Suburban sprawl and poor preparation worsened flood damage in Louisiana

Suburban sprawl and poor preparation worsened flood damage in Louisiana

An excellent post by Professor Craig Colten on the events leading to the August 2016 flood:

Reports of flooding in Louisiana may conjure up images of Hurricane Katrina, but these rivers are completely separated from the Mississippi River, and these floods posed no threat to New Orleans. Nonetheless, based on my experience studying risk and resilience in this region, I see parallels between the damage of current flooding and the damage caused by Katrina. In both cases, human decisions magnified the consequences of extreme natural events. Planning and permitting enabled development in areas that had experienced repeat floods, and agencies had failed to complete projects designed to mitigate flood damage before the storms hit.