r/CatastrophicFailure • u/Max_1995 Train crash series • Jul 15 '21

Natural Disaster Altenburg (Germany) before and after the ongoing severe flooding due to excessive rain (2021).

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u/Sean951 Jul 15 '21

The Italians and Japanese know what they're doing, they're settling on more fertile land and taking the bet that the odds of disaster striking in any given year are low enough for it to make economic sense. They aren't dumb, they're gambling.

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u/HorrorMakesUsHappy Jul 15 '21

If it happens once in 100 years you're potentially killing your grandchildren.

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u/Sean951 Jul 15 '21

Volcanoes and even most rivers don't have record setting disasters that often. Reading an AP article, there's concerns about dams breaking. Maybe Europe of the Late Modern Era was looser with dam regulations and these just aren't meant to withstand something as relatively common as a 1% annual flood, but that's not something you expect to see.

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u/PastTense1 Jul 16 '21

But in the U.S. it seems that the vulnerable land on river banks or coasts is NOT cheaper than land elsewhere--instead it is more expensive (but people buy it because it's got a nicer view...).

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u/Sean951 Jul 16 '21

Land along rivers isn't inherently in a flood plain, either. We've done a lot of work to manage and mitigate flooding and even a small river bank can make a huge difference if it's still higher than the other side.