It has been about a year since Hurricane Helene flooded Roanoke College and surrounding communities. Although Roanoke College was fortunate to only have to cancel a few classes due to the flooding, many colleges just a few hours away in North Carolina sent students home for weeks on end.
As we prepare for another hurricane season, local government officials are presenting us with ways we can be better prepared for these destructive storms.
In fact, the New York Times is warning that tropical storm Imelda could be hitting the East Coast very soon. Although we are not on the coast, the hurricane could cause severe flooding in our mountainous region, and we need to be prepared. Thankfully, according to Cardinal News, local officials have invested in more generators, purchased more rescue boats, and developed better safety plans to better prepare our community for these storms.
As flooding from hurricanes becomes more frequent in our community due to climate change, Roanoke County has been forced to develop a system for stormwater management. These management systems ensure that the heavy rainfall doesn’t allow contaminated water that runs off parking lots and sidewalks into our drinking water.
The county has put systems in place to limit the stormwater runoff by using protective mulch to prevent these surfaces from eroding and spreading their contaminants. The stormwater management system is just one way that the county is learning lessons from Hurricane Helene and looking toward the future.
Although we may or may not feel the impacts of Imelda in the coming days, the forecast warns that the storm may be combining with the category four Hurricane Humberto in the Atlantic Ocean, which is cause for concern.
However, no matter the outcome, our Roanoke College community should take comfort in the fact that our local officials are actively working to prepare us for these storms. When in doubt, listen and read the latest updates from news sources regularly, and act on their advice.
Sources: New York Times, Cardinal News
Madeline Wall
Staff Reporter
