As DC 'Swamp' Endures Severe Flooding, Meteorologist Smacks Down AOC's Climate Claim
Talk about "draining the swamp," Washington, DC area residents are hoping the region drains today after drenching rains and flooding hit the area Monday.
The DC area is trying to dry off after a storm dumped nearly a month's worth of rain in one morning, leading to nearly 75 reported water rescues.
It was a huge volume of water – more than three inches in Arlington in an hour, and as much as 6 inches falling on Fredericksburg in two hours.
Standing next to a flooded road, resident Savon Hatcher said, "Never seen nothing like this before. Never seen nothing like this."
Roads were washed out in Virginia and Maryland.
Emergency crews had to rescue dozens of stranded drivers, some of them forced to climb on top of their cars to escape rising water.
The storm sucker punched the area as thousands of commuters were on their way to work Monday.
In Arlington, one train had to go through a waterfall leaking from the ceiling of a DC Metro station.
And video showed a river of water filling a parking garage.
Even the White House saw signs of flooding, and electrical outages were reported at some government buildings.
Outside DC, a mudslide in Potomac, Maryland collapsed the wall of a house.
And in Virginia, a hardware store owner saw her basement fill to the top with water. Kristy Peterkin said, "By the time I left the basement, I swam out. It was practically my shoulder height."
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was quick to blame the flooding on climate change and Republicans, tweeting,
"Unprecedented flooding is quickly becoming a new normal," and "Each day of inaction puts more of us in danger."
Unprecedented flooding is quickly becoming a new normal.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 8, 2019
Despite that, Republicans are tripling down on fossil fuels w/no plan to transition off them, or make the critical infra investments we need to prep for the climate crisis.
Each day of inaction puts more of us in danger. https://t.co/J8yqzguN5O
But she was challenged by respected meteorologist Dr. Ryan Maue, who tweeted back, "You should resist the emotional temptation to blame every weather event on climate change."
First a tornado and now a flash flood.
— Ryan (@RyanMaue) July 8, 2019
The Congresswoman does not miss an opportunity to turn a weather event she experiences into a political statement and blame Republicans.
She's right that cities need to invest in infrastructure but a slow-moving t-storm isn't "climate" https://t.co/X4zoNP0lXW
You should resist the emotional temptation to blame EVERY weather event on climate change.
— Ryan (@RyanMaue) July 8, 2019
Consult the National Academies "bubble chart" on our understanding & confidence of weather events + climate change:
Severe convective storms = low confidence & low understanding. pic.twitter.com/TNul34JZ2B
As these floodwaters recede, a lot more rain is coming farther south on the Gulf coast because a tropical depression is likely to form by the end of the week in the Gulf of Mexico, and if it strengthens enough it will become Tropical Storm Barry.
