In the U.S., floods cause over $3 billion worth of damage annually. An intense flood has the capability to destroy buildings, drown crops and even cause multiple fatalities. According to FEMA, just two feet of moving water can carry away a vehicle, and many deaths caused by floods occur when people remain in their vehicle during a flood.
WeatherDB, a weather data site by Graphiq, found the 10 U.S. counties that experienced the deadliest floods over the last 20 years (January 1996 to March 2016). Using data from NOAA's Severe Weather Data Inventory, the total number of deaths, injuries, floods and floods that caused a fatality were determined for each county in which a flood occurred. These 10 counties are ranked based on the number of fatalities caused by floods in the last 20 years. If those figures were the same, the order was listed by total number of injuries. If injuries were also equal, the number of floods was the tiebreaker.
Not surprisingly, Eastern states that receive heavy amounts of precipitation, such as New York and Arkansas, also experience dangerous flooding. However, drier states where flash floods occur are at a much greater risk. In fact, some of the driest areas, including San Bernardino, Tucson and St. George, Utah, experience the most life-threatening floods. These areas are less equipped to handle a flood as flash floods happen so unexpectedly that people do not have time to react. Regardless, in the event of a flood, leave your vehicle (ideally quicker than this person) and escape to dry ground.
