I was living in St. Louis in 1993 when a very rainy spring turned out to be the beginning of a historically destructive flood. The rain also fell north of Missouri and all that water flowed south, through the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, to converge on St. Louis.
I learned several things from this event. “Natural catastrophes” of this kind create devastation where they occur, but outside of their immediate impact area, life goes on as normal. These catastrophic events are increasing because of climate change, but it is often hard for people not in the direct path of wildfires, floods, and hurricanes to appreciate how serious the problem is.
Read more at the Centre Daily Times.