Turning Research into Action: New Book Offers Tools for Practitioners and Policymakers
Flooding costs the United States more than any other natural hazard, yet our national approach to flood preparedness and resiliency remains under mitigated and underinsured, technologically outdated, and institutionally fragmented. In America’s Flooding Problem, David J. Alexander delivers a compelling and actionable field guide for navigating the next generation of flood risk — one where advanced technologies, public policy, and community resilience must converge.
Drawing from over five years of applied research, technology development, and pilot deployment under the DHS Flood Apex Program, the book outlines what’s working, what’s missing, and what must come next. At its heart, the book is not just a critique of current systems and a recitation of what is already known about flooding in the U.S.; rather, it is a blueprint for transformation through applied research and innovation project led by DHS S&T through the Flood Apex program. Alexander profiles cutting-edge tools that are already reshaping flood preparedness across the country, including AI-powered flood forecasting, digital twin simulations of flood-prone infrastructure, deployable sensors for localized alerts, and high-resolution remote sensing to target areas of structural vulnerability before disaster strikes.
Each chapter tackles a key domain of the flood resilience challenge. The book opens by confronting the economic and political inertia that has allowed the costliest disaster in America’s history to remain so poorly addressed. It then explores technological advances from high performance computing for real-time risk modeling to open-source platforms for dam break scenarios and explains how these new resources and technological capabilities are revolutionizing situational awareness. Later chapters assess the policy levers, governance reforms, and insurance innovations needed to better align flood risk reduction and resilience incentives across public and private sectors.
Let’s be clear, while grounded in science, America’s Flooding Problem is not a technocratic manual. It foregrounds balanced risk investment in the most needed areas, emphasizing that underserved communities are too often left behind by legacy flood risk models and underrepresented in flood risk funding programs. The book argues for more inclusive community planning, better public engagement, and data practices that enabling state and local governments and the most vulnerable to address the Nation’s flood crisis.
The final section offers a roadmap, so to speak, that identifies best practices and shows how to scale them. It proposes a new approach to flood resilience investment, one that rewards proactive planning, aligns with new forms of data accountability, and accelerates decision support where it matters most: on the ground.
Whether you are an emergency manager responding to flash floods, a floodplain administrator revising risk maps, a public safety leader preparing for the next hurricane season, or a policymaker looking to modernize national flood preparedness infrastructure, this book offers more than just insight; it offers a toolkit for action.
In an era of accelerating disasters, America’s Flooding Problem makes the case that flood resilience is not just a coastal concern or a weather forecast. It is a national imperative.
ASFPM members will notice a few familiar names sprinkled throughout the book. The foreword is written by Dale Lehman, ASFPM Foundation President; and chapter co-authors include Chad Berginnis, Tim Trautman and Carey Johnson. ASFPM was a key collaborator with the Flood Apex research program — the association served on the research review board and the ASFPM Flood Science Center supported research for flood proofing standards and technology advancement.
A PDF of America’s Flooding Problem is available as a free download from the ASFPM library.
Printed versions of the book are available through Amazon.
