Re:New Orleans levees passed their first major test
by Clewza313 on Sunday September 05, 2021 @08:08PM
(#28428985)
Singapore is a small island, and the mighty Singapore River, located on that island, is all of 3 km long.
Re:New Orleans levees passed their first major test
by blahedo on Monday September 06, 2021 @12:05AM
(#28430115)
But it sits in the delta of a river that is, if not mighty, at least bigger than 3km. The real question is, is the island flat enough to trigger the river-delta problems the gp post indicates.
The only big river delta in the US is the Mississippi. East Asia has far worse problems. Most of China's port cities are on river deltas. Tapei is on a river delta. Ho Chi Min City is on a river delta. Singapore is on a river delta. These are all areas where the land to water slope is very low.
The western US is mountainous enough that there's more than enough land rise to prevent flooding more than a short distance inland. Even in places that look flat, like LA near Venice, go three blocks inland and you're tens of feet higher. Places that built on fill, such as San Francisco and Foster City, do exist, but are small enough for barriers and not fed by upstream rivers.