According to the city of Olympia's website, "Sea level is rising in Olympia by about one foot per century due to post-ice age warming of the oceans and land subsidence. This rate will increase with increased global warming. Much of Olympia's downtown is at risk, lying only one to three feet above the current highest high tides". Now, I was shocked to hear this. I could not believe that all that land in downtown Olympia, which has the future city hall and LOTT Wastewater Facility on it, was expected by scientists to be underwater in the near future, and no actions were being done to stop this from happening.

The article continues to state....

"If no protection measures are taken, the one foot of sea level rise predicted by 2050 would result in ponding on some streets and flooding of low-lying structures during the extreme high tides that occur once or twice a year. A two-foot rise would impact an even greater area. Pipes designed to convey stormwater away from downtown would be unable to discharge fast enough to prevent flooding during storms. At higher levels, flows would reverse and the sea would flow out of street drains and into the streets.

A three-foot sea level rise, offered as a mid-range prediction by 2100, would overtop many places along the shoreline and flood most of downtown Olympia during extreme high tides. The wastewater system is combined with stormwater in much of the downtown. Higher sea levels would flow into the wastewater pipes through combined drains and infiltrate through pipe joints, challenging capacity at the LOTT regional wastewater treatment plant".

A map showing Sea-level rise...

Your gently used furniture is needed to aid disaster victims who experienced loss in the recent floods in our area. In some cases, families are still in need of help from the December 2007 flood disaster.

Please bring furniture to the parking lot of:
Olympia Christian Reformed Church
2121 Log Cabin Rd SE
Olympia

The mission of the Furniture Bank of Thurston County is to provide furniture at no charge to families, individuals and non-profit organizations in need. Furniture will be collected at the Harbor Wholesale Grocery trailer. Residents of Camp Quixote, a tent city for the homeless/houseless, will be on hand to help unload your donations.

Donated furniture must be GENTLY USED, clean, no stains, no rips, no peeling pain and no odors. We are accepting beds, dressers, sofas, chairs, dining tables and dining chairs. We will NOT accept incomplete bed parts, such as headboards or box springs without mattresses, sleeper sofas, sheets or blankets, appliances or electronic devices.

Questions: Donna Kelly at the Furniture Bank of Thurston County 360-705-1756

OLYMPIA, Wash.—Record levels of flooding hit Washington State over the past two days, causing widespread road closures and damage. A combination of record snowfall last month, rapidly warming temperatures and heavy rainfall created the disastrous conditions.

"It's kind of the perfect scenario in terms of a disaster," said David Fenton, Senior Development Director for the Southwest Washington chapter of the Red Cross. The region has been hit particularly hard.

More here

Check that out :)

Courtesy of WSDOT.

Any more reports of whether it's expected to flood? Talked to some troopers earlier who said they expected a little water to come into downtown.

What do Lehman Brothers, the Economic Bailout Plan, climate change and natural disasters have in common?

Come and discover how these and other current events are setting the stage for an unprecedented global crisis that will impact the lives of us all.

You will come away from these amazing, interactive Keynote presentations clearly understanding how you can face these coming crises unafraid and with absolute confidence.

JAVA FLOW COFFEE HOUSE
Washington & Fourth Avenue
THURSDAY, November 13 at 6 p.m.

Contact: 360.402.1154 or libertyofconscience@gmail.com

Seattle PI:

Last updated September 29, 2008 9:51 p.m. PT

A building ban near rivers?

Feds call for moratorium in bid to protect salmon, orcas

By ROBERT McCLURE
P-I REPORTER

To protect salmon and orcas, federal fisheries managers are calling for a moratorium on development near rivers in the Puget Sound region.

In a potentially far-reaching decision for more than 270 municipalities, the National Marine Fisheries Service said the federal flood insurance program that protects homes and businesses built in flood plains is illegal. The reasoning: Flood insurance allows development that harms salmon and, consequently, the orcas that eat salmon. Both are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

"It's a significant wake-up call to (municipalities) who might have begun to think the Endangered Species Act didn't carry a lot of implications for local land use," said Jan Hasselman, the Seattle lawyer who filed suit over the issue on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation, which led to the Fisheries Service decision.

...

OLYMPIA- The Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties has sent out nearly 2,000 invitations to flood rescue and recovery volunteers who have helped out to a party in their honor on April 29. But any volunteer who helped with flood rescue or recovery is welcome to attend, and he or she may not know that the deadline for RSVPs is Friday.

Help us get the word out to these valuable volunteers. The celebration is from 5 to 7 p.m. April 29 in the Blue Pavilion at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, 2555 North National Ave., Chehalis.

The event includes appetizers, refreshments, keepsakes and a thank you message from local families helped during and after the flood. And the event is free thanks to sponsorship by Weyerhaeuser and supporting sponsorship by TransAlta.

All a volunteer needs to do to attend is RSVP by phone to 360-741-2615 or by e-mail at events@volunteer.ws by Friday.

The Center is a non-profit organization that boasts over 500 volunteer opportunities to choose from across the county. Find out how you can change the world. There’s still time to get involved with local disaster relief efforts visit www.volunteer.ws

Contact: Sara Ballard
Phone 360-741-2625
Cell Phone: 360- 480-9571

Greetings all -

I'm asking anyone with photos, video clips and stories to share to help me with a multimedia project to help those still struggling with unmet needs following the devasting floods of December 3 last year. Long after the news attack helicopters have roared off to the Next Big Thing people continue to live with their homes in ruin and lives turned upside down.