flood news stories on Newser

Sea Level Rise Doubles Risk of Catastrophic US Flood

Kevin Spak — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:04:23 CDT

Coastal states are now twice as likely to experience a so-called once-in-a-century flood by 2030, thanks to a global warming-fueled rise in sea levels, according to a trio of reports released today. Census data shows 5 million people are in the danger zone, particularly in cities, where many people live...

Bangkok Grapples With Floods

Rob Quinn — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:40:08 CDT

Bangkok is slowly being flooded by waters seeping into the Thai capital from the waterlogged center of the country on their way to the Gulf of Thailand. The flooding, the worst the city has seen in at least 70 years, has severed road and rail links and forced the government...

100 Animals Drown at Petco in NY Flood

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:53:20 CDT

When last week’s flood hit upstate New York, the Johnson City Petco failed to evacuate its animals—and 100 drowned. The news made its way across the blogosphere ( see here for one example ), and now the village mayor has called for a police investigation to see whether the...

Zookeepers Shoot Bison Trapped in Floodwaters

Evann Gastaldo — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:28:37 CDT

As the floodwaters rose in Pennsylvania’s Hersheypark ZooAmerica, zookeepers made a tough—and controversial—choice: Rather than let two American bison drown while trapped in their pen, zookeepers shot both. Though other zoo animals were evacuated, officials say no one anticipated how quickly the floodwaters would rise, and that euthanization...

Terrifying Video Captures South Korea Mudslide

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:13:47 CDT

The death toll from South Korea's massive landslides has reached 67, with at least 10 still missing, Reuters reports, and this terrifying video shows some of the destruction. In the wake of the flash flooding and mudslides, caused by the heaviest rains in a century, residents were warned to be...

Water Ebbs in North Dakota

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:33:05 CDT

The Souris River began a slow retreat from Minot today with no further flood damage in the city, but officials warned danger would remain for several days until the highest water passed. More than 4,000 homes and hundreds of businesses flooded when the Souris flowed over levees Friday, but...

In Flooded Minot, Human Kindness Is Unsinkable

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:57:18 CDT

As the Souris River was set to peak today, North Dakotans weren't exactly wallowing in the misery of the worst flooding in memory—rather, they were rolling up their sleeves and doing whatever they could to help their neighbors. Evacuees helped others evacuate, others moved friends' belongings to safety, and...

Rain Threatens as ND Flooding Nears Crest

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:36:26 CDT

With a threat of still more rain looming, Minot was bracing today for the Souris River to cascade past its already unprecedented level and widen a path of destruction that had severely damaged thousands of homes and threatened many others. City officials were expecting the river to peak as early...

North Dakota Scrambles to Fight Flood

Kevin Spak — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:24:06 CDT

With the Souris River expected to reach record heights, Minot, North Dakota, is scrambling to finish dikes protecting the one bridge still connecting the two halves of the city, the Jamestown Sun reports—and Mayor Curt Zimbelman doesn't think they're going to make it. "Work will continue until we can...