A fire department in Fairfield County, Ohio, moved quickly to aid the evacuation of an apartment complex caught up in a flash flood.

What's happening?

According to reporting by 10 WBNS, residents of the complex in Lancaster were evacuated to safety last week after the area was subjected to intense rainfall. The fire department rescued 60 to 70 residents and their pets. Though unsettled by the events, fortunately, nobody was seriously injured in the downpour. One evacuee said, "I didn't know it could flood that much." 

Fairfield County's Emergency Management explained in a social media post that the flash flood dumped 7-8 inches of rain, about two months' worth, in just 48 hours. Describing it as "a countywide convergence of weather, terrain, and runoff", the existing infrastructure was unable to cope. 

"No system can keep up with that much water, that fast," the post lamented.

In this case, the losses were to property rather than people. The water ruined several vehicles in the complex's parking lot. One unfortunate resident said, "I just got it brand new. I hate to lose it." 

Why are floods happening more regularly?

The flooding in Fairfield is hardly unique. There's been a sharp uptick in flash floods nationwide because of rising temperatures caused by human activity. What CNN dubbed the "summer of flooding" is symptomatic of a phenomenon whereby extreme weather events become ever more frequent and devastating in their impact. Those once-in-a-generation events are now happening annually.

The warmer the atmosphere gets, the more water vapor it can hold and the heavier the resultant rainfall. Conversely, in an arid biosphere, rainfall becomes less frequent and heatwaves get much worse. It's what some experts call the "DGDWGW" paradigm: the dry gets drier, [as the] wet gets wetter. 

What's being done to manage the increased risks?

In the immediate aftermath, Lancaster Fire Department Chief Slade Schultz advised residents to stay vigilant and remain indoors unless an evacuation order is issued. Long-term, it's essential to be aware of the issues that led to this disaster so that decisive action can be taken to prevent and mitigate future incidents. 

As communities pull together in the wake of extreme weather events, it's also keep a productive dialogue going about these types of issues with family and friends to ensure better awareness of the risks and what we can do about them.

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