Nebraska flooding: Disaster ‘just beginning’ dangerous flood season expected for Central U

A bomb cyclone ploughed across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri last week, killing at least four people. Now yet more residents are at risk as swollen rivers head downstream and levees have been smashed. Missouri’s governor declared a state of emergency on Thursday as floodwaters that left a swath of destruction across Nebraska and Iowa surged downstream.

Small towns have been inundated, and roads, bridges and farmland covered across the US Midwest.

Flooding triggered by the so-called “bomb cyclone” storm has already inflicted damage estimated at nearly $1.5billion in Nebraska.

At least four people have been killed in Nebraska and Iowa and one man is missing below Nebraska’s collapsed Spencer Dam.

Governor Mike Parson said in issuing his emergency declaration: “The rising floodwaters are affecting more Missouri communities and farms, closing more roads and threatening levees, water treatment plants and other critical infrastructure.

Read More: Nebraska flooding aerial pictures: Incredible images of deadly floods

“We will continue to work closely with our local partners to assess needs and provide resources to help as Missourians continue this flood fight and as we work to assist one another.”

However, the worst is yet to come, as AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said: “Since El Niño is likely to persist through the spring and not weaken like it usually does this time of the year, the main storm track may remain south of the northern tier states.”

El Nino is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) which sees a band of warm ocean water develop in the central and east-central Pacific, causing global changes to temperature and rainfall. 

The “bomb cyclone” that dumped rain on Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri and killed at least four people now threatens a wider region downstream of swollen rivers and smashed levees.

Manmade greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the oceans and making the air above them more humid, scientists said. When a storm picks up and eventually spits out that moisture, it can be devastating for people caught below.

Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said: ”The atmosphere is pretty close to fully saturated, it’s got all the water it can take.”

Mr Wehner said big storms such as the bomb cyclone and Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston in 2017 with record downpours, are where the impact of climate change can most clearly be seen.

He added that climate change’s fingerprints were all over the recent storm.

Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a federally-funded office, said of climate change’s role in the Midwest floods: “I don’t think it’s a starring role, but it’s a strong supporting role.”

He said the bomb cyclone was carrying vast amounts of moisture from the Pacific up to 1,500 miles (2,400 km) away.

Mr Wehner said the flooding was consistent with predictions in a government report which was issued in November 2018 and titled ‘National Climate Assessment Volume II’.

In this report, climate change was predicted to boost costs in industries from farming to fisheries and energy production by increasing the frequency of powerful storms.

The report, mandated by Congress, was composed by 13 federal departments and agencies but was called inaccurate by the White House.

President Donald Trump has thrown doubt on mainstream climate change science and declared his aim to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris agreement, an international accord to combat climate change, saying it is too costly.

source: express.co.uk