Weather Channel Rainfall Estimates for Memorial Day Weekend, 2015
In this very first episode of Science Meets Society at UT Austin, we discussed the May 2015 flooding event that severely impacted Wimberley, Hays County, Houston, and many other surrounding areas across Central Texas and the U.S. Midwest. As population levels and development in these areas rises significantly, flash floods are becoming a more routine part the environmental conditions of these areas (impervious cover and other environmental factors prevent water from infiltration into the ground). Some locations received record breaking excesses of water, rising to heights over 40 feet. Community organizers and first responders are currently developing plans and procedures to cope with this reality, including a system of water level sensors to provide a real time picture of river conditions, in order to allow predictive forecasting and strategic warning across the region. Find out more about this and other critical topics by tuning in to the UT Science Meets Society seminar.
Record rainfall was wreaking havoc across a swath of the U.S. Midwest on Sunday, causing flash floods in normally dry riverbeds, spawning tornadoes and forcing at least 2,000 people to flee. -Austin Statesman via AP news
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- Motorists are stranded along I-45 along North Main in Houston after storms flooded the area, Tuesday, May 26, 2015. Overnight heavy rains caused flooding closing some portions of major highways in the Houston area. (Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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- Flooding in Austin, Texas, May 25, 2015.
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- Flooded Streets Memorial Day 2015
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- A home on the Blanco River was taken off its foundation after heavy overnight rain caused flash flooding in Wimberley, Texas, Sunday, May 24, 2015. (Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Hays County, Texas, one of the areas hardest hit by flooding on Memorial Day weekend, has seen extraordinary population growth in recent decades. Data are from Census.gov.Credit