Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States

The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States examines real-world examples of the economic and social impacts of flooding in specific metropolitan areas. This report identifies commonalities and variances among the case study metropolitan areas in terms of causes, adverse impacts, unexpected problems in recovery, or effective mitigation strategies, as well as key themes of urban flooding. It also relates causes and actions of urban flooding to existing federal resources or policies.

Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. Catastrophic flooding from recent hurricanes caused billions of dollars in property damage, adversely affected millions of people, and damaged the economic well-being of major metropolitan areas. Flooding takes a heavy toll even in years without a named storm or event.

TRB is one of seven major programs of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.