There's Something You Don't See Everyday [Y-not]

In case you missed it, West Virginia got hammered by flooding last week. 26 people are now confirmed dead:

A 1,000-year flood

The high terrain along rivers in southeastern West Virginia are exacerbating the flooding, meteorologists said.

Weather radar estimates show that more than 10 inches of rain have fallen in portions of Greenbrier County. There is a 1 in 1,000 chance of this type of rainfall happening in any given year, according to the National Weather Service.

In Kanawha County, which includes the capital of Charleston, the Elkview River crested at 33.37 feet Friday morning, meteorologists said. The river rose more than 27 feet from Thursday afternoon to Friday morning, the highest crest since record-keeping began more than 125 years ago, according to the National Weather Service.

One of the most amazing images from West Virginia is below the fold:

(In case it's not clear, that's a house which is on fire floating down river.)

Please keep those affected by the flooding in your prayers.

Here's a useful resource about flood risk from the National Flood Insurance Program.

To lighten the mood a bit, here's a U.S. "weather map" I saw on Twitter last week:

I live in Hot Soup... kind of missing the Mystery Belt's weather, I must confess!

Open thread.

posted by Open Blogger at 10:00 AM

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