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

About this book

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, Rising Waters 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.

Contents

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

Customer Reviews

Biography

Samuel D. Brody is a Professor at Texas A&M University in the departments of Marine Sciences at Galveston and Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at College Station. He holds the George P. Mitchell '40 Chair in Sustainable Coasts and is the Director of the Center for Texas Beaches and Shores. Dr Brody is also a faculty fellow at the Rice University Severe Storm Prediction Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center, the Texas A&M University Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, and the Texas A&M University Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy. His research and teaching focuses on coastal environmental planning, environmental dispute resolution, climate change policy and natural hazards mitigation.

Wesley E. Highfield is a Research Scientist at Texas A&M University at Galveston in the department of Marine Sciences. He is also the Associate Director of the Center for Texas Beaches and Shores. Dr Highfield conducts research on the effects of wetland alteration on flooding and teaches courses in geographic information systems and biostatistics.

Jung Eun Kang is a Research Fellow in the Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change of the Korea Environment Institute. Dr Kang was formerly a postdoctoral Research Associate in the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University where she conducted research on coastal flooding and natural hazard mitigation in the Gulf of Mexico.