Flooding in new York and new Jersey?

[Smartphonetoomuchoo]

Is this it? Anyone else think we have reached the point of no return where we have to deal with ridiculous flooding and fires and storms and hurricanes. And the fall out of that. I'm out. I really am. I feel sick with worry for my children, for myself, for my partner wondering whether one day he just won't come home from work? Is it just me?

On a global level, yanbu, but you are catastrophising about your immediate safety I believe. Yes, we have rough times ahead, but you have to keep it in perspective and live your life and promote hope and confidence in your kids so they make the most of this one life.

Oo i think you need to address your anxiety rather than argue with people on here. None of that will help you cope with the fear.

If you're feeling suicidal, can you talk to your DH and GP to get some extra support? It's really important you don't hide these feelings from your loved ones

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

The flooding of basement apartments in NY is heartbreaking.

I think, as we don't get too impacted by serious weather events in the UK apart from a bit of flooding there's a bit of an" Im alright Jack" mentality. But the UK, at least where I live in the East Coast has been unseasonably cloudy this August, cloud doesn't seem like much of an issue compared to floods and hurricanes and doesn't cause the awful loss of life to humans and other animals ofcourse but it has knock on effects on our pollinators, crop growth, even solar energy generation. These extra clouds will have been seeded from the excess particulates and cloud nuclei in the atmosphere from the wildfires in America and Canada. It really is a global problem and until all countries start working together we really can't make much headway.

Interesting point about the clouds and what they may contain. I've noticed over the past few weeks that on cloudy days I often seem to end up with an itchy face and watering eyes, despite the pollen count being low. It feels like the air is "dirty" in some way, but I thought it was due to fungal spores or something.

OP, I feel the same way, that the weather seems to be more erratic and there seem to be more frequent extreme weather events around the world now. I'm not sure how much of this is down to humans, but it is happening and we need to mitigate against these events, as it seems unlikely we can stop climate change completely now. In the UK maybe we will need to abandon certain coastal areas and low level housing, to allow for rising sea water and create flood plains (which should never have been built on anyway). In California and Australia perhaps more fire break areas will be needed, where no trees or large shrubs are grown, to stop forest fires spreading. Floating cities might be created where land is lost to rising sea levels, wind farms and solar farms could be built in uninhabitable places with unrelenting wind/sunshine. The earth cannot sustain the current massive population, so things are going to get much worse before they get better, but in the UK we may be more fortunate to be spared the worst effects. The worst affected will be the world's poorest people, but some of the world's wealthiest might also suffer losses - think of places like Sandbanks, Dorset. Those properties along that narrow strip of beach cost millions, but are only a few feet above sea level. In 20 years' time they will likely be flooded, unsaveable and unmortgageable. The same with some properties along the River Thames.

@WeirdCouncil

If the devil is six then God is seven

Exactly

@Smartphonetoomuchoo you’re right to be concerned about GW-it’s scary! But I think you should speak to your GP about your anxiety. Good luck.

Same as every other year there are extreme weather events.

There's a continuum on this thread ranging from 'my family are in imminent danger' to 'this is normal'.

This is not normal. We are seeing an acceleration in extreme events and records being broken. Higher temperatures, more frequent severe flooding, a high number of strong hurricanes.

Yes, we can point to other severe weather events that have occurred in the past, but climate change makes these events more frequent and generally more likely to be severe.

However on a personal level, it is unlikely that any one individual is going to end up in a life threatening or altering situation.

There are precautions that people should take: think about how landscaping your property might impact on flooding, look at flood mitigation if you live in a prone area. Check this link out flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk and consider your flood risk. One key point is to keep insurance documents above ground level.

In the UK, in terms of wind damage, the main thing is to ensure that trees close to property are in good condition. If you keep important things in your loft, keep them in water resistant containers.

Have a power cut box. Think about how you would cope if you lost power on a cold winters day in severe weather.

And of course we can all do our own small part in trying to reduce climate change.

@OhYouBadBadKitten Your suggestions make sense - those things are all sensible ways to mitigate damage. IIRC you post quite a lot about the weather, and seem pretty knowledgeable on this subject, so it's interesting that you think climate change is indeed already upon us. Even if that's not the case, there's no reason not to take precautions against extreme weather events, because they have always happened and look likely to continue.

You're out to where, Mars?

Any suggestions on what could be done to reduce or reverse the effects of climate change?

Anyway, wheres that poster that jumps on every climate change thread to tell you it's all lies? Haven't seen her on here yet...

Floods, fire, storms, snow, ice, high temps, plague and pestilence have been around since Adam was a boy.

To me it is being publicised now as Global warming so is getting more attention.

Until Governments around the world act together and incentivise people to be more climate aware it will go on and on, just like it has for millennia. Individuals can do their bit for sure, and most people try, but it is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed on a global basis. But every little helps I suppose.

Yes, the world is in a slow state of collapse over climate but also other things. But this doesn’t mean Armageddon in your lifetime! Enjoy what you have while you can and buy a house at a higher elevation without flood risk.

Everyone should be as prepared as they can for disasters. But that's nothing new. People have dealt with unpredictable weather and natural disasters for as long as there have been people. If anything, we're much more cushioned from the bad effects than people have been in the past.

@BritWifeInUSA

Hurricane season. Happens every year in this country. Floods happen after hurricanes. It just doesn’t make international news when its not somewhere exciting that you might consider going on holiday to. Regular Americans in regular cities go through this every year. The rest of the world just doesn’t care then.

This one is nothing compared to the Galveston hurricane in 1900 with 40 ft floods and 8000 deaths.

I've lived in New York all of my life. Britwife nailed it, as usual.

Ida was pretty bad, but I've seen much, much worse. Sandy, for example.

Yanbu. The ocean was literally on fire the other day.

I think a lot of the casual 'well it's normal' responses you're getting is because short of not buying anymore 20p plastic bags in which to carry their shopping home from Sainsbury's, a lot of people genuinely don't know what to do. It's a very helpless feeling to watch the world burn and flood around you and know that you can't do anything about it.

What does ‘I’m out’ mean. Out of planet earth? Good luck with that

YABU and overdramatic. You need to calm down.

You’re not “out”, whatever you mean by that anyway. You’ll carry on and deal with it like everyone else.

My partner isn't a fucking storm chaser. he's a man who works hours away for days on end and if these floods are happening more often and killing people then surely its reasonable to worry that he may be one of the unlucky ones who die . or the even unluckiest ones who come home to a dead family, drowned.

That's just hysteria, it's highly unlikely he'd come home and find you all drowned. You can't live with this level of fear, it's not sustainable and could lead to bad things if left unchecked.
Saying you're out makes me worried you'll do something to yourself and your children.

Weather patterns are becoming more concerning but it isn't that simple. As the world's population increases more people will be effected by each weather event, but that does not mean that the weather was any worse, also poverty pushes people into sub standard accommodation (like basement flats) in flood and hurricane prone areas which puts them in increased danger. These factors can be managed.

OP unless you live in a single storey property in a particularly flood prone area then you are being particularly melodramatic. Also the UK has an excellent coordinated weather warning and flood alert system, it is one thing the UK does well and which we should be proud of (even if DH and I roll our eyes every time 'normal' autumn weather gets a yellow warning).

What does “I’m out” mean?