The New Normal: Extreme Rainfall Puts These Places at Risk

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Extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent in the US due to climate change, with devastating consequences for many communities.

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The FSF model shows that the official precipitation estimates from the US government do not fully capture the frequency and severity of extreme precipitation in a changing climate.

More than half of Americans now live in an area that is twice as likely to experience a rain event than is predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Approximately 20 percent of the country can now expect a 1-in-100-year storm to happen every 25 years.

In some counties that are home to more than 1.3 million people, such extreme rain events could happen on average once a decade, if not more often.

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The warming atmosphere is fueling once-unthinkable amounts of rain in single bursts, supercharging various weather-related disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires, and crippling heat waves.

Congress has set aside billions of dollars to fund upgrades to the nation’s drinking water systems, bridges, rail systems, interstates, ports, and infrastructure to address climate change.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is updating its estimate of precipitation no less frequently than once every 10 years.

NOAA received new funding from Congress to create a more robust, comprehensive set of data for every corner of the country.

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FSF is providing an "early understanding" of what NOAA's estimates are likely to produce, helping engineers, public works officials, and planners make informed decisions.

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Communities need to realize that the rising number of catastrophic rain events in recent decades is the "new normal" for many areas, and that their understanding of risk is often underestimated.

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The findings underscore how significant amounts of risk are likely unaccounted for in parts of the country.

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It emphasizes the need for officials to think carefully about how they spend taxpayer dollars on major projects and have the foresight to grasp how the atmosphere in many places is changing.

It's time for officials and communities to take action and invest in resilient infrastructure to mitigate the risks of extreme rainfall due to climate change.