Extreme rain, flooding and tornadoes hit the Midwest and South. Many swollen rivers have yet to crest.

Tornadoes tore through parts of the South and Midwest.
(Adobe Stock photo)

As storm after storm hammered the Midwest and South with torrential rain and flash floods over the weekend, thousands of Americans now face homes, businesses, roads and bridges that are destroyed or underwater. "The storm is expected to move out to sea by Tuesday, leaving behind enough fallen rain to keep rivers and streams swelling for days to come," reports Patrick J. Lyons of The New York Times.

Continuous rainfall left areas unable to manage the extreme runoff. "The area around Benton, in western Kentucky, recorded more than 15 inches of rain from Tuesday morning to Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service," Lyons writes. Marlene Lenthang and Kathryn Prociv of NBC News report, "Meanwhile, in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, rising waters reached a substation, causing authorities to cut power."

Much of the damage "has been caused by floodwaters that overtopped riverbanks and levees, surged through streets and inundated the basements and ground floors of buildings," Lyons reports. "Some streams and rivers were not expected to crest for several more days. Stranded residents were rescued across the region."

The storm system spawned dozens of tornadoes, which stretched across southern Arkansas all the way into northern Indiana. Lyons writes, "There were so many reports of tornadoes that some Weather Service offices delayed confirming them. . . . At least 23 deaths had been attributed to the storm system as of Sunday evening."

Six months after Hurricane Helene, North Carolina is still trying to measure the loss while pushing recovery efforts

Flooding from Hurricane Helene wiped out homes and roads.
 (Adobe Stock photo)

North Carolina lawmakers are pushing Hurricane Helene recovery efforts forward despite not knowing the extent of Helene's damage or how much and when federal aid will be available. Brady Dennis of The Washington Post reports, "Officials seem determined to move quicker after Helene and avoid the mistakes of the past, even as North Carolina faces the most massive disaster recovery in its history."

Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina six months ago, leaving a swath of decimation caused by extreme rain, flooding and mudslides. More than 100 people died and thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed. Flooding "wiped out bridges, roads, businesses and farms," Dennis reports. The storm left "an estimated $60 billion of economic ruin in its wake."

State officials still don't know how much federal aid will "ultimately arrive and in what quantity, even amid President Trump’s promises to speed help to the region," Dennis adds. "FEMA has helped more than 157,000 families and distributed $402.5 million to storm victims in North Carolina. . . . But the larger sums of funding meant to fuel long-term rebuilding that often follow large-scale disasters, historically takes months, if not years, to be fully implemented." 

The storm's scope of catastrophic damage explains why recovery has been slow. "Disaster recovery is almost always frustrating, tedious and too costly for most states and localities to bear without a significant assist from the federal government," Dennis explains. "Lawmakers continue to hash out the final details of the state’s most recent — though almost certainly not its last — Helene aid package. If passed, it will include more than $500 million to help struggling farmers, jump-start a home building program and repair private roads and bridges."

Even with that progress, the state will need billions to get back on its feet. Gov. Josh Stein’s deputies admit "that serious hurdles remain," Dennis reports. "Among them: the staggering damage Helene inflicted, the lack of data in some counties about the actual number of damaged and destroyed homes and the difficulties posed by rebuilding amid mountainous terrain."

Rural round-up: USDA plan to lower egg prices; cuts to rural education research; relief payments to farmers; USFS firings

Photo by J. Egger,
Unsplash

As egg prices keep pecking at American pocketbooks, Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has a 5-part plan to lower egg prices. Rollins writes, "Avian flu can still penetrate [almost any] facility; it is transmitted through wild birds that often enter through perimeter gaps that need to be fixed. . . . The USDA has developed a successful pilot program. . . to identify and implement more safety measures. . . . Second, we will make up to $400 million of increased financial relief available to farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu, and we will assist them in receiving faster approval to begin safe operations again after an outbreak. . . ." Read all of Secretary Rollins' strategy here.

President Donald Trump's first campaign and term may have helped bring rural needs for investment and support to the forefront, but the current Trump administration "could bring that progress to a sudden halt," reports Nick Fouriezos for The Daily Yonder. "The first cuts were reportedly aimed at the Institute of Education Sciences, the Department of Education's independent research and evaluation arm, with at least 170 contracts shuttered. . . . The National Rural Higher Education Research Center just opened in September, after being awarded a 5-year, $10 million grant through the IES. . . . Led by MDRC, which conducts nonpartisan research to improve the lives of low-income Americans, the center is conducting eight major studies in rural areas across 10 states and 25 colleges."

Outdoor Recreation Roundtable photo

The wave of U.S. Forestry terminations put a precious rural resources at risk. "About 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees within their probationary period have been fired due to Trump’s reforming the federal workforce executive order," reports Ilana Newman of The Daily Yonder. "National forests are vital to rural economies. The outdoor recreation industry contributed 1.2 trillion dollars to the American economy in 2023. . . . A source revealed that seasonal firefighters may be in the next round of terminations."

Sections of Appalachia were doused with rain last week, leaving parts of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee soaked and flooding -- again. The region's repeated natural disasters have caused heartbreak and extreme financial distress for many residents, but they have also helped Appalachian communities rely on one another. "Willa Johnson, a lifelong eastern Kentuckian, lived in McRoberts when the 2022 flood overturned her life," reports Katie Myers of Grist. "Johnson and others throughout the area feel their experience has prepared them to face future disasters with strength, and, when other rural communities go through the same experience, understand what they face and how best to help them."

In late December, Congress passed the American Relief Act, which earmarked $9.8 billion in agriculture relief payments to farmers, with a 90-day window for the Department of Agriculture to issue the checks, reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "With less than 30 days left before the deadline, farmers are asking one question: When will those payments be released? . . . .  On Thursday Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed payments will be released before the March 21 current deadline. She also outlined the timing of the $1 billion just announced to combat avian flu. Rollins is schedule to give another keynote talk today. To watch Farm Journal's most recent update interview with Rollins, click here.

Drought causes transportation headaches along the Mississippi River for the third year in a row

Bridge near Vicksburg, Miss., and a pusher tug headed up
the Mississippi River. (Photo by Justin Wilkens, Unsplash)

A drying Mississippi River is causing transportation headaches and delays for the third year running in what scientists suggest could be a long-lasting change. "Extreme drought conditions in the Midwest are drawing down water levels on the Mississippi River, raising prices for companies that transport goods downstream and forcing governments and business owners to seek alternative solutions," reports Kristoffer Tigue of Inside Climate News. "The situation could signal an emerging reality for the region, scientists say, as climate change alters the planet’s weather patterns."

Despite Hurricane Francine's water dump in the Ohio Valley, Mississippi River levels have dipped since mid-July, which slows traffic. "Load restrictions force barge operators to limit their hauls, which squeezes their profit margin," Tigue explains. "Barge rates from St. Louis reached $24.62 a ton in late August and $27.49 per ton by the following week, according to the Department of Agriculture."

Moving cargo via the Mississippi River is more "efficient pound for pound than ground transportation, business groups say, and gives the U.S. an edge in a competitive global market," Tigue reports. "According to the Waterways Council, a trade association for businesses that use the Mississippi River, a standard 15-barge load is equivalent to 1,050 semi trucks or 216 train cars—meaning domestic farmers and other producers can save significant time and money moving their goods by boat."

Too much rainfall or not enough causes river transportation backups, and over the past several years, weather fluctuations in the Midwest have swung between the two. Drought conditions at harvest time are particularly troublesome. Tigue writes, "While it’s typical for water levels on the Mississippi to drop during the fall months, Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, said the recent years of drought have been a real wake-up call for farmers to diversify their supply chains."

If there's a little good news, it's that this year's drought headaches are not as extreme as those from 2023, when the Mississippi dipped to record lows. Tigue reports, "Deb Calhoun, senior vice president of the Waterways Council, chalks that up to proactive efforts this year by companies and federal agencies, like the Army Corps of Engineers, to mitigate transportation disruptions."

As flood risk changes and homeowner's flood insurance premiums are recalculated, sticker shock is a sticking point

More accurate flood data has changed insurance rates.
(Photo by Kellly Sikkema, Unsplash)

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency recalculates national flood insurance premiums to include more accurate data, insuring property in places like Valley City, Illinois, which was recently underwater because of another flood from the Illinois River, may not be financially possible for some residents," reports Kery Murakami of Route Fifty. "After FEMA made changes to how it sets premiums for the 5 million policyholders in its National Flood Insurance Program, homeowners in Valley City, an area that's hit a major flood stage seven times since 2002, will be seeing a major jump in their premium to cover their damages. . . . Over roughly the next ten years, the 91 single-family homeowners in Pike County, where Valley City is located, will see their premiums rise six-fold from $699 to $4,933."

FEMA's new way of setting flood insurance premiums will "more accurately reflect how much flood risk properties are facing. But in many areas around the country, homeowners will see their premium payments multiply several times," Murakami writes. "Up until now, the premiums had not considered how often an area was expected to flood in the future and didn't consider many types of flooding, like that from heavy rainfall. That's led to an unfair situation in which many owners of properties at risk of flooding have been paying 'peanuts,' said Chad Berginnis, executive director for the Association of State Floodplain Managers. And indeed, Pike County's single-family homeowners had been paying among the lowest rates of any county in the country, according to FEMA data examined by Route Fifty."

Lawmakers say flood insurance only helps if homeowners can afford to buy it. "Some members of Congress from areas where premiums will jump are balking at the prospect of NFIP policyholders paying thousands more for federal flood insurance. Raising premiums so sharply, they say, could discourage people from buying insurance and leave them vulnerable if a flood damages their home," Murakami reports. Federal law caps premium increases at 18%. "Those who are not paying as much as FEMA's new risk assessment says they should be paying will be on what the agency calls a 'glide path' until they reach their new premium level. . . . The agency estimates that the percentage of people paying the amount FEMA believes they should be paying will rise from about a third to 90% over the next decade."

Using a more accurate picture of where flooding has or is likely to occur to set premium costs has supporters. "Some changes should be made, said Berginnis. . . . The new premiums, for example, will not take into account steps property owners take to reduce the threat of flood damage," Murakami writes. "Still, he said, the new flood insurance rates will 'send people the correct signals about flood risk.'

Cloud seeding can make it rain in about 20 minutes; drought-stricken areas are investing in the old technology

Cloud seeding has been around in some form since the 1950s, but due to extreme drought across much of the U.S., the technology is experiencing "a renaissance," reports Erice Niiler of The Wall Street Journal. "Across the Western U.S. and Mexico, demand for cloud seeding has skyrocketed as increasing periods of extreme drought and a warming climate make it a cheaper alternative to big-ticket technological solutions such as the desalination of water piped inland from the Pacific Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. Cloud-seeding programs to boost both rain and snowfall are now underway in Texas, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico and California."

A single-engine aircraft flies over Texas, injecting cloud-seeding particles of
silver iodide. (Photo by Jonathan Jennings and Ilana Panich-Linsman, WSJ)

Cloud seeding can work in the sky or "on the ground, where chimney-like generators send chemicals into air masses as they move up the side of mountains," the Journal reports. "Most cloud-seeding efforts use particles of silver iodide, which have a crystal structure similar to ice. Once the chemicals are injected, the air temperature must reach 20 degrees Fahrenheit—then water vapor begins to freeze around the silver iodide, getting big enough to fall to the ground as either rain or snow," Niiler writes. "In the summer, cloud-seeding firms use the water-attracting properties of salt crystals such as calcium chloride to do the same thing, except in warmer, humid clouds.. . . Cloud-seeding produces rain about 20 minutes after it reaches the cloud."

Not everyone thinks this is an answer to drought. "Some weather experts question its effectiveness and whether it just pulls rainwater from one area to fall in another. They say conservation on the ground is a surer way to preserve scarce water supplies," Niiler reports. "The World Meteorological Organization reviewed cloud-seeding programs across the globe in 2018 and concluded that cloud seeding is a promising technology but that the natural variability in each cloud system makes it difficult to quantify the difference seeding makes."

"Sarah Tessendorf, an author of the study and project scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, said the environmental risks of cloud seeding are relatively benign since the amount of silver detected in the snow is below harmful levels," Niiler reports. Tessendorf told him: "The key question we're trying to figure out is under what conditions is cloud seeding most effective." Niiler adds, "In March, the Bureau of Reclamation announced a $2.4 million grant for states in the Upper Colorado River Basin to conduct aerial and ground-based cloud seeding."

"For 73-year-old West Texas farmer Steve Williams, the benefit of occasional extra rainfall is worth the minimal amount he pays in taxes to his local water district that are earmarked for cloud seeding, about $20 a year," Niiler writes. "Williams and his son, Ty Williams, farm 1,774 acres of cotton and wheat in Schleicher County, Texas, one of six counties covered by the aerial seeding flights from the West Texas Weather Modification Association in San Angelo. . . . Williams said he usually only gets one or two cloud-seeded rainfalls directly over his property each planting season. However, the seeding drops rain on farms around him, recharging the underground aquifer that he and his neighbors depend on for irrigation and drinking water." Williams told Niiler: "It is a community effort. Everybody benefits. If you happen to get under one of Jonathan's clouds, you did pretty good."