What is Your Flood Risk? Why You Should Know and What You Can Do

Submitted by Louie Greenwell, GIS service area leader (Louisville, KY)



 This week professionals from across the nation are meeting in Louisville, KY at the Association of State Floodplain Managers conference, during a time of massive flooding threats across large areas of the US. Louie Greenwell helps us understand why their work is so important to all of us.



Louie Greenwell

 Are you at risk from flooding? As heavy rains fall across the Midwest, many people along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers are learning about their flood risk the hard way. President Obama has declared major disasters in multiple states and the recent storms are expected to produce the highest flood losses since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The rising flood levels bring an increased visibility and awareness of flood risk, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is positioned with a new program to better communicate the risk from flooding.

FEMA’s Risk Mapping Assessment and Planning (Risk MAP) program is focused not only on flood hazard identification, but helping communities take actions to reduce or eliminate their flood risks. To be successful, FEMA is helping local officials and the general public better understand their risks and Stantec is FEMA’s partner in this effort.

Fact: If you live in the special flood hazard area, you have a 26% chance of being flooded over a 30-year period – the typical length of a home mortgage.

Fact: Floods, especially flash floods, kill more people each year than any other weather phenomenon.

Fact: Most flood deaths, about 60%, result from people being swept away when trying to cross flooded roads.

Fact: Most cars will experience loss of control or may even float in less than 12 inches of water. This message has even made its way to school kids through the “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” campaign.

While bringing more visibility to the widespread risks and hazards associated with floods, FEMA is also educating people on the fact that you can experience flooding even if you are not in a mapped zone on FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Map. FEMA’s insurance maps are based on a specific amount of rainfall over a specific period of time. Variations in precipitation amounts and duration can have huge impacts on flooding. Add to this the potential for blocked culverts or bridge openings and one starts to see the challenges in trying to predict where flooding will occur. Simply put, anywhere it rains, it can flood.

Significant flooding can also occur when flood protection structures fail. Despite media coverage of levee and dam failures, people that live behind or downstream of these structures have a false sense of security. Even worse, many people don’t even know that they could be impacted by a dam or levee breach because traditional communication methods have not been effective.


Flood risk map detail


Getting this message out is a significant part of the Risk MAP communication and outreach strategy. If people understand that floods can occur just about anywhere and for many reasons, they may be better prepared in the event that disaster happens.

Simply knowing your risk is not enough. Taking action to reduce risk is the key. By educating local officials on effective flood mitigation alternatives and providing various grant programs to help offset the costs, FEMA is encouraging communities to become more sustainable.

To learn more about your risks from flooding and what you can do to reduce those risks, visit http://www.floodsmart.gov/.

Oh, and when your kids tell you not to cross the flooded roadway…listen to them!