Climate Adaptation
U.S. Farmers and Shippers Face Huge Losses From Flooding Again
- For second straight year, region sees high rivers, soggy land
- Stuck pattern could be sign of climate change, scientist says
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
For the second year in a row, much of the U.S. is primed to suffer multi-billion dollar flood losses, with farmers already steeling themselves for planting delays.
Relentless storms that have marched across the Midwest and into the South this winter have already filled rivers to the brim and are threatening to make farm fields too soggy to plant as spring arrives. And there isn’t much to suggest an easing ahead. Heavy rains forecast through next week could push waterways higher where the Mississippi and Ohio meet in Illinois, and into northern Mississippi and Arkansas.