Major flood would hit Los Angeles Black communities disproportionately hard, study finds
A pair of major floods in the Inland West are predicted to hit Los Angeles with the greatest impacts felt in the African-American communities where these floods are predicted to hit. Flooding is expected to come in three waves.
Sandy is expected to impact South Los Angeles, East Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley in the first wave, by December.
A second wave of floodwater is predicted to impact in two months, in March.
The study, conducted by UCLA Geography Department, found that the second wave of flooding will be disproportionately harder on areas of higher poverty and minority demographics, as well as those with a larger proportion of higher income residents.
A recent national study conducted by RAND Corporation also predicted severe flood damage to communities in the Inland west.
The study found that these communities are more likely than most to be affected in the second wave of flooding.
Experts predict that these predictions will come true.
The flood waters of Tropical Storm Irene are expected to come close to parts of the South Bay and Los Angeles on Monday, November 12.
It’s not the first time flood waters have been expected to come close to the South Bay and Los Angeles but no such weather forecast has ever been made, according to a 2012 article by the South Bay Times.
A recent study by the South Bay Times revealed that some areas in the southern area are at as much as 20 feet above normal sea level.
The Los Angeles River is expected to rise 10 feet above normal following the arrival of Tropical Storm Irene.
A study conducted by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) found that flood insurance rates will go up in areas where communities have higher percentages of low income populations, according to a 2012 article by the UCLA Newsroom.
Los Angeles is expected to be hit with more hurricanes than any other city in the country, according to a 2012 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study conducted by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
According to NOAA, Los Angeles is at the top of the list for Atlantic hurricane landfall potential, making the Los Angeles area the most at risk from hurricanes. The center states that Los Angeles has the highest total number of days in a particular year that can be classified as hazardous weather conditions due to hurricanes.
According to NOAA, the city has experienced 3,944 years of year,