The impacts of increasing rainfall: Flood fatalities in Texas

Flooding is the leading cause of fatalities from natural disasters occurring in Texas. Texas is the state with most flood fatalities in the United State with more than three times the number of fatalities in the following state. Flooding is occurring more frequently in Texas due to the significant changes in weather patterns. This study analyzes the flood fatality databases from the National Climatic Data Center, the Spatial Hazard Event and Loss Database for the United States, and the Texas Department of State Health Services. The data collected for the flood fatalities include the date, time, gender, age, race, location, watershed, and weather conditions. A comparison is performed to analyze the database statistics by year and month. The flood fatality data is also analyzed based on the activity or setting of occurrence. Vehicle incidences are analyzed by age and gender. The vehicle fatalities are further analyzed by time of day. The frequency of flood fatalities by county was performed to determine the spatial distribution of the deaths. Most flood fatalities are associated with driving into flood water.