#emergency floods

[decaf-lesbian]

these are pictures from before and after the floods. these are 2 days old:

these other pictures are more recent, mostly from yesterday:

Rio Pardo, RS / Eldorado do Sul, RS

Canoas, RS

Porto Alegre, RS

this is a nightmare.

[reasonsforhope]

As relentless rains pounded LA, the city’s “sponge” infrastructure helped gather 8.6 billion gallons of water—enough to sustain over 100,000 households for a year.

Earlier this month, the future fell on Los Angeles. A long band of moisture in the sky, known as an atmospheric river, dumped 9 inches of rain on the city over three days—over half of what the city typically gets in a year. It’s the kind of extreme rainfall that’ll get ever more extreme as the planet warms.

The city’s water managers, though, were ready and waiting. Like other urban areas around the world, in recent years LA has been transforming into a “sponge city,” replacing impermeable surfaces, like concrete, with permeable ones, like dirt and plants. It has also built out “spreading grounds,” where water accumulates and soaks into the earth.

With traditional dams and all that newfangled spongy infrastructure, between February 4 and 7 the metropolis captured 8.6 billion gallons of stormwater, enough to provide water to 106,000 households for a year. For the rainy season in total, LA has accumulated 14.7 billion gallons.

Long reliant on snowmelt and river water piped in from afar, LA is on a quest to produce as much water as it can locally. “There's going to be a lot more rain and a lot less snow, which is going to alter the way we capture snowmelt and the aqueduct water,” says Art Castro, manager of watershed management at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “Dams and spreading grounds are the workhorses of local stormwater capture for either flood protection or water supply.”

Centuries of urban-planning dogma dictates using gutters, sewers, and other infrastructure to funnel rainwater out of a metropolis as quickly as possible to prevent flooding. Given the increasingly catastrophic urban flooding seen around the world, though, that clearly isn’t working anymore, so now planners are finding clever ways to capture stormwater, treating it as an asset instead of a liability. “The problem of urban hydrology is caused by a thousand small cuts,” says Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute at UC Berkeley. “No one driveway or roof in and of itself causes massive alteration of the hydrologic cycle. But combine millions of them in one area and it does. Maybe we can solve that problem with a thousand Band-Aids.”

Or in this case, sponges. The trick to making a city more absorbent is to add more gardens and other green spaces that allow water to percolate into underlying aquifers—porous subterranean materials that can hold water—which a city can then draw from in times of need. Engineers are also greening up medians and roadside areas to soak up the water that’d normally rush off streets, into sewers, and eventually out to sea...

To exploit all that free water falling from the sky, the LADWP has carved out big patches of brown in the concrete jungle. Stormwater is piped into these spreading grounds and accumulates in dirt basins. That allows it to slowly soak into the underlying aquifer, which acts as a sort of natural underground tank that can hold 28 billion gallons of water.

During a storm, the city is also gathering water in dams, some of which it diverts into the spreading grounds. “After the storm comes by, and it's a bright sunny day, you’ll still see water being released into a channel and diverted into the spreading grounds,” says Castro. That way, water moves from a reservoir where it’s exposed to sunlight and evaporation, into an aquifer where it’s banked safely underground.

On a smaller scale, LADWP has been experimenting with turning parks into mini spreading grounds, diverting stormwater there to soak into subterranean cisterns or chambers. It’s also deploying green spaces along roadways, which have the additional benefit of mitigating flooding in a neighborhood: The less concrete and the more dirt and plants, the more the built environment can soak up stormwater like the actual environment naturally does.

As an added benefit, deploying more of these green spaces, along with urban gardens, improves the mental health of residents. Plants here also “sweat,” cooling the area and beating back the urban heat island effect—the tendency for concrete to absorb solar energy and slowly release it at night. By reducing summer temperatures, you improve the physical health of residents. “The more trees, the more shade, the less heat island effect,” says Castro. “Sometimes when it’s 90 degrees in the middle of summer, it could get up to 110 underneath a bus stop.”

LA’s far from alone in going spongy. Pittsburgh is also deploying more rain gardens, and where they absolutely must have a hard surface—sidewalks, parking lots, etc.—they’re using special concrete bricks that allow water to seep through. And a growing number of municipalities are scrutinizing properties and charging owners fees if they have excessive impermeable surfaces like pavement, thus incentivizing the switch to permeable surfaces like plots of native plants or urban gardens for producing more food locally.

So the old way of stormwater management isn’t just increasingly dangerous and ineffective as the planet warms and storms get more intense—it stands in the way of a more beautiful, less sweltering, more sustainable urban landscape. LA, of all places, is showing the world there’s a better way.

-via Wired, February 19, 2024

[bikehype]

Climate Emergency, Rio Grande do Sul, 2024, Brazil

[hungerpunch]

the way that the oscar-winning 2017 film, call me by your name, launched timothay chalamay from relative obscurity to a leading man & household name and would have propelled the chronically-mediocre armie hammer to new heights had he not been exposed as a cannibal

versus

how no such thing happened for the leads of the oscar-winning 2016 film, moonlight (ashton sanders, trevante rhodes, jharrel jerome, andré holland), who have all toiled for small parts or infrequent leads in the years since their accolades.

i truly hate society.

[taliawinters]

Tʜᴇ Fʟᴏᴏᴅᴇᴅ Dɪsᴛʀɪᴄᴛ

[invidiaesc]

🇧🇷 LET US SAVE RIO GRANDE DO SUL - BRASIL 🇧🇷

EVERY SINGLE DRAWING YOU BUY THE MONEY WILL GO 100% TO HELP RIO GRANDE DO SUL. GO GET YOUR DRAWING! Any character,OC,person, anything, bust up face FOR $5 SUCH BIG SALE. BEST DEAL! ⚠️

Paypal: gabi.estrazulas@yahoo.com.br

The Goal? At least 1k to send to my two friends who are in need. It will be used to buy medicine for pets and food for them. The drawing is made by A HUMAN ARTIST (me)

PLEASE HELP ME HELP MY FRIENDS AND MY LAND. 1 Dolar is 5,08 Reais. You're helping A LOT donating.

Who am I? I'm Invidia, I was born in Rio Grande do Sul, I only changed my home state (but I'm still living close there) because my father and grandparents died, they are still buried there. Two of my friends, my dear coralis who I know personally, are suffering due this tragedy.

Coralis is helping as a voluntary to the pets who were hurt due the dirty water or abandoned (or even lost by the owners, who are missing or dead). She needs help with money for pet food and medicine.

Tabata is a victim who lost everything, her entire house is destroyed due the water and she doesn't have anything than being with her family in another place, who are in a risk area of flood too. She is needing money to help with food and with the expenses.

An example of how much Tabata lost is that she lost all her computer, television, freezer and her home, everything is underwater now.

I got some help from an american friend and send entirely the money to Tabata, who is using to buy food. They accepted me to share the transaction (ofc I'm censoring our personal data for safety measure).

Tabata: https://instagram.com/lunari_alune/

Coralis: https://twitter.com/unfragility

What is happening with Brazil? Rio Grande do Sul currently has 497 municipalities, with 345 of these municipalities being affected by the recent rains and floods that are happening in the state.

More than 850,422 people were harmed, 83 dead, 111 missing, 276 injured, 121,957 displaced and 19,368 people in shelters. Today, at 9:15 am, the measurement of Lake Guaíba was 5.27M, with the warning level for flooding being 2.5M and the flood level being 3M

Currently the home state is on alert due to the possible collapse of dikes and walls that prevent all the water from rivers and lakes from going to the city, but during the week the population has been witnessing historic moments.

More information from:

I'll be sharing the screens of the transactions to them with the amount of money I get from it on my twitter:

I will be sharing everything!

If you read everything, THANK YOU!

Please share with everyone, you're literally saving lives.

I'm sorry any english mistake.

[hussyknee]

I know this happens every year but "monsoon season" can never encompass the headfuck that is going from searing droughts and heatstrokes one month to having half the Indian Ocean dumped over our heads the next.

[sailorgundam308]

Dunno how the algorithm is gonna deal with this BUT if you have PayPal you can try and donate to an NGO who is rescuing animals in the catastrophic floods that are affecting my home back in southern Brazil.

If you have the means and are willing, I beg you to help. USD is hyper valued in contrast to BRL (Brazilian Real) so even a small amount will help us out there.

The NGO is called GRAD (Group for Rescuing Animals in Disasters). You can look them up.

Thank you for spreading the word and helping if you can!!

[weebsinstash]

I don't think I'd ever have the stones to actually do it but I feel like it'd be socially acceptable if I wrote a hazbin fic and just put my whole pussy in it and have Reader sing a song and yes I DO mean your ass would be reading lyrics

[deusa-astaroth666]

I would like to thank everyone for the messages of support and asks🥺❤️, I've already started the drawings and they will be ready by tomorrow, I'm doing them with great care and it really helped me calm down a lot and I even managed to eat a little. I also have three news, one good and two bad.

The good news is that one of my friends got in touch and is well and safe so far, the water has not reached her house.

Now for the bad, my friend and her family are without drinking water to bathe and the water in the fridge to drink is also running out, I hope they deliver supplies to her soon. The other bad news is that my other friend hasn't gotten in touch yet and to make matters worse, another water dam burst, in other words... the catastrophe has just gotten worse and the chances of the current reaching her house have increased, which only increases my concern. I really hope she is safe, the city of Porto Alegre is devastated by the waters, no one leaves or enters except the volunteers with helicopters and boats, an entire city is under water, there are 78 people dead so far and more than 105 are missing, every hour this number grows, 20 thousand have been rescued and 115 thousand are homeless.

The last time I saw something like this was in the tragedy of Brumadinho in Minas Gerais, please do something about it to make it known to the outside media, Brazil needs help, the State of Rio Grande Do Sul is sinking and the tendency is to get worse, Anything to help our country is welcome, donations, repercussions and prayers, here below there will be some videos of the current situation in the State, they are strong images so watch them if you are psychologically prepared😥

I will translate for you

Flood destroys city of Roca Sales in Rio Grande do Sul

Unfortunately I can only put a single video here, but on Tik Tok and YouTube there are several of them, if you are interested in donating, the government is creating pix keys and the victims themselves too, I will send some Tik Tok accounts that are fighting to help animals and people who were victims of this tragedy. Every 1 Real (Brazilian currency) is worth 0.20 of the North American dollar.

Government releases Pix key for donations

The number for donations is: 92.958.800/0001-38. When making the transfer, confirm that the destination bank is "Banrisul (Banco do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul)".

https://www.tiktok.com/@saramicaela14?_t=8m74sIjUsbO&_r=1

This child asks for help with beds and toys, the wreckage you can see behind is what's left of his house.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMtDh8cf/

Here you can see animal rescue

If you want to make other donations for specific things like animal feed and food, just Google the banks that are receiving them, I think it will be safer that way.

I hope that everyone is well and that none of you have to go through something like this, I will continue to update you about it, as it is the only way I could help the media see us, since as I mentioned before the event has passed. unnoticed since it occurred on the same day as Queen Madonna's concert.

Thank you for reading this far, have a good night❤️❤️

[humanrightsconnected]

📢 We’re excited to share today our climate justice action guide 🌍🌱✊📢 Oftentimes, when discussing climate issues, there is more emphasis being put on what the impact of climate change has on the weather (heatwaves, floods, etc…). In addition to tackling extreme weather events, our blog post will also explore under discussed consequences of climate change, for instance how it affects food security and migration. 

Most of all, the aim of our action guide is to equip our readers with knowledge and resources on how to play a part in the fight for climate justice. In our blog post, you will find definitions of key terms, case studies, explanations of the legal framework behind environmental laws, tools to self-educate, and much more! Be sure to check it out!

[decaf-lesbian]

just a little update for those who have dmed me about it: i am doing well, thankfully i live in a pretty high place (literally atop of a hill) and the flood won't get here unless the whole city is completely underwater, which it hopefully won't happen. my family offered our house to our relatives who had to be evacuated and we are awaiting news about other relatives who are stranded in a nearby town. tomorrow i'm volunteering at the shelters i have access to and i'll buy essential items to bring to them along with my uni colleagues.

i am very thankful for all the reblogs, notes and donations. spreading awareness of climate issues is absolutely essential and we need to act on it in any way we can. a step forward is a step forward, however small :)

again, thank you so so much for all the kindness and compassion. heaven knows we need it now more than ever.

[reasonsforhope]

"Amsterdam’s roofs have just been converted into a giant sponge that will make the city more climate resilient.

The Dutch have always been famous for their ability to control water, born out of the necessity of their homeland, much of which is below sea level.

Now, their expert water management skills are transforming the city skyline in the capital city of Amsterdam from one of terracotta tile, concrete, and shingles into green grass and brown earth.

It’s part of a new climate-resiliency trend in architecture and civic planning known as the ‘sponge city concept,’ in which a garden of water-loving plants, mosses, and soil absorbs excess rainwater before feeding it into the building for use in flushing toilets or watering plants on the ground.

If heavy rains are predicted, a smart valve system empties the stored rainwater into the municipal storm drains and sewers in advance of the weather, allowing the roof to soak up water and reduce flooding in the city.

In this way, the rooftops of buildings can be wrung out and filled up just like a sponge.

In Amsterdam, 45,000 square meters, or 11 acres of flat metropolitan rooftops have already been fitted with these systems, and the contracting firms behind the technology say they make sense in dry climates like Spain just as much as in wet climates like Amsterdam...

A 4-year project of different firms and organizations called Resilio, the resilient network for smart climate adaptive rooftops, rolled out thousands of square meters of sponge city technology into new buildings. As with many climate technologies, the costs are high upfront but tend to result in savings from several expenditures like water utilities and water damage, over a long-enough time horizon...

All together, Amsterdam’s sponge capacity is over 120,000 gallons.

“We think the concept is applicable to many urban areas around the world,” Kasper Spaan from Waternet, Amsterdam’s public water management organization, told Wired Magazine. “In the south of Europe–Italy and Spain–where there are really drought-stressed areas, there’s new attention for rainwater catchment.”

Indeed the sponge city concept comes into a different shade when installed in drought-prone regions. Waters absorbed by rooftops during heavy rains can be used for municipal purposes to reduce pressure on underground aquifers or rivers, or be sweated out under the Sun’s rays which cools the interior of the building naturally.

Additionally, if solar panels were added on top of the rooftop garden, the evaporation would keep the panels cooler, which has been shown in other projects to improve their energy generation.

“Our philosophy in the end is not that on every roof, everything is possible,” says Spaan, “but that on every roof, something is possible.”

Matt Simon, reporting on the Resilio project for Wired, said succinctly that perhaps science fiction authors have missed the mark when it came to envisioning the city of the future, and that rather than being a glittering metropolis of glass, metal, and marble as smooth as a pannacotta, it will look an awful lot more like an enormous sculpture garden."

-via Good News Network, May 15, 2024

[acerathia]

Hello! As some of you may know, Libya is currently suffering due to Storm Daniel flooding, and breaking the dam.

In estimation, 2'000 people are dead while hundreds remain missing. All the people lost their homes, businesses, infrastructure, their livelihood, and much more.

I'm putting the links for donations, even if just means getting these people a chance to dress properly, every dollar counts.

[your-local-biologist]

If the overheating electrical grids in California, heatwave in China, and flooding in Pakistan isn’t enough proof that something needs to be done about climate change, I don’t know what is at this point.

[fuzzythememe]

ف🇵🇸 on X: "The floods in Somalia are getting worse. People are being displaced and losing their loved ones. This uncle has lost all 3 of his children and his wife. He doesn’t know if they are alive or dead. Keep them in your duaas please🥲 https://t.co/RdOMsl7nxh" / X (twitter.com)

Please read and donate if you can

Somalia Flooding Emergency Response | LaunchGood