What Are the Long-Term Negative Effects of Flooding

Spring in 2023 will bring massive runoff in California when the extreme snow levels in the Sierras begin to melt. Other areas of the country can expect torrential rains that overwhelm existing infrastructure and flood agricultural areas. “Tornado alley” seems to have shifted south, repeatedly devastating communities in Arkansas and raising weather watches in Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee.

While climate change deniers may argue about what causes more frequent weather extremes, it’s hard to argue that nothing exceptional is happening with the climate. When communities experience extreme flooding, the aftereffects can intensify the devastation. But what are the long-term negative effects of flooding?

Economic Effects

It can take years for a community to rebuild homes and businesses that a flood washed away or made uninhabitable. Communities and their residents lose lives, crops, livestock, cherished personal items, jobs, and vital infrastructure that drives economic activity. Home and land values in flood-prone areas decline, and many flood victims will never fully recover from the economic harm that flooding causes. They lose all that they have without the means to rebuild or relocate.

Economic effects aren’t all local, either. Food prices rise in the wake of flooding that destroys crops, kills livestock, and steals the opportunity to plant crops for an entire season. Prices stay elevated until grocers can find alternative sources and farmers can recover.

Health Impacts

Along with financial ruin, the long-term effects of flooding include serious health impacts. Floodwaters are notoriously filthy: they carry sewage and bacteria, pollutants—like fuel and fertilizer runoff—and other toxins that can cause long-term physical health issues. Plus, flooding causes psychological and emotional harm, including depression, anxiety, and stress.

Environmental Effects

Along with stripping agricultural lands of rich topsoil and its nutrients, floods cause devastating erosion. Once erosion starts, it’s difficult to stop. Erosion can raise the risk of landslides, reduce water quality, and clog up streams, rivers, and harbors with silt.

It’s much easier to prevent erosion than to repair it. Municipalities and highway departments must plan for frequent torrential rains and minimize the amount of erosion that occurs around culverts. Proper flood preparation can ensure that floodwaters reach natural wetlands that need an influx of water.

Floods can have some positive environmental effects, though. For one, they can deposit nutrients along flooded riverbanks, making arid soil fertile. Wetland habitats rely on seasonal flooding to support wildlife, and wetlands sequester floodwaters to reduce damage to other sectors of residential and agricultural areas.

Sustainable communities require preparation for the effects of climate change, including the increased risk of flooding. Municipalities must work with local officials before floods hit to preserve wetlands, shore up culverts and ravines, and establish emergency plans.