Most of you are familiar with the old saying, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

Well, we’d better do something about it - fast - and take seriously the abnormal weather events that are becoming increasingly more frequent and intense.

And many of the doubters who claim that those concerned about the impact of climate change are alarmists or nut-cases are singing a different tune now that they woke up to historic floodwaters sloshing around their windows or choking smoke darkening the sun. And we’re still fiddling while homes burn, flood out or are destroyed by hurricanes.

According to a Washington Post analysis, nearly one in three Americans lives in a county hit by a weather disaster in the past three months. This includes the five counties in the Times News area and most of the others in Northeastern and Southeastern Pennsylvania.

These climate-fueled disasters show the growing impact of a warming planet and how it already has transformed our lives. Having storms accompanied by rainfall of 4 to 8 inches used to be a once-in-a-blue-moon event; now, it is becoming more commonplace, as evidenced by damage caused by the remnants of three hurricanes in rapid-fire succession - Fred, Henri and Ida.

Then, for good measure, we had last week’s passing cold front that produced another 2 to 4 inches in parts of our region.

The damage from Ida was so significant in southeastern and part of south-central Pennsylvania and northwestern and central New Jersey that Govs. Tom Wolf and Phil Murphy asked for and were granted federal disaster relief designation, which will make it easier for victims to try to return their lives and property to a semblance of normalcy, but getting things back to the way they were will not be easy nor will it be quick.

While we were being inundated with heavy rain and flash and river flooding, our neighbors to the south and east were taking it on the chin even more significantly as historic rainfall fell in record time and was accompanied by tornadoes which ripped apart homes, businesses and lives.

As close as the Lambertville, New Jersey, area, a mere 70 miles from Palmerton, seven people died, most of them drowning in their vehicles which were swamped on overwhelmed highways by raging floodwaters.

In all, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and a number of southern states where Ida first came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane, there have been 115 deaths, and some are still missing, including one in New Jersey. Damage has been estimated at $50 billion and counting.

Those who have never experienced anything like what we have been seeing the last several years and who never considered themselves in danger are suddenly wondering whether anywhere is safe.

Tornadoes in this part of Pennsylvania were once a rarity but no more. So far in 2021, 19 tornadoes have afflicted our residents and communities, eight above average. Among them were tornadoes in Slatington and Weisenberg Township, Lehigh County.

But will what we have experienced make a difference? Will this summer of major crises mark a turning point in the public’s complacency and force our political leaders to act? It hasn’t in the past.

Up until the remnants of Ida, Fred and Henri, our area was experiencing below average rainfall, but no more. Lake Harmony had about 6 inches of rain during the Ida downpours, same for the Saylorsburg area in Monroe County, and Lehighton and Slatington had just a tad under 5 inches each. The official weather station at the Lehigh Valley International Airport measured 4.15 inches. This was on top of about 4-8 inches from the previous two tropical systems and another nearly 2 inches last week from the passing cold front.

Seven rivers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey posted record-breaking levels, at a time when waterways usually are at their lowest flows of the year.

Meanwhile, record-shattering temperatures in the Pacific Northwest baked residents in a number of states and resulted in more than 75 heat-related deaths.

Wildfires in California and elsewhere have burned through 5 million acres of dry forest besieged by chronic drought, leading federal officials to slap mandatory cuts to Colorado River water for the first time in history.

In New York City, where residents drowned in basement apartments, Mayor Bill de Blasio said we must think differently about what is happening. The torrential nature of the rains has strained the city’s infrastructure that wasn’t built to withstand such deluges. Storms have overwhelmed the pumps that remove water from New York City’s subway stations, where some people trapped underground nearly drowned.

“The storm has shown us a ferocity and a speed that is just absolutely breathtaking, and it’s made very clear we’re going to have to change a lot of things we do,” de Blasio said.

During last week’s tour of flood ravaged parts of New Jersey and New York, President Joe Biden said, “The evidence is clear. Climate change poses an existential threat to our lives, to our economy, and the threat is here. It’s not going to get any better. We can stop it from getting worse.”

New York’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, said we must prepare ourselves, because this is “the new normal.”

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.