Sonoma County in California is rebuilding after massive November storms did over $2 million in damage.
What's happening?
According to KQED, Sonoma County sustained $2.6 million in damage from an atmospheric river. Things were so serious that the county passed an emergency proclamation in response to the damage.
An atmospheric river is a weather pattern that contains more water vapor than any area outside of the tropics, according to the NOAA. When it moves over land, it can dump massive quantities of precipitation in the form of rain or snow in a very short amount of time, which can cause flooding, landslides, and other issues.
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In Sonoma County, for example, the storm pushed the Russian River watershed from very dry to flood stage within a matter of days. It felled trees, knocked out power, caused landslides, damaged roads that are crucial for evacuation, and killed two people.
The rainfall surpassed records in the area, and it was deemed a once-in-1,000-year event.
Why is the uptick in atmospheric rivers important?
As our climate warms because of an overabundance of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases in the atmosphere, our weather patterns become more and more unstable. We experience prolonged droughts followed by massive storms, leading to flooding, erosion, landslides, and property damage.
The uptick in atmospheric rivers that make landfall is just one of a number of severe weather symptoms that can have ripple effects. In Texas, increasingly severe hurricanes have caused the cost of homeowners insurance to skyrocket, while wildfire risk has made companies pull out of parts of Colorado. And in California, it took state intervention to prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage for more than 750,000 customers.
What's being done about atmospheric rivers?
In the big picture, the best thing you can do to help reduce the impact of severe weather is to reduce your carbon footprint. Move away from pollution-emitting gas engines and toward electric tools and vehicles, and minimize the amount of energy you're using in your day-to-day life.
In Sonoma County, the emergency declaration allowed access to funds and for construction and repair work to begin quickly, especially in crucial areas such as rebuilding roads, by sidestepping the prolonged bidding process typically associated with infrastructure projects.
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