Our weekly round-up of things happening in North Carolina, including this week’s historic flooding, a celebration of Scottish heritage in the Highland Games, and protest folk music.
A lot of folks in central North Carolina are either taking stock of their losses or counting their lucky stars this Monday.
The remnants of Chantal dumped up to 10 inches of rain in some places Sunday. Anybody living near a local creek or a river found out how fast water can rise.
We’re getting reports of historic flooding on the Eno and the Haw rivers, with major damage in Saxapahaw and Chapel Hill. According to the Associated Press, dozens were forced to abandon their homes. There were dozens of water rescues too.
In this week’s edition of “3 things,” I wanted to talk about the historic nature of Sunday’s flooding, and what that has to do with climate change. Check it out below, as well as the Highland Games and a protest musician worth your time.
Can we blame climate change for Chantal?
Here’s one of the many problems with talking about climate change: In theory, you could blame it for almost everything and, perversely, nothing at the same time.
You can’t look at a single storm or a single flood and blame it on the big “C.” Climate change doesn’t work like that. It is a thing we observe over time, a story that can only be told with many events over time.
For instance, three storms—Helene, Matthew, and Florence—can be blamed for NC’s worst flooding ever, and all three of them happened in the last 10 years. Take “Chantal” too, which is being described as an every “500 -1,000 year” flooding event in central NC.
Tropical storms and hurricanes have been a part of life here since before we started recording things, so it’s not fair to take the impacts of any one of these events on their own and say “thanks climate change.” But put them together and it tells a story.
Is there evidence that our warming climate is making these storms more frequent and more powerful? Absolutely.
In general, climate change is expected to make bad natural disasters badder—prolonging droughts, increasing the frequency of wildfires, and warming the Atlantic waters that cook up strong storms.
Systematic policy change meant to reduce our carbon emissions is the answer. For more on that, go here. And to find out what North Carolina is, and isn’t, doing about it, go here.
The Highland Games return
North Carolina has a deep Scottish heritage. And it’s celebrated on an annual basis in communities like Linville, which this week hosts the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.
The fun begins Thursday, July 10 and runs through Sunday, July 13. Look for parades, sheep dogs, whiskey, storytelling, athletic competitions, and so much more.
Go here for tickets and the schedule of events.
Joe Troop plays NC
Folk music has a long and storied history of protest.
From Pete Seeger to Bob Dylan and beyond, musicians have made their points with folk music. North Carolina native Joe Troop, who’s from Winston-Salem, is part of that protest lineage.
He mixes NC bluegrass with world music, and he often has a message too.
Troop is on tour right now and he’s making a stop in Raleigh Tuesday. Check him out.
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