A quarter of the infrastructure of the United States is at risk of being affected by floods

foundation first street, a non-governmental non-profit organization dedicated to research has just published a report in which they indicate At least a quarter of the country’s critical infrastructure is at risk of being submerged in the next three decades.

As critical infrastructure, various types of structures are considered, From bridges and roads to fire, from police and hospital buildings to schools, government offices and residential areas.

“Our objective was to determine the amount of flooding that would be required to deactivate the infrastructure,” he explained. Jeremy Porter, the foundation first street.

report title The Third National Flood Risk Report: Infrastructure on the Edge, taking into account all possible floods that An increase in rainfall, up to the possibility of a river falling, or a rise in sea level.

“As we saw a few weeks ago Hurricane Ida. destruction fromOur country’s infrastructure is not built to withstand the flood risk we face today. Not to mention what could happen with growth that we expect would be this risk over the next 30 years,” he said. Matthew AbbeyFounder and Executive Director of the Foundation first street.

“Hurricane Ida’s impact has been impressive across the country, It flooded New York City’s subway transportation infrastructure, destroying power lines in southern Louisiana, and killing more than 100 people. It is clear that now, more than ever, the places we live in will continue to be affected by climate change,” the report indicates.

Of the 20 counties at risk of severe flooding in the country, 17 are in four states: Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky and West Virginia. Six of the 20 most at-risk counties are concentrated in Louisiana alone, and this is where the counties with the highest risk of being underwater in the entire country have been identified: Cameron Parish.

If the focus is on cities rather than counties, Florida has six of the 20 highest-risk cities, and Louisiana has three. New Orleans is the second most important city in the country in terms of flooding. Miami is ranked 8th in the rankings, St. Petersburg and Tampa, you also loved Florida, have twelve and fourteen places respectively.

Today there are 12.4 million residential properties in the country at risk of flooding. It is estimated that this number will increase to 13.6 million in the next 30 years. The figures are appalling. By 2051, 1.2 million more residential homes, 66,000 commercial properties, and 63,000 miles of roads will be at risk, rendering them unusable.

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationhandjob Flooding is the most costly natural disaster in the United States. Since 1980, the country has invested more than a trillion dollars to combat the consequences of the floods.

Beyond great national plans to modernize infrastructure, there are cities that are taking action on the matter. For example, in the city of Miami, residents voted a few years ago to impose a self-imposed tax that creates a fund to fight floods. After Hurricane Andrew in the 1990s, the city changed its building code and became the most wind-resistant city in the world. This has allowed damage caused by hurricane passages in Miami to be 10 times less than in cities such as New York in recent years. The City of the Sun now aims to be the most waterproof city on the planet.