A Situation-Based Analysis of Flash Flood Fatalities in the United States
AbstractThis paper investigates the circumstances of 1,075 fatalities from flash flooding recorded from 1996 to 2014 across the United States. This study provides insights into the situations of the fatality events as determined by the victims’ profile and activity and the spatiotemporal context of the flooding. A reclassification of the individual fatality circumstance (i.e., location and/or activity) is performed to explore statistically the timing, the duration, and location of the flash flood event and the age and gender of the victims. In agreement with other studies, more than 60% of the reported fatalities were related to vehicles involving mainly males. A geospatial analysis indicated these were most common in southern states. Further, 21% of fatalities occurred outdoors, typically in neighborhoods near streams, where the victims were exhibiting high-risk-taking behavior, such as cleaning out drains and even playing in the floodwaters. Human vulnerability varies dynamically on a subdaily basis and...