"Nearly a quarter of the nation’s road miles are at risk of becoming impassable during a flood, according to a groundbreaking new study that documents the surprising vulnerability of key U.S. facilities such as roads, hospitals and power plants.

The analysis by the nonprofit First Street Foundation aims to fill a gap left by flood models that have focused on residential risk. That includes First Street’s own analysis last year that showed far more homes are in danger of being flooded than the federal government projects.

Using modeling that incorporates climate change, First Street’s latest report quantifies the huge current and future number of critical facilities and road segments that would be shut down by an average flood.

“There’s so much risk in the country that you would not expect,” First Street Executive Director Matthew Eby said, adding that he was “blown away” by the number of critical facilities such as medical centers that a flood would render inoperable."

Thomas Frank reports for E&E News October 12, 2021. [2]