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But whether a heavy rainstorm causes devastating flooding depends on a number of factors: the amount of precipitation, the way water flows and collects on land, and how all that water is managed. Shift, studies foundBy building dams, levees, and other protective measures, the United States and other countries have succeeded in reducing their vulnerability to many types of dangerous flooding.
Still, many risks remain. Cities like New York are often more vulnerable to sudden showers because most land areas are covered with impermeable surfaces such as asphalt, meaning runoff is diverted into streets and drains rather than being absorbed into the land. Researchers in Houston we found He said converting open lands to paved parking lots and housing developments helped worsen flooding after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
New York’s subway system, built a century ago, was also not designed to handle the extreme rainfall caused by climate change. Metropolitan Transportation Authority 2.6 billion dollars invested Since Hurricane Sandy flooded the city’s subways in 2012, resilience projects have included flood-proofing of 3,500 subway vents, stairs, and elevator shafts. Still, this week’s flash floods showed the system was vulnerable.
Experts say more needs to be done as heavy rainfall increases. This could include adding more green space in cities to absorb excess runoff, and redesigning sewer systems, roads and public transport networks to cope with more heavy rainfall. Also includes: updating flood risk maps taking climate change into account so people have a clearer idea of where it’s risky to build and where to buy insurance against flooding.
“Nearly all of the infrastructure we’re building today was designed to deal with historic weather conditions, and that’s not enough anymore,” said Jennifer Jacobs, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire. “It’s difficult in places like New York City because there isn’t much room for the water to go, but we need to think more creatively about how we design our systems for drainage and higher precipitation levels.”
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