The spatial variation for floods with return periods greater than 100-years in the conterminous United States

摘要

Floods have been a great threat to humans since the dawn of history. One flood occurred along the Yellow River, China, in 1887 that killed 900 000 people (Clark, 1982), exceeding the death toll of any other natural disaster currently known worldwide.The US National Weather Service reported that the average numbers of weather fatalities per year between 1972 and 1991 were 146, 80,69 and 17 for flooding, lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes, respectively. The average cost of flood damage in the US between 1903-1999 has been estimated to be over $3 billion/year (NWS, 2002). Indeed, flooding is the greatest natural disaster in the US and around the world.