Heavy rains — and the attending floods — have been in the news for some time now. Nationally, of course, there’s been the devastating, and lethal, floods in Texas, which we have printed substantial Associated Press coverage about.

Within our local region, however, there have also been several significant rainfall events which have threatened (or caused) flash flooding — and, in some cases, evacuations.

Consider the torrential rains in eastern Lycoming County and Sullivan County from Sunday into Monday.

Our sister paper, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, had coverage of this event — including video footage from a raging Muncy Creek.

Coincidentally, we received the letter to the editor by Andrew Dehoff regarding flood preparation in Jersey Shore on Monday. This letter, which ran in Wednesday’s edition, reminded readers that “floods can be localized events.”

This is absolutely the case.

Commenters on the Gazette’s Facebook post noted that the rainfall varied wildly within the affected area, with some posters saying they got no rain at all, to others saying 2.5,” to some saying that Picture Rocks got over 5″ of rain.

While there aren’t any accessible rain gauges in Picture Rocks — or nearby Glen Mawr, which was also reportedly hit hard — there is a station in Muncy Valley that shows 6″ of rainfall for Monday, July 14, and just over 3″ of rainfall for Sunday, July 13.

As we write this editorial, on Monday afternoon, we are watching a weather station outside Hughesville which is showing a rainfall precipitation rate of 5.48 in/hr.

Slightly to the north or south, however? Little to nothing.

These rains are hyper-local events, with slow-moving storms picking up enormous amounts of moisture from the air and depositing that moisture at insane rates.

They can happen anywhere, to anyone. A lot of the impact is determined by the lay of the land, the quality of infrastructure and prevention in place and the number of hands and eyes on deck to spot the problem and take action to mitigate the impact.

We live in a river region. The Susquehanna River flows a few hundred feet from where we sit now, typing this. Countless streams, creeks and springs flow from our mountains into the river basin.

These events should serve as a stern reminder of the power of nature and the danger that we can all be put in within a very short amount of time.

Flash floods have long been a severe danger; however, those dangers have increased over time for a variety of factors.

Many people are unwilling to accept climate change as one of those factors. We aren’t entirely sure why, since it seems to rhyme, as a crisis, with the hole in the ozone layer — and we don’t remember people taking issue with that as a threat in the 1990s.

In fact, the general prevailing attitude was far more gung-ho and upbeat: we can fix this, as a species. We were inspired to do what we could to help our planet and our fellow man.

Perhaps the doubters were always there, but without social media, they didn’t have an adequate voice to make themselves known.

Regardless, climate change — whether you believe the science behind it or not — is not the only factor at play.

We should also be evaluating the weaknesses in our infrastructure.

Here, in Lock Haven, any time there is a moderately heavy thunderstorm, we have observed that water has a tendency to pond and back-up on the appropriately-named Water Street.

Perhaps it is due to known structural deficiencies that need repaired — and Water St., as a busy road, would be a challenge to shut for a prolonged period to fix it.

Perhaps it is due to clogs downstream — a thick mat of leaves and debris somewhere that isn’t letting the system keep up.

Or, perhaps, the scientists are correct and it is just, simply, raining more severely these days, and that is overwhelming a system that was never rated for the sheer amount of rain that is able to fall in a short period of time.

Ultimately, we would suggest that it doesn’t matter.

Whatever the cause is, these nightmarish floods both in Central PA and across the nation are a firm slap upside the head: we are not adequately prepared, as a nation, for life-changing weather events and the fallout that they leave behind.

Our region has a history with flooding. The 50th anniversary of Agnes just passed in 2022, and while we have enhanced protection now, with the levee, the scars Agnes left on our community are still very much in evidence.

However, the levee, as wonderful as it is, does not protect our community from all threats. It is a critical piece of our armor: but it needs to not be the only one.

Disasters, many and varied, always lurk around the corner. Let’s make sure that the next time one comes knocking here, it finds our community safely fortified and unwelcome to its threats.