Suburban sprawl created flood damage faster than engineered protections could counter

Evidence

The rapid growth of cities and suburbs was “creating new pressures to utilize inviting but hazardous floodplains for subdivisions, shopping centers, commercial establishments, and other improvements,” the commission argued. “This mushrooming trend is creating new flood-damage potential faster than construction works can add to existing protection.” — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 698

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Contradictory engineered water management signals the loss of flood equilibrium — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 424; Floods cause more suffering and damage than any other U.S. natural disaster — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 1795; Landslides resulted from specific preventable builder choices, not natural accidents — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 678 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Flood barriers that protect one area flood its neighbors instead #exemplifies (0.85) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2777
• Early claims that suburbs worsened floods were plausible but scientifically untested #qualifies (0.75) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 798
• Storm sewers reduce local flooding by worsening downstream flooding. #exemplifies (0.72) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 807