Devastating floods might be more common than we thought

      Recent studies have misdetermined the actual risk of devastating floods in many parts of our country. A recent study has shown that an important synergy between 2 common flood risk factors in coastal areas has often been overlooked. They then compared the probabilities of intense rainfall when out with high seas caused by raging wind{Storm Surges}. Some of the worst floods in coastal areas are caused by the unfortunate accurence of big storm surges with high rainfall  , which is considered a "double whammy for flooding", because it can result in the sea spilling over onto land while rivers and urban drainage systems overflow onto the streets. After looking through historical data on rainfall, they noted all the instances where high storm surges corresponded to strong rainfall.  This discovers the vulnerability of the coastline, which 40% of the U.S. population live in coastal counties.

   Based on a recent report from the Government Accountability Office about the Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to assess the impacts of extreme weather events, it’s likely that many of the nation’s coastal cities are unprepared for today’s frequency of severe floods. Many of the structures meant to prevent floods, like dams, levees and hurricane barriers, are outdated.

   The Government Accountability Office has recently released a report that the Army Corps of Engimeers' efforts to access the impacts of extreme weather events. As of now most of the nation's cities are unprepared for today's frequency severe floods. So one possible solution would be to update all dams, levees, and hurricane barriers. This will help barricate the coastal population. Another solution would be to notify the coastal communities of what could happen so they can be prepared for what is to come or what is a possibility to come.

  Barriers to this solution are that with updating dams, levees, and hurricane barriers, they  come with a big cost. So as a country, we will have to find funds, which we may not have for it.

   Personally I feel that just updating all the barriers will not work. There is still a risk to all the coastal communities, so I feel that the mapping of escape routes and transportation should be updated, as well as new ways to alert the community. 


http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-flooding-climate-20150729-story.html