What Is Flood Mitigation?

Flood mitigation is a means of managing the physical effects and the human and material factors of a flood. Structural mitigation is the creation of structures to alleviate the possibilities of flooding in residential or metropolitan areas. Nonstructural mitigation addresses human factors by creating initiatives to take people away from flood ways or flood plains.

Analysis

• Using various tools, areas at high risk of flooding need to map out a flood path with the probable risk of a 100 or 1,000-year flood and determine hot spots that need assistance or immediate action before any natural disaster occurs. This method would also assess how much damage could happen in a flood so protection can be reinforced for residents in and near the flood path.

Planning

• Flood mitigation efforts are essentially community efforts. Constant communication with residents will increase knowledge about the possibilities of flooding and about how to address the problems in their own communities. An essential aspect to plan for is dispute management among communities or residents related to mitigation efforts. The state and people in a potential flood path must be able to work together, compromise and have clear lines of communication.

Things to Do in Flood-Prone Areas

• If a property is in a flood plain, a home should not be built on the property unless the property has been elevated and reinforced. The furnace, heaters and electric panels should be elevated if the home is in an area susceptible to flooding. Sewer traps should be installed with check valves to prevent any water from backing up into the home's drainage system. Walls should be reinforced with waterproofing compounds to prevent water from seeping into the foundation.

Government Assistance

• If a home is damaged by flooding and an individual has been left behind without property or the damage is too extreme for homeowner's insurance to handle, applying for assistance might be necessary. Before applying for assistance, a homeowner should consider whether she qualifies and what her rights are as a resident or an affected individual. People planning to rebuild their homes must realize the importance of reinforcing that structure against future damage.

Flood Risk Maps

• Flood defenses do not completely eliminate the chance of flooding, but in most cases, flood hazard mitigation programs have protected people against the devastating effects of flooding. Flood risk maps are among the most effective ways of reducing the risk of flooding to people and property. The interactive physical flood risk maps show the areas prone to flooding, forming a fundamental prerequisite for an effective flood risk assessment. Normally, local municipalities prepare these flood risk maps based on past inundations.