What is it about?
Different communities deal with flooding in different ways. Some build infrastructure, purchase insurance, migrate, whereas other communities take less action. We found that these contrasting responses of US cities to flooding were explained by how predictable local streams are and the racial makeup of the city. We find that community responses to flood risk may reflect some awareness of local hydrologic conditions. However, they may also reflect systemic racial inequity in flood exposure and resilience in the US.
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Why is it important?
In order to reduce exposure to flooding, we must first understand the relationship between individual communities and risk. Our research demonstrates that there are likely barriers that align with race, which limit the impact of existing federal and state programs for risk mitigation.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Flood risk behaviors of United States riverine metropolitan areas are driven by local hydrology and shaped by race, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2016839118.
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