Recent Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps don’t capture the degree of risk. There’s actually high probability of flood damage (including monetary damage, human injury and loss of life) for more than a million square miles of land across the U.S. over a 14-year period. That’s more than 790,000 square miles greater than risk zones identified by FEMA. One of the biggest drivers is proximity to a stream, along with elevation and average amount of extreme precipitation per year. The three Census regions with the highest probability are in Louisiana, Missouri, Washington D.C., Florida and Mississippi. A lot of flood damage occurs outside the 100-year floodplain where you don’t have to abide by insurance, building code and land-use requirements.
Story Source: North Carolina State University.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220222151855.htm