News like this makes it feel like flooding is on the rise, but I am not sure.
Most of our building codes and the like define flood zones, and the 100 year flood zone is the magic line. Above that and you can do most anything, below you can still build but have to take measures to mitigate damage. The problem is 100 year floods happen all the time. We have many thousands of rivers, streams, and watersheds in the US so even with no increase in flooding you'd expect numerous floods a year, same could be said for the 500 or thousand year floodplains. They just happen less often.
We have our federal flood insurance program (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_insurance) to blame for a lot of the newer developments in the floodplains. Without it most people could not accept the risk and most banks would not provide mortgages.
And a lot more people are living in floodplains, so a lot more people are impacted than ever before. Again would be happening even if actual flooding was not on the increase. And of course today the media is quick to find the worst case pictures and stories to sensationalize. Applying the 100 year floodplain thing you could probably find some where in the US flooding everyday.
Being a civil engineer who has been flooded several times I know a bit about it, studied it at some length. I feel for anyone who gets flooded, I know what that is like.
I am sure sea level rise is contributing to increases in coastal flooding, and maybe climate change but I am less certain about that. I don't know what we can do about climate change and sea level rise. However, I do know we can fix the building code and flood insurance thing, hope it happens.
