Natalie Newman prepared for Hurricane Helene with usual precautions, but a flash-flood warning preceded the deadly floodwaters that struck Asheville, North Carolina. The climate crisis has ushered in a new era of intense rainfall. Current response plans are inadequate due to increased moisture in the atmosphere driven by rising global temperatures. This phenomenon allows storms to transport moisture over vast distances, leading to significant flooding in inland areas that lack preparedness for such disasters.
"We're living in a climate that we've never seen, and it keeps throwing us curveballs." - Kathie Dello, North Carolina's state climatologist.
"This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order." - Flash-flood warning.
A record amount of moisture flowing in the skies has been observed over the past year and a half, largely due to rising global temperatures.
Storms are increasingly able to move water vapor from the oceans to locations hundreds of miles from the coast, triggering flooding for which most inland communities are ill-prepared.
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