On June 27, Andrew Castillejos ’26 was helping out at an Atlanta Hustle ultimate game when suddenly the weather changed for the worse. The clouds rolled in, quickly followed by sheets of rain. As he and his friends tried to stay out of the storm by taking shelter in a nearby restaurant, Castillejos discovered that his car was not safe from the flood. He rushed out of the restaurant, waded his way through the water and found that his car was submerged in over three feet of flood waters.
Quickly, Castillejos “got in, unable to see the pedals and drove it around to where it wasn’t flooding as bad. Every single warning light was on.” He hoped for the best, but it soon became clear that his car was destroyed beyond repair.
While this may seem extreme, so far this year Atlanta has seen over 27 flash floods, more than twice the amount of floods in all of 2022. These floods have wreaked havoc, destroying homes and property across the state. This is a direct effect of the growing impact and severity of climate change, as climate change often manifests itself as extreme weather, and flash floods are just one of its many side effects.
Flash floods have not just been increased in the last few months in Atlanta; all across the country communities have been affected by these storms. Notably, in early July, the immense floods in Texas led to the death of over 135 people, some of which being children at Camp Mystic, a camp devastated by the flood.
This did not just impact those who had their property destroyed; nearly everyone noticed the persistent rain and storms that seemed to dominate the summer. “Why is it still raining?” questioned Felix Finch ’27, reflecting the attitude of many, simply waiting for the rain to stop.
