In a paper published recently in the American Geophysical Union journal Earth’s Future, experts in UC Irvine’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering caution that relatively new, nation-scale flood data provides an inadequate representation of local topography and infrastructure, factors known to control the spread of floods in urban areas. “In our analysis of Los Angeles County…we found that estimates of countywide flood exposure from the nationwide data are actually similar to what we find with our more detailed models. However, predictions of which communities and properties are at risk are markedly different,” said lead author Brett Sanders, UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor of civil and environmental engineering and professor of urban planning and public policy. Read More