SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For emergency planning purposes, scientists unveiled a hypothetical California scenario that describes a storm that could produce up to 10 feet of rain, cause extensive flooding (in many cases overwhelming the state’s flood-protection system) and result in more than $300 billion in damage. [Source: USGS Release, click for the rest of the release.]
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What Would a Large Earthquake Do to Downtown L.A.?
From the USGS Newsroom:
USGS scientist Ken Hudnut fills us in on how science created the theoretical magnitude 7.8 earthquake behind the Great Southern California ShakeOut—the largest earthquake preparedness drill in U.S. history, coming Nov. 13—and what such an earthquake would do to downtown Los Angeles.
Seems like they did it right wiith this study. They had multiple teams independenlty come up with the ground shaking model, then had different structural engineers who are experts in seismic design of large buildings review the tall buildings in the L.A. area for the design earthquake. They say that buildings would likely come down in the 7.8 magnitude event. Click through to watch the video interview from the USGS.
Midwest Flooding – Collection of Links
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials has a nice collection of links and article summaries for the recent devastating flooding that has hit the Midwest U.S. They do a nice job of breaking it down by state as well. (Image of flooding in Cedar Rapids, IA on 6/13/08. Photo by USGS)