Rising Waters : The Causes and Consequences of Flooding in the United States

In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina And The Flooding Of New Orleans In 2005, This Interdisciplinary Book Brings Together Five Years Of Empirical Research Funded By The National Science Foundation. It Explores The Causes Of Flooding In The United States And The Ways In Which Local Communities Can Reduce The Associated Human Casualties And Property Damage. Focussing On Texas And Florida, The Authors Investigate Factors Other Than Rainfall That Determine The Degree Of Flooding, And Consider The Key Role Of Non-structural Techniques And Strategies In Flood Mitigation. The Authors Present An Empirical And Multi-scale Assessment That Underlines The Critical Importance Of Local Planning And Development Decisions. Written For Advanced Students And Researchers In Hazard Mitigation, Hydrology, Geography, Environmental Planning And Public Policy, This Book Will Also Provide Policy Makers, Government Employees And Engineers With Important Insights Into How To Make Their Communities More Resilient To The Adverse Impacts Of Flooding--provided By Publisher. 1. Introduction: Rising Waters -- Part I. The Consequences Of Floods: -- 2. Rising Cost Of Floods In The United States -- 3. Impacts Of Flooding In Coastal Texas And Florida -- 4. National And State Flood Policy Mitigation In The U.s. -- Part Ii. Planning Decisions And Flood Attenuation: -- 5. Identifying The Factors Influencing Flooding And Flood Damage -- 6. The Role Of Wetlands: Federal Policies, Losses And Floods -- 7. Mitigation Strategies And Reduction Of Flood Damages -- 8. Other Factors Influencing Flooding And Flood Damage -- Part Iii. What Are We Learning?: -- 9. Policy Learning For Local Flood Mitigation -- 10. Local Case Studies In Texas And Florida -- Part Iv. Policy Implications And Recommendations: -- 11. Flood Policy Recommendations. Samuel D. Brody, Wesley E. Highfield, Jung Eun Kang. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Preface 9 Acknowledgments 10 Abbreviations 11 1 Introduction: rising waters 13 Research questions 15 Study areas: why Texas and Florida 16 Outline of the book 19 Part I: The consequences of floods 21 2 Rising cost of floods in the United States 23 Understanding data on flood losses 24 Human casualties from floods 27 Crop damage and property damage 31 Trends for insured property damage at national and state levels 36 3 Impacts of flooding in coastal Texas and Florida 43 Physical vulnerability to floods in coastal Texas and Florida 44 Flood impacts in coastal Texas 46 Casualties 46 Crop and property damage 48 Insured property damage from floods 49 Zip code level analysis of insured property damage 50 Flood impacts in Florida 51 Casualties 51 Crop damage and property damage 53 Insured flood damage 55 Zip code-level analysis of insured property damage (2006–2007) 58 Summary 59 4 National and state flood policy mitigation in the United States 68 Federal flood mitigation 68 The national flood insurance program 68 The community rating system 72 Local planning for flood mitigation 76 Part II: Planning decisions and flood attenuation 81 5 Identifying the factors influencing flooding and flood damage 83 Natural environment characteristics 84 Basin area 84 Basin shape 84 Topography 85 Precipitation 85 Soils 86 Built-environment characteristics 86 Impervious surfaces 86 Wetland alterations 88 Development density 89 Socioeconomic characteristics 90 Housing value and income 90 Education 91 Population change 91 Flood mitigation techniques 92 Structural approaches 93 Non-structural approaches 94 Organizational capacity 96 6 The role of wetlands: federal policies, losses, and floods 100 Federal wetland policy in the U.S.: Section 404 of the Clean Water Act 100 Implementing Section 404: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 102 Individual permits 103 Letters of Permission 103 Regional General permits 104 Nationwide permits 104 Difficulties of wetland mitigation 105 The impact of Section 404 106 Section 404 in Texas and Florida 107 Spatial pattern of Section 404 permits in Texas and Florida 107 Section 404, flood damage, and streamflow 110 Summary 114 7 Mitigation strategies and reduction of flood damages 115 FEMA’s CRS as a vehicle for local flood mitigation 115 Does the CRS work? 116 Beyond the CRS: examining specific local mitigation techniques 119 Organizational capacity to mitigate flood damage 123 Factors driving flood mitigation strategies: the role of organizational capacity 126 Summary of results 129 Mitigation techniques and flood damage 131 Conclusions 136 8 Other factors influencing flooding and flood damage 142 Natural environment 142 Human and built environment 144 Socioeconomic factors 145 Political/administrative 147 Summary 150 Part III: What are we learning? 151 9 Policy learning for local flood mitigation 153 Adaptive management 154 Factors influencing flood policy learning 154 Policy learning through comprehensive plans 157 Findings 160 Drivers of change 161 Assessing the FEMA’s CRS: a program in motion 163 Summary 168 10 Local case studies in Texas and Florida 169 Galveston County, Texas 169 Freeport, Texas 172 Manatee County, Florida 174 St. Petersburg, Florida 176 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 178 Part IV: Policy implications and recommendations 183 11 Flood policy recommendations 185 Non-structural flood mitigation strategies are a viable alternative 185 Flood regulations should exceed NFIP requirements 185 Avoidance strategies should be considered the first approach to mitigation 186 The supporting role of retention and detention should be strongly considered 187 Naturally occurring wetlands should be considered a flood control device 187 Policies should be embedded into the local regulatory framework 188 No single flood mitigation strategy is sufficient 189 The 100-year floodplain should not be the sole driver of management decisions 189 Strong organizational capacity is a key aspect of flood management 190 Education and information dissemination is needed to inform the public 191 Improve available data on floods and flood damage in the U.S. 191 12 Conclusions 193 References 195 Index 206 Machine generated contents note: Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction: rising waters; Part I. The Consequences of Floods: 2. Rising cost of floods in the United States; 3. Impacts of flooding in coastal Texas and Florida; 4. National and state flood policy mitigation in the U.S.; Part II. Planning Decisions and Flood Attenuation: 5. Identifying the factors influencing flooding and flood damage; 6. The role of wetlands: federal policies, losses and floods; 7. Mitigation strategies and reduction of flood damages; 8. Other factors influencing flooding and flood damage; Part III. What Are We Learning?: 9. Policy learning for local flood mitigation; 10. Local case studies in Texas and Florida; Part IV. Policy Implications and Recommendations: 11. Flood policy recommendations; 12. Conclusion; References; Index. This interdisciplinary book uses empirical research to explore the causes of flooding in the United States and the ways in which local communities can reduce the associated human casualties and property damage. It is written for advanced students and researchers in hazard mitigation, hydrology, geography, environmental planning and public policy.