Allegheny Co. Long-Term Flooding Prospects Substantial: Study

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA —Nearly 70,000 properties in the county have a 26 percent chance of being severely impacted by flooding over the next 30 years, according to a non-profit organization's new study on nationwide flooding potential. That number represents 12 percent of all properties in Pennsylvania.

Overall, Allegheny County has a greater overall flood risk than 90 percent of counties across the country, according to the First Street Foundation.

The foundation report calculated the risk of flooding on residential properties, commercial properties, roads, critical infrastructure such as utilities and emergency services and social infrastructure such as schools and government. Those findings have been aggregated for every state, county, city and zip code in the country.

The New York based foundation, a research and technology group working to define America's growing climate risk, released the report, "3rd National Risk Assessment: Infrastructure on the Brink," on Monday.

Here what the study determined about Allegheny County:

• 50,633 or 442,690 homes have some flood risk.

• 2,637 of 9,158 miles of road are at risk of becoming impassable due to flooding.

• 9,101 of 19,485 businesses and other commercial properties have some flood risk.

• 258 or 550 infrastructure facilities such as police and fire stations, airports have some flood risk.

• 286 of 1,220 schools, houses of worship and government buildings have some flood risk.

The study comes as parts of Pennsylvania continue to recover from the destruction caused last month from the flooding and tornadoes triggered by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Several counties in the southeastern portion of the state have received federal financial assistance to help them repair more than $41 million in damage to roads, bridges, facilities and more.

"As we saw following the devastation of Hurricane Ida, our nation's infrastructure is not built to a standard that protects against the level of flood risk we face today, let alone how those risks will grow over the next 30 years as the climate changes," said First Street Foundation executive
director Matthew Eby.

"This report highlights the cities and counties whose vital infrastructure are most at risk today, and will help inform where investment dollars should flow in order to best mitigate against that
risk."

View the entire report here.

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