FEMA’s Wrong Flood Plain Projections Leave Some Surprised, and Homeless

As Hurricane Harvey swept through Texas, many were left with basements and living rooms full of water- despite being outside of FEMA’s projected high-risk flood areas. FEMA and its maps represent the government’s best flood plain estimates, leaving those outside of the area without flood insurance. With so many now flooded and helpless, Maxwell Professor Sarah Pralle examined why FEMA is so frequently wrong, and was quoted in Slate.com

“The overriding concern of local officials is to reduce the size of flood maps and to reduce base flood levels,” she said. Pralle is an Associate Professor of Political Science in Maxwell.