World level of precipitations & pluvial flood

This global scale map shows the world global precipitations. Precipitations are the
condensation of atmospheric water vapour. The more the precipitations are heavy, the
more the flood risk are high. On this map, we can see that the majority of the
countries have precipitations between 0 and 1500mm. Four regions which are located
around Brazil, around Indonesia, in Central Africa and in the south of Groenland have
precipitations between 1500 and 2500mm. Only few rare regions have a level of
precipitation going above 2000mm. Those floods related to heavy rainfalls are called
pluvial flood.

United States fluvial flood : Vulnerable spots

This regional scale map shows spots that are the most susceptible to be affected by
floods. Here, we are focusing on fluvial flood which occur when excessive rainfalls
last on a long period, causing a river or a lake to exceed its capacity. As we can see
above, the most vulnerable spots are locating in the Northeast of United States,
around the lake Michagan, the lake Superior, the lake Ontario and the lake Brie. We
can also find big spot around the Mississippi river and the Great Salt lake.

California : Hot spots & prevention

This local map shows the flood hot spots in California, and a example of prevention
tools. In San Francisco, authorities have settled sandbags aroung lakes but also
among the coast in order to be use as water-control structure. Settling those bags
can't eradicate all the flood, but at least, it can reduce the risk of fluvial and coastal
floods. Even if more frequent in San Francisco, this prevention method is also heavily
used in South California.