Parts of Europe almost subterranean

[Pixilated]

And the floodwaters are apparently still rising.

[Chromatix]

There is, of course, more to this story than meets the eye.

Many of these places are towns that have been built in flood plains and which regularly flood. Not every year, but every decade, say. It is regular enough that insurance companies either refuse to insure them, or charge ruinously high premiums.

And rightly so. It's dumb to build and rebuild houses that should last a century in an area that regularly floods ten times as often, and not even bother to build them in a flood-resistant way.

Even better: one town was due to be protected by new flood defences, but these were delayed for several years due to local objections about how unsightly they might look. Construction had started anyway, but was not yet complete. If they had been built on the original schedule, the town might not have flooded.

I often think that Americans (in aggregate) are a bit dumb - but this just goes to show that we've got our own speshul snowflakes over here as well.

[ComputerNecromancer]

There is, of course, more to this story than meets the eye.

Many of these places are towns that have been built in flood plains and which regularly flood. Not every year, but every decade, say. It is regular enough that insurance companies either refuse to insure them, or charge ruinously high premiums.

And rightly so. It's dumb to build and rebuild houses that should last a century in an area that regularly floods ten times as often, and not even bother to build them in a flood-resistant way.

Even better: one town was due to be protected by new flood defences, but these were delayed for several years due to local objections about how unsightly they might look. Construction had started anyway, but was not yet complete. If they had been built on the original schedule, the town might not have flooded.

I often think that Americans (in aggregate) are a bit dumb - but this just goes to show that we've got our own speshul snowflakes over here as well.

That's why some places in the US are buying up houses in frequently flooded areas and paying the owners to relocate.

Then they tear down the houses and reintroduce native vegetation so the land will *absorb* water and delay flooding downstream.

[AccountingDrone]

Willow trees would be killer for sucking up and transpiring water. We camp by Coopers Lake for Pennsic on the lake in w-10 and rarely have issues with soggy ground. When it was torrential rainfall back in 97 [I think, they sort of all blend in after a while] the willows were sucking up the water pretty much as fast as it was coming down.

My buddy Christian was living in Gaertringen back in 2002 when the Elbe overflowed its banks and he was out there with the men in his unit from Laupheim stacking sand bags and moving stuff. I know it can be difficult to prepare for every weather eventuality - I can also remember him bitching about the heat wave the next summer [and he was flying water and surficants all over to put said fires out.]

I always had this fantasy of franchising these Japanese foam core dome buildings, and buying up trailer parks in hurricane and tornado zones and instead of replacing the trailers with more trailers, replacing the trailers with the equivalent domes .... I figure the 'long dome' but without the fancy sunken living room and the spiral stair to a loft space. Still gives the average 2 bedrooms and other amenities you find in a trailer, but in a format that is better insulated and would not have the wind damage issues. You could even put a central storm cellar entered by a floor hatch.

I just never liked the aesthetics of the average trailer - especially the old single wides. I do like airstreams, and the long dome would be very reminiscent of an airstream. I have always liked domes since my baby hippy days.