Our first big summer tropical storm

[Tronhard]

Well, it took a while but it has been worth waiting for... Winds of over 140km/hr and a massive storm surge on top of a king tide has seen flooding around Auckland and surrounding areas. Sadly one person has died when a tree flattened her car.

After a blustery night during which our neighbour lost most of her porch I went out to see what things would be like at our high tide, around 11:00am. I tried driving along the main waterfront road: normally fairly placid with about 2m clearance from the high tide. Not so today. I was limited in what I could do as the wind was so strong I could not open the car door, so I had to take shots through windows!

I didn't get far before the occasional waves hitting the car turned into a flood that was waist high down one side street. All traffic was turned back on both sides. That occurred about the centre of the first image.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApMt_iuZ3cpdmR6e7sKoFddo3nO1

Sorry about the link...

[xpatUSA]

Well, it took a while but it has been worth waiting for... Winds of over 140km/hr and a massive storm surge on top of a king tide has seen flooding around Auckland and surrounding areas. Sadly one person has died when a tree flattened her car.

After a blustery night during which our neighbour lost most of her porch I went out to see what things would be like at our high tide, around 11:00am. I tried driving along the main waterfront road: normally fairly placid with about 2m clearance from the high tide. Not so today. I was limited in what I could do as the wind was so strong I could not open the car door, so I had to take shots through windows!

I didn't get far before the occasional waves hitting the car turned into a flood that was waist high down one side street. All traffic was turned back on both sides. That occurred about the centre of the first image.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApMt_iuZ3cpdmR6e7sKoFddo3nO1

Sorry about the link...

Back in August 2017, we got hit by Hurricane Harvey and it took out the road to town.

Almost five months later, the road is still closed. Classic Texas rural stuff ...

[Manfred M]

On the other hand, we can be thankful that we are only being hit with some more extremely cold weather. This round is only going to last around 3 days, unlike the 8 days we had last week.. .

[Tronhard]

Well Manfred, with all the damage we have from this storm, and it is not inconsiderate, I would rather be here than in North America, particularly the eastern half, right now. You have my sympathies!

[george013]

Storm in the Netherlands too. Wednesday I went to the beach to make pictures. I didn't manage it on the beach. It was just like sandblasting. I did protect my lens with an uv filter but not my eyes. Standing in the storm straight up in 45 degrees, For the first time all 5 storm surge barriers where closed.

George

[Shadowman]

It is the season of excessive weather, thanks for sharing; nice captures.

[Donald]

Awful situation, but these are excellent pictures. Captures the ferocity of the storm.

[Manfred M]

That looks quite brutal, Trevor. Thanks for adding the images.

I remember my Japanese son-in-law commenting on this subject after visiting North America that in Japan properties near the sea or close to rivers is where the inexpensive real estate is found. In other Western countries it is where the the expensive property is located. That suggests that a country that has a rainy season and is battered by typhoons, the well to do prefer living a bit higher up, away from the risk of flooding.

[Tronhard]

That looks quite brutal, Trevor. Thanks for adding the images.

I remember my Japanese son-in-law commenting on this subject after visiting North America that in Japan properties near the sea or close to rivers is where the inexpensive real estate is found. In other Western countries it is where the the expensive property is located. That suggests that a country that has a rainy season and is battered by typhoons, the well to do prefer living a bit higher up, away from the risk of flooding.

In NZ coastal property prices are by far the highest, but now there is a sting to that... A lot of councils have now re-evaluated the viability of land close to the sea, particularly in places where there are cliffs vulnerable to slips and low-lying areas. Already a council in a semi-rural area has abandoned one settlement that is not that old, but because the water course has changed and poses too great a risk to the buildings and at too high a cost to mitigate. Insurance companies has slapped either very high premiums or refused insurance on similar places, many of which are VERY expensive - much to the chagrin of the owners.

Frankly this had to happen, and is the thin edge of a very big wedge. Climate change is happening right now (whether one debates the cause of it or not), and it is changing everything: where we live, the viability of our infrastructures, the stability of our food resources and economies and the threats to our peace. These concerns are supported by some pretty hard-noses agencies... Insurers of insurers have been carefully looking at the trends of threats caused by climate and have been warning of dire consequences for some time, and we see the flow-on effects of their decisions on insurance coverage and rates.
This article in the NZ Media comments on this for NZ:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/...-costs-soaring

The Pentagon and CIA both produced lengthy documents on what they consider the massive threats to world peace caused by changes to the climate, resulting conflict from mass migrations from places like Bangladesh as people seek sanctuary. NZ and Australia have been fighting a case brought by the people of Tuvalu seeking status as climate refugees as their islands are swamped. They are fighting the case, not so much because they can't manage the fairly small numbers, but they are influenced by bigger players who see this as a precedent that could apply in vast numbers to those seeking refuge in Europe, India or North America.

We have recently had a change in government. The previous regime really did not address climate change, but the new one considers it NZ's biggest challenge... as do most local governments:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/...s-for-taranaki

[Tronhard]

Some more pix etc. from the media from the storm, which is slowly heading away from mainland NZ.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/100...new-year-storm

[DanK]

One can't tell from an N of 1 whether climate change contributed, but the Northeast just had the type of storm known here as a Nor'easter, and in addition to a fair amount of snow (in my location, about 43 cm of heavy snow, with gale-force winds creating drifts), we had the highest tide ever recorded in Boston and serious flooding in numerous coastal communities. It will only get worse, on average.

[Tronhard]

The CBC is one of the media I trust most. Johanna Wagstaffe, the CBC's environmental presenter, has advanced degrees in Meteorology and Seismology and she produced a series of podcasts, using validated academic and professional sources to look at the issue of climate change for the west coast of BC in 2050. They are worth listening to if you are so inclined.
http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/2050-degrees-of-change
To me this is what happens when the media do their homework and seek to inform rather than inflame...

[lovelife65]

The CBC is one of the media I trust most. Johanna Wagstaffe the CBC's environmental presenter, has advanced degrees in Meteorology and Seismology and she produced a series of podcasts, using validated academic and professional sources to look at the issue of climate change for the west coast of BC in 2050. They are worth listening to if you are so inclined.
http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/2050-degrees-of-change
To me this is what happens when the media do their homework and seek to inform rather than inflame...

Agree with Trev on this one. We watch to CBC pretty exclusively. I miss Peter Mansbridge tho, altho Wendy Mesley is pretty awesome. Will definitely look up Johanna.