My guess is we are a couple of days off the news hitting of the lagoon
breaks.
Best wishes,
Greg Gunthorp
free range hog, chicken, and rabbit farmer
----------
> From: Lester Loam <lester_loam@hotmail.com>
> To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: Floyd effects?
> Date: Friday, September 17, 1999 2:52 PM
>
> Following hurricane Floyd the past few days, my first thoughts were of
> course were with the people who were in its path, hoping that no one got
> killed and that the damage wasn't too bad.
>
> 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 * * *
>
>
> In-depth information about USGS programs may be found on the USGS home
page
> at http://www.usgs.gov . To receive the latest USGS news releases
> automatically by e-mail, send a request to listproc@listserver.usgs.gov.
> Specify the listserver(s) of interest from the following names: water-pr;
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>
>
>
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