Flood Prevention Technology

Significance

• Flood protection technology is vital not only in terms of property loss, but also in terms of preventing loss of life. According to the U.S. Corps of Engineers, deaths caused by flooding averaged 94 a year during 1986 through 1995. This figure does not take into account the devastation and disease caused by the effects of flooding. Mold caused by flooding can cause respiratory problems for individuals whose homes or businesses were effected by flooding. Sensitive or immune-compromised individuals may contact infections caused by mold.

Flood Risk

• The areas determined to be at greatest risk for flooding are floodplains. These areas are the level environments found adjacent to streams and rivers. These sites absorb the runoff from spring flooding and winter thaw. Their risk is determined by their location as well as their topography. Flood protection technology can only go so far to mitigate the flood risk in these areas because of these factors. Flood protection includes manual methods, such as sandbags, which provide temporary flood control.

Natural Flood Control

• Some of the best flood protection technology comes from nature. Wetlands provide natural flood control by absorbing flood waters. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a single acre of wetland habitat can absorb up to 1.5 million gallons of water that otherwise might flood a community. Flood protection, therefore, involves identifying and restoring these habitats.

Considerations

• There is a tendency to think that only floodplains are at risk for floods. However, urban areas also have their own risks due to the amount of impervious surfaces found in these areas. Impervious surfaces include parking lots and roads which have replaced landscape that may have otherwise absorbed excess water due to heavy rains. Instead, these waters wash over the landscape, introducing toxins from roads in waterways. Flood protection technology in these areas includes the incorporation of green space into urban landscapes as well as sewer systems able to handle the excess water flow.

Building in Floodplains

• Floodplains require special protection against floods since flooding frequency is greater. Levees and dams provide some flood control. A levee is an embankment designed along streams to contain flood waters. It provides a barrier against floods. However, as was learned during the Great Flood of 1993 in the Upper Mississippi River valley, reliance on levees may be misguided.