Vermont Flooding

[jimmypete]

Any word on how the Ski infrastructure held up?

 

[SayvilleSteve]

This is the report from Magic:

Vermont Flooding

 

[Benny Profane]

Killington is reporting that Bear mountain lodge "took on water", whatever that means. Time to replace that lodge anyway. The K1 base held up well, which is cool, because Irene took off a part of the old lodge back in '11.

The real damage was to local roads. I saw a picture of East mountain road, that connects Bear mountain to the access road, and it's basically gone. I saw a list of five or seven other roads that are in the same shape. Lots of homes on those roads, gotta get fixed, soon. Fortunately they have a few more months to fix things than they did for Irene. I have a lot of faith in people in that state bouncing back, after watching what they did in '11 to fix bridges and roads before the winter.

 

[Low Angle Life]

Can't wait for all the infrastructure getting rebuilt in precarious floodplains to get washed away yet again in another 2-3 years. Vermont doesn't have the capital resources to keep doing this so often, federal or private funds from tourism operators like Vail Resorts are going to need to pitch in if this is to become the new normal and they want to keep ferrying out of staters in for vacations. Appreciated following Ben Falk who is a tele skier and permaculturist journey through creating systems to help adapt to these changing weather and climate trends.

 

[snoloco]

When you build back after a flood, you're supposed to do it in a more resilient way than what you had before, so that it doesn't wash out again. One thing getting in the way of that is environmental groups who oppose any flood mitigation projects. Also, I fucking hate the phrase "new normal".

 

[Benny Profane]

Can't wait for all the infrastructure getting rebuilt in precarious floodplains to get washed away yet again in another 2-3 years. Vermont doesn't have the capital resources to keep doing this so often, federal or private funds from tourism operators like Vail Resorts are going to need to pitch in if this is to become the new normal and they want to keep ferrying out of staters in for vacations. Appreciated following Ben Falk who is a tele skier and permaculturist journey through creating systems to help adapt to these changing weather and climate trends.

Well, I always blanch at when I hear events like this called natural disasters. They're man made disasters, because it becomes an issue when man made structures and roads and bridges are harmed. The entire east coast of America is lined, in most places, right up against the ocean, with trillions of dollars worth of RE and supporting towns and structures to service those homes, and 90% of it wasn't there before WW2. And yet, something like Sandy was called a natural disaster, as we were shown pictures and videos of many of those homes and roads destroyed. Probably happened for thousands of years before, season after season, but now it's a disaster. And then you and I, the taxpayer, spent 6 billion dollars to bring it back to where it was, and set the bowling pins back up.
Don't get me going on the billions for beach replenishment.

 

[Harvey]

All disasters are man made.

 

[Benny Profane]

That's what my divorce lawyer told me.

 

[Ripitz]

Appreciated following Ben Falk who is a tele skier and permaculturist journey through creating systems to help adapt to these changing weather and climate trends.

Permaculture is the way.

Ben Falk is the man. His homestead was originally just a family ski house that he moved into to ski bum. He knew nothing about permaculture at the time. He tried to plant some trees but when he dug the holes they quickly filled up with water. Instead of working against it and trying to drain the water he dug some ponds and eventually started growing rice. This is commonly known as guidance. A proponent of 500 year architecture and sourcing materials within a 100 mile radius, he is now one of the leaders in his field.

If we do not adopt these resilient and reparative systems, failure will be assured. You cannot outsmart nature.

 

[Benny Profane]

Maybe you are familiar with the Ellicott City, Md.flooding. It's a touristy little town for D.C. and Baltimore weekend warriors, and got nailed with severe flooding twice in three years recently. Imagine spending a year rebuilding and have that happen all over again. Well, after #2, state and federal money and brain power came together to try to find mitigation solutions, and the project is close to done. Its complicated and expensive, but, may be a model for the solution to all this in mountains and hills.

5 years later: Ellicott City flood mitigation progresses

As flood mitigation efforts progress, some in Ellicott City say they still haven't recovered from flash floods that leveled cars and tore through buildings.

www.wbaltv.com