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On the heels of devastating flooding in Texas that killed more than 120 people this month, on Monday flash floods inundated subway stations in New York City and closed roads in New Jersey.
Extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent and more intense as climate change alters global weather patterns. At the same time, local early warning alerts often rely on multiple systems working together: A timely mobile notification is useful only if cellphones have service to receive it.
That’s part of the reason flash floods are “the hardest kind of disaster to prevent” and why only about half the countries in the world have early warning systems in place.
So, what should you do to understand your neighborhood’s flood risk? I talked to experts about why you may be at more risk than you think, what you can do about it and how local governments are adapting.
FEMA’s flood maps
The Federal Emergency Management Agency publishes flood maps that inform all kinds of decisions, from zoning regulations to building standards. Some local governments have compiled their own easier-to-read flood maps based on the same information. (You can look at the FEMA flood map for your address here.)
FEMA maps remain extremely influential and they help determine which homeowners have to buy flood insurance, for example. But experts have argued that they actually underestimate the growing risk of floods.
