When man destroys the environment, leading to Biblical weather disasters, it’s clear that God is sending us a message that gay marriage is a sin.
But, hey; keep mining and burning that coal.
West Virginia is especially vulnerable to flooding because of its mountainous topography, which makes communities and agricultural centers clustered in valleys particularly at risk for the downstream impacts of extreme precipitation. Climate scientists predict that as warmer temperatures allow more moisture to stay in the atmosphere, this can lead to more intense downpours. Experts say West Virginia will likely see an increase in flooding statewide.
And the process of coal mining can actually make flooding worse. Mountaintop removal mining — a widespread technique in West Virginia that involves blasting off the tops of mountains to reach the coal underneath — makes the state more vulnerable to flooding by removing trees and other plants that help hold back the rainwater. Without the help of root systems, soil that becomes wet during extreme precipitation events and flooding can also lead to dangerous mudslides.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/06/24/3792233/west-virginia-flooding/
Added atmospheric moisture from anthropomorphic climate change. Think of a river in the sky.
A special word of appreciation to the government and volunteer workers who put their neighbors’ welfare first.
Here in Central Virginia (Charlottesville area), we got more than drenched from that same system, had some localized flooding, but the jet stream just unloaded enormous cloudburst after cloudburst over there in that section of West Virginia, with no dry intervals. I am really sorry to hear about all the death and destruction. Those first responders are heroes.
So what was happening all these centuries with major weather disasters occurring each year somewhere on the planet? jeez, get a grip
And yet God/Jesus loves everyone . You haven’t got to that in your Bible yet ?
It’s pretty clear that maxaroo is being comically ironic.
I mean he’s mixing a scientific (man disturbs environment) with religious (gay marriage) causality in the same sentence!
Snark. Crazy right wing fundamentalist Christians are known to blame any severe weather system on God being upset over gays.
I feel so sorry for Karol Dunford and others like her who lose everything in a disaster. I hope she has flood insurance, but even that can only go so far. Luckily, she has family and I hope they can help fill the gaps that aren’t covered by insurance or federal/state aid.
max. that was meant as snark i take it?
The people who live in what Bob Kincaid accurately calls “the fossil fuel sacrifice zone” are just the butt of all jokes, aren’t they? Nobody gives a shit about the so-called ignorant hillbillies of Appalachia. Twenty three people are dead and they get ridiculed for circumstances entirely out of their control.
Twenty three people are dead, for chissakes. Give it a fucking rest.
These people have been exploited for generation after generation, and while this may come as a total shock to the culturally ignorant who fancy themselves educated, it’s not their fault. They are not responsible for climate change. They’re just trying to survive the best they can.
If you want to assess blame for climate change – if you want to crack stupid jokes about the consequences – please save them for the coal barons and international fracking ambassadors who aspire to the White House. But no, it’ll be about all those ignorant uneducated hillbillies who have no choice but to fight for the only jobs they’ve got, because it’s much easier to blame it on the weak than it is to be accountable for one’s own contributions to the problem.
I didn’t get a sense that the remarks above were directed at any of the suffering people of WV themselves but more at the ownership of the extraction industry and the controlling pastors of fundamentalist churches who mislead them as to the real cause of the environmental consequences they suffer.
That said, we need to be extremely careful with our language in situations like this because it can be so easily interpreted differently than what we intend.
While some did do this, not everyone on this thread made jokes or blamed those affected. Generally, though, I agree with you. People lost their lives here. Others’ lives will be forever altered. They live in a very rural section of the nation that offers very little in the way of real assistance to get a comfortable life back. It’s not funny.