of mid-day on September 16,
rainfall amounts received in the mountainous parts of central Virginia have
been significantly below these amounts, making the likelihood of
landsliding very low.
As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science, and civilian
mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000
organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial scientific
information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This
information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the
loss of life and property from natural disasters, contribute to the sound
conservation and the economic and physical development of the nation's
natural resources, and enhance the quality of life by monitoring water,
biological, energy, and mineral resources.
* * USGS * * *
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