Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. Catastrophic flooding from recent hurricanes, including Superstorm Sandy in New York (2012) and Hurricane Harvey in Houston (2017), caused billions of dollars in property damage, adversely affected millions of people, and damaged the economic well-being of major metropolitan areas. Flooding takes a heavy toll even in years without a named storm or event. Major freshwater flood events from 2004 to 2014 cost an average of $9 billion in direct damage and 71 lives annually. These figures do not include the cumulative costs of frequent, small floods, which can be similar to those of infrequent extreme floods. Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States contributes to existing knowledge by examining real-world examples in specific metropolitan areas. This report identifies commonalities and variances among the case study metropolitan areas in terms of causes, adverse impacts, unexpected problems in recovery, or effective mitigation strategies, as well as key themes of urban flooding. It also relates, as appropriate, causes and actions of urban flooding to existing federal resources or policies.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• COMMITTEE ON URBAN FLOODING IN THE UNITED STATES
• Acknowledgments
• Summary
  • WHAT IS URBAN FLOODING?
  • TASK 1: COMMONALITIES AND DIFFERENCES AMONG FOUR METROPOLITAN AREAS
  • TASK 2: SIZE OR IMPORTANCE OF URBAN FLOODING
  • TASK 3: CONNECTION OF FEDERAL RESOURCES TO URBAN FLOODING
  • CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
• 1. Introduction
  • WHAT IS URBAN FLOODING?
  • COMMITTEE CHARGE AND APPROACH
  • ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT
• 2. Insights from Four Metropolitan Areas
  • LOCAL REFLECTIONS FROM BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
  • LOCAL REFLECTIONS FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
  • LOCAL REFLECTIONS FROM CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
  • LOCAL REFLECTIONS FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA
  • COMMONALITIES AND DIFFERENCES AMONG THE FOUR METROPOLITAN AREAS
• 3. Magnitude of Urban Flooding
  • HISTORICAL DATA ASSESSMENTS
  • FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENTS
  • MAGNITUDE OF FLOODING IN THE CASE STUDY AREAS
• 4. A Way Forward on Urban Flooding
  • PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF URBAN FLOODING
  • SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF URBAN FLOODING
  • INFORMATION DIMENSIONS OF URBAN FLOODING
  • ACTIONS AND DECISION-MAKING DIMENSIONS OF URBAN FLOODING
  • CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
• References
• Appendix A. Trends Affecting Urban Flooding
• Appendix B. Baltimore Case Study
• Appendix C. Houston Case Study
• Appendix D. Chicago Case Study
• Appendix E. Phoenix Case Study
• Appendix F. Acronyms and Abbreviations

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/25381.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25381

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