I said it before, but it bears repeating:

For all of the “let’s bash government” stuff floating around in DC and throughout the country, think about this. NOAA and the National Weather Service have been incredible in monitoring the weather and the interplay of all the streams and tributaries of the various watersheds, so that cities, counties, states, and the federal governments can take steps to prepare for what is coming.

The same goes for the “deficits über alles” folks, who need to calm themselves down.

Thanks for the update, amazing in that they won’t even have time to plant this season. Food will be $$$$$$$. In Calif. my friends that farm in the central valley are 3 to 4 weeks behind due to the weather.

There is record snow pack in the Sierras as well, and in the Cascades of Oregon and especially Washington. I would not be surprised to find certain trails to the north side of Mt. Hood closed this year.

The Columbia has also been high, even though the dams supposedly regulate it. If I am wrong and the snow pack goes fast, it will get interesting.

Probably most important, but not mentioned is the risk to this plant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Calhoun_Nuclear_Generating_Station

It’s a slow tsunami according to Arnie:
http://www.radio4all.net/files/theknightreport@gmail.com/3862-1-Fort_Calhoun_-_Arnie_Gunderson_with_Robert_Knight_-_WBAI_Five_OClock_Shadow.mp3

Random thoughts:

No connection to climate change, nope, none at all. /s

People have built and continue to build and live in flood plains? Why?

“Cannabals and Kings” Discussion on river valley cultures appear prescient and fully describes the flood plain in the Mid West.

Sending our taxes to fight wars in the ME (keeping us safe at home) rings hollow.

Thanks much, Peterr. excellent summary. But it’s all just coincidence, right? right?

http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/06/08/240496/video-a-link-between-climate-change-and-joplin-tornadoes-never/

People have built and continue to build and live in flood plains? Why?

Rivers have been and continue to be a transportation network, and so that attracts people.

Also, the definition of a flood plain for a given area can change over time, both for natural reasons as well as because of human activity. Any time a dam is built, for instance, that changes the flood plain both up and downstream.

Finally, though, a big reason for some residential construction in flood plains comes down to simple economics. Houses on high ground will cost you more than those in a flood plain, sometimes by orders of magnitude. If you’re poor, you’re not going to have a choice about why you live in a flood plain.

quite a post peterr

I am wondering if the affected towns are red or blue, do they believe in climate change or do they not?

The same goes for the “deficits über alles” folks, who need to calm themselves down.

this is because they want to make things as bad as possible so they can make electoral gains

and obama tries “negotiating” beginning at a bar far lower then they could have hoped at the end of bargaining

Enormous tornadoes; enormous rainfall in some parts of the country, enormous drought in others, complete with enormous fires, enormous floods.
Anyone else think MAMA is telling us our time to play with HER is up?

Mostly, they’re deep, deep red, perris. Salt of the earth, common clay…

Rush Limbaugh is from Missouri, I am ashamed to admit. (at least he’s from southeast Missouri, a place even Missourians deride for ignorance)

This is just going to get worse. Despite the massive amounts of water coming down from the headwaters, here in Montana we have not yet had the spring runoff owing to cool weather. All that water has been from our unusually wet spring. We currently have a record snowpack throughout the state, running 300-400% of normal in every river drainage, which still has to come down. Hopefully, the weather will gradually warm up and it will come down slowly, but a week in the upper 70s or 80s, especially if accompanied by rain, and it could all come down at once.

Check out the black dots all over MT and ND, extending into WY and northern CO. They’re all record flows for today.

The creeks in Northeast Washington are still high. I’m amazed to see snow still up in the Huckleberry and Selkirk Mountains. They aren’t that high.

It looks like we are past the peak for water flow. The bridge by the park was finally re-opened yesterday.

I’m just hoping that actions taken by the folks along the Missouri succeed.

i’ve started listening to the interview with arnie.

he’s worried that the nuke could flood and be in a situation like happened in fukushima.

Oh great. I figure, though, that it’s just a matter of time before we have a Fukushima disaster in the USA (after which, of course, there will be much wringing of hands but not much else, and the libertarians will say that those who die or are injured “deserved” it in some way). Right after that happened, my T-GOPer relative commented that the 2 nuclear plants in CA that lie on the San Andraeas fault line, right next to the ocean & are built very similarly to Fukushima (and are getting pretty old, to boot) would *surely* be “inspected,” and then be “retro-fitted or something” in order to “avoid a similar Fukishima disaster” in CA.

I laughed my @ss off, and said: “Why how very socialist of you to want some kind of dreaded government oversight. Are you prepared to pay more taxes now?”

I got dead silence on the phone, but this rel is very smart & one of the more “rational” among the bunch. This relative “got it,” but surely did NOT want to pay one thin dime more in horrid dreaded dirty libreral socialist taxes… whyever do that?? Might save some lives… etc.

Thanks for the informative post. I have been commenting that there’s not much on the news about this. Wonder why… Don’t let the rubes know about reality??? As we know, reality has a leftwing bias.

Keep us posted. I fear that we’re potentially facing some bad floods in CA this summer once our record snowfall/snowpack commences to melting. It hasn’t done much melting yet due to a very cold winter that lasted all the way thru “spring.” CA has “enjoyed” record precipitation this year, so I’m pretty nervous about what will happen in terms of flooding in the next month or so.

Good post Peter

I’d just like to point out a little trivia.

That there’s kind of a continental divide, where a lot, if not most, of the rivers and streams in ND, east of the black line on the map, flow into Canada.

Not too far east of the James River is the Sheyenne which makes a left turn and continues for a bit where it flows into the Red River, which flows north into Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. The Souris comes out of Saskatchewan, meanders through Minot, and pretty soon after, makes its own left turn and flows north into Manitoba, where it also flows into the Red

I have, in general, appreciated your posts here at FDL as being about the matter of traversing this world as a part of it and the impacts that come as a result. Thank you for the info which has brought others here to add more that is related and certainly of interest.

I also live in the Kansas City area, and if I recall correctly from one or more of your earlier posts, you also lived in southern Illinois near SIU-C. I was an art student there in the early 80′s.

I think it is important to note that SIU-C was a place at that time where students, myself included, could routinely see and chat with Sen. Paul Simon at the local food coop. I miss Sen. Simon’s strong and enlightened leadership in this country. He helped develop and guide a significant portion of the government we used to have in this republic that Progressives now rightfully rail against losing.

Senator Simon was a friend of our family, and you are not alone in missing him.

Funny, I hadn’t really thought much recently about Sen. Simon’s influence until making the effort to comment on your post. I think I’ll make an effort now to locate some of the books he wrote… and actually get around to reading them.

I bought one of his bow ties at a fundraiser auction when I was a kid because I misunderstood which Paul Simon it had belonged to… kids. It raised my awareness, however, not only to his part in our government, but as to the joys of wearing vintage clothing : ) My understanding is that he regularly donated his bow ties for fundraisers.

Anyway, thanks again for the information regarding the Missouri River as well as the other topics you have written about in the past. And, for reminding me indirectly about Sen. Simon.