Flooding events in the United States were examined from 1995-2005 to analyze the connection between flooding and vehicle-related deaths. This study focuses on vehicle related deaths through demographic, meteorological, temporal and spatial analyses. These analyses are achieved through the examination of Storm Event data (Location, Date, Time, Number of Fatalities, and Meteorological Classification) collected from 1995-2005.
Vehicle related flood fatalities totaled 555 during this period. Sixty percent of the deaths were males. Males aged 70 and older had a death rate 2.0 to 2.5 times the death rates of females of the same age. Texas, Missouri, and California had the greatest number of events in which a vehicle related flood fatality occurred. Vehicle related flood fatalities were highest in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri. The National Weather Service county warning area of Austin/San Antonio, Texas, had the greatest number of vehicle related flood fatalities. Roadway classifications were found in 38% of the records examined and this showed that bridges were most commonly associated with vehicle related flood fatalities.
The temporal analysis of this data found that 1996 had the greatest number of vehicle related flood fatalities - 95, and 2005 had the fewest fatalities - 26. Vehicle related fatalities associated with flash flood were found to peak in May; fatalities related to tropical cyclones peaked in September; river flood deaths peaked in May; urban/small stream deaths peaked in June; and ‘other’ floods had the most deaths in January.