Building Houses In Flood Zones

Flooding of the settlement was problematic. By 1812, the settlers had built miles of levees on the banks of the river. For the next two hundred years, the surrounding wetlands were drained to eliminate swamps filled with yellow fever carrying mosquitoes and to encourage economic development. Draining water from peaty soils encouraged subsidence. The land which was just inches above sea level to begin with steadily sank. In combat of this, higher and stronger levees were built, tightening the straight jacket already placed upon the Mississippi River. The massive flooding of 1928 brought further flood control systems implemented by the Army Corps of Engineers with Congressional blessing. By the 1950’s, dramatic rates of land loss in Louisiana’s coastal zone stretched across 300 miles from Texas to Mississippi and inland 50 miles. (Tibbetts)

This is will difficult if there housing is severely reduced in value due to the risk that are there of flood. Therefore to increase profits and chances of breaking even, they should provide the initial flood defences for the housing. This will increase the saleability of the housing and profitability of the firms. It also provides social benefit for those that are buying the housing. Yet you could say that the cause of the flooding is not directly the housing estates firms fault and should not have to pay for the provision.

There are many people who, after they have endured the trauma of a hurricane, refuse to return to their old houses, or even the area in general. People have different experiences with these traumatic disasters and all deal with them differently. If there is one thing for certain, it’s that they all deal with some sort of loss. Hurricanes are a gigantic setback financially. According to AcuWeather, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the average cost of damages jumped from $1.8 billion to $9 billion. Hurricane Katrina’s damages cost $145 billion and therefore increased the average cost of damages of a hurricane (www.acuweather.com).

1. The reasons why some buildings are in the floodplains is because of agricultural industry. Another reason is population growth and expansion into those areas where people felt safe because of improvements of levees. Even though people were told about the dangers most people relied on disaster insurance instead of flood insurance. There should be laws that prohibit further development of these areas because it is costing the taxpayers lots of money for people that want to live in these areas that know the risks. If there were laws in place they could use some of the land as soccer fields and football fields as overflow ponds if they do want to build in a floodplain they need to raise the ground up by hauling in soils that will let the water pass through into those overfill ponds.

"In addition to endangering the wildlife and economic prosperity of an area, the loss of wetlands also puts humans at risk. Wetlands serve as a natural buffer zone against storms and hurricanes, slowing down the storms and reducing their force before they move inland. However, as the wetlands disappear, some cities are becoming more exposed. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, has already suffered the consequences of this gradual depletion of wetland buffer zones. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in the entire history of the United States, hit the Gulf Coast. There were more than 1,800 casualties, with the greatest number of them concentrated in New Orleans. Eighty percent of the city was flooded, and there were more than 700 dead. Many blamed the destruction of New Orleans on the failure of the levees, which are manmade barriers that prevent water from flooding into a city. However, scientists and researchers believe that the hurricane would have done far less damage to the city if the surrounding wetlands had been intact. Since the storm, there has been a greater national focus on preserving and restoring the wetlands on the Gulf Coast. Preserving our wetlands and maintaining a buffer zone against storms will only become more crucial in the future, as climate change may increase both the frequency and the severity of extreme weather events such as hurricanes. " There are so many

Flooding is one of the many risks that people and their private properties assume when they consider living in a specific geographic location. This is true for the residents of Howard County, as they live near the Chesapeake Bay, whose tributaries branch off into smaller rivers, streams and lakes. Due to the fact that Howard County is more developed in the southeast and more rural in the west, there is a correlation between the risk of flooding and the presence of human development. (any cite here?) Natural factors play an integral role in determining the probability of flooding in a particular section of the county as well. People and their private properties are highly impacted by flooding, as it can cause death and injuries to humans

Floods are common natural disasters that occur all over the world. Flooding has devastating impacts on the lives of people who are affected by the disaster. Floods can ruin crops, demolish homes, take innocent lives and cause many other types of hardships. These disasters can also leave people with a financial burden and emotional effects. Studies have shown that floods have led to various sickness and health complications. This common disaster has recently taken place in the state of Louisiana. Louisiana has been suffering from an enormous flood and has left people without homes, without food, and without personal belongings.

As we’re trying to move from relief to recovery and rebuilding, it’s nearly imperative that we look back to unveil why this widespread flooding occurred in the first place. If we trace back to the research of engineers in the 1990’s, it was recorded that the reservoir system was inadequate and endangered thousands of lives and properties (Thompson). Arthur Storey, Harris County’s Flood Director in 1996, coins the wreckage that lies before us as “a massive governmental and engineering failure” (Thompson). Research suggests that we foresaw the potential damage, yet failed to invest in modern development

Floods are a bit different, because they can be planned for to some degree. It is possible to warn people that a flood is coming, and time to prepare (or evacuate) can mitigate the damage (Schneid & Collins, 2001). People can also choose not to live

In researching for major property losses, the southern states just recovered from one of the costliest hurricane seasons recorded this year Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate took a toll on many properties costing the U.S billions of dollars. Out of all the hurricanes that touched down Hurricane Harvey that hit in Texas was one of the most damaging storms we have seen since hurricane Katrina. As of September 5, 2017, Hurricane Harvey damaged 203,000 homes, of which 12,700 were destroyed. As we discussed in class the national Flood Insurance Program provides insurance to property owners and encourages communities to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations especially ay property that is in an SFHA which are special flood hazard areas.

Back in the 1800's there were severe floods in New Orleans that displaced their residents more than one. The floods occurred in 1816, 1823, and 1849. The levees back then were roughly in the same places that the levees are during Katrina. During the 1849 flood, many residents' homes were flooded for up to 40 days (Colten 3). In the same article, Colten also says, that almost 2,000 homes and 12,000 residents were the ones displaced. "In response to this flood, like others before and after, officials raised the levee height and thereby encouraged additional urbanization on the floodplain" (Colten 3). So obviously over the years New Orleans has not learned and the tradegy will just keep happening.

"Four years after Katrina, a mix of progress and inertia." USA Today, 28 Aug. 2009, p. 06A. Global Issues in Context, ezp.gvltec.edu:2048/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A206816088/GIC?u=gvltec_main&xid=a646acc3. Accessed 1 Nov. 2017.Summary: In this article it puts into perspective the risk of living near the coast. That is the reason insurance near the coast is so expensive. This is because in the event of a hurricane you could lose your house. The insurance companies will be more in the hole than the house owners because of their low premiums with a large return. The article also addresses how much more prepared we are now for a massive hurricane. One of the ways is we are upgrading our flood control systems, to prevent

A flood can be defined in many depths but is simply water where it isn’t wanted. In late 2010 Queensland was affected by major flash flooding this continued on into the beginning of 2011 and ¾ of Queensland was declared a disaster zone.

The purpose of this report is to geologically evaluate the potential hazards for flooding in Hazard City. This report will include a detailed historic and extrapolated Stream Gauge Data Worksheet, as well as a graph of the Discharge Frequency Curve expected on Clearwater River. The report will provide Hazard city with my scientific analysis, conclusions, and provide recommendations concerning potential flood damages.

Flooding can cause serious property damage and harm the lives of people and other species. Floods can be caused by many reasons such as, high tides, hurricanes, tsunamis, heavy rains, broken dams and more. Flood control is used to help prevent disasters caused by flooding waters. Flood control is important everywhere, but it is even more important in areas where there are large amounts of water like the Mississippi River, the Gulf Coast, East and West Coast, and even the Great Lakes. There are many more areas, but those are just to name a few. In areas like these, flood control is a public good because everyone has the ability to benefit from whatever is being used to control the flood such as, dams, levees, sea or break walls, sand bags etc. Public goods are not excludable nor rival in consumption which means everyone has access to it. The government provides money for flood control to be built making them a public good and free for everyone to use as protection against floods. Since flood control is free and the government pays for the flood prevention this means it is a free market. A free market is an economic system where price is determined by unrestricted competition.