The way the federal government analyzes intense rain events isn’t keeping up with the reality of climate change, and that has serious implications for infrastructure projects and the availability of, and rising cost of, flood insurance.
Severe rainstorms, sometimes described as “atmospheric rivers” or “torrential thunderstorms,” are making the concept of a “1-in-100-year flood event” obsolete, according to a report from First Street Foundation, an organization focused on weather risk research.
These events are occurring more frequently due to the impact of climate change, but federal rainfall analysis, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, isn’t keeping up with the new weather conditions, First Street says.
Half the people in the U.S. live in a county where a 1-in-100-year flood is at least twice as likely now as it had been in the past, coming once every 50 years instead of every 100 years. In some areas, a so-called “1-in-100-year” rainfall could now happen far more frequently—as often as every 5 to 10 years.
The outdated analysis has serious implications for the way infrastructure projects are initiated and designed. And, because FEMA’s federal flood insurance program greatly underrepresents the number of people that could fall into FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Areas, millions of Americans may be unaware of their current flood risk.
Inaccurate flood risk data due to underestimating the impact of rainfall also impacts the cost and availability of flood insurance—this is especially true for property that isn’t close to the ocean or inland bodies of water.
The government is working to remedy the situation, though. NOAA, as reported by CNN, says it is working on a revamped approach to its rainfall analysis that is expected to be completed in 2027.
Related Stories
| Aug 12, 2014
Design firms invited to submit qualifications for St. Petersburg, Fla., waterfront project
The city of St. Petersburg, Fla., invites firms to submit their ideas for a new and improved pier for Florida's fifth largest city.
| Aug 11, 2014
Air Terminal Sector Giants: Morphing TSA procedures shape terminal design [2014 Giants 300 Report]
The recent evolution of airport terminals has been prompted largely by different patterns of passenger behavior in a post-9/11 world, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 11, 2014
Will Alsop's funky 'high-rise on stilts' will be built over an apartment building in London
South London's riverfront will soon be graced by one of Will Alsop's eccentric designs: a curved apartment tower on purple stilts.
| Aug 5, 2014
Shigeru Ban-designed Aspen Art Museum will open doors to public this week
After 18 month of planning and construction, the museum will open its new Shigeru Ban-designed facility to the public on August 9.
| Aug 5, 2014
Construction economists optimistic about 2014 growth
Anirban Basu, Kermit Baker and David Crowe provided a collaborative economic forecast combining their expert economic analysis on leading, present and lagging economic indicators.
| Jul 30, 2014
Nonresidential building activity on the rise for 2015: AIA Forecast
Semiannual Consensus Construction Forecast predicts 4.9% increase this year, 8% next year, with offices and retail facilities leading the charge.
| Jul 29, 2014
AECOM's buying spree continues: Deal to acquire Hunt Construction Group in the works
The acquisition comes just two weeks after AECOM's $6 billion deal to acquire rival engineering and construction company URS Corp.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
