Examining The Impact Of The Built Environment
On Flood Losses In Texas
Author(s)
S. D. Brody & S. Zahran
Abstract
Floods continue to pose the greatest threat to the property and safety of human
communities among all natural hazards in the United States. While the link
between urbanization and flooding is established, the degree to which specific
characteristics of the built environment affect the level of damage sustained by a
community has never been thoroughly investigated at the regional scale. Our
study addresses this lack of research by examining the relationship between the
built environment and flood impacts in Texas, which consistently sustains the
most damage from flooding of any other state in the country. Specifically, we
calculate property damage resulting from 423 flood events over a five year
period from 1997 and 2001 at the county level. We identify the impact of
several built environment measures, including wetland alteration, impervious
surface, and dams on reported property damage while controlling for biophysical
and socioeconomic characteristics. Statistical results suggest that naturally
occurring wetlands play a particularly important role in mitigating flood damage.
These findings provide guidance to planners and flood managers on how to most
effectively mitigate the costly impacts of floods at the community level.
Keywords: wetland alteration, flooding, Texas, Florida, wetlands, sprawl.
1 Introduction
Floods continue to pose the greatest threat among all natural hazards to the
property, safety, and economic well-being of human communities in the United
Keywords
wetland alteration, flooding, Texas, Florida, wetlands, sprawl.
Related Book
Other papers in this volume
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