The annual national loss to physical property, crops and public infrastructure caused by floods in the United States runs into billions of dollars. Comparative data available from the year 1929 to 2006 reveals that flood damage has been on a steady increase. While the common assumption is that the increase in flood damage has been caused by the intensity and frequency of floods, research data available shows different results. The increase in damage has been attributed to a complex interplay between weather and an increasing vulnerability of society to flood damage.

The increase in vulnerability has been caused by increase in populations and wealth in areas prone to flood impacts. While so much data is available on flood damage in the US, there is no single data source that can claim infallible evidence and this is pretty disappointing because policy makers have misconceptions about flood damage growth and could make decisions based on incorrect information. Such decisions could lead to ineffective or inefficient flood policies. What is not in doubt, however, is the fact that flood damage has been on the rise.

In an attempt to explain the increase in flood damage, one research developed and refined a technique to normalize National Weather Service unadjusted yearly flood damage estimates for the years 1929 to 2004; normalization is the estimation of the flood damage effect that a flood in a past period would have caused under the current societal conditions. The results of that research, conducted by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that since 1929, flood damage has been on the increase. For the fiscal year 1926, flood damage estimate, at a normalized rate, were USD 9.234 Million dollars. The figure then rises to as high as USD 16,364 Million in 1993 and was USD 1,337 Million in the year 2000.

Most researches blame the increase in flood damage on human choices, especially today's levels of development and occupation of floodplains. The projection then is of a future where flood damage is expected to increase.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA advises all US citizens to be aware of floods regardless of one's location, as floods count as one of the most common hazards in the US. FEMA also identifies some high risk areas as the low-lying lands and areas near water or downstream from a dam.

The USGS - United States Geological Society - identifies floods as the number one natural disaster in the US during the 20th century. It identifies areas prone to regional floods and those prone to flash floods. Regional floods occur when winter or spring rains mix with melting snow freezing the ground. This reduces infiltration into the soil and could increase runoff. Such a flood did occur in New England in 1936 and killed more than 150 people in addition to destroying property worth over USD 300 Million.

As flood damage is projected to increase, one needs to understand flood statistics in their area of occupation in addition to keeping a list of useful emergency numbers.