Planning for flood impacts on human health in California

This project will study how inland and coastal flooding affects human health, including deaths and the spread of infectious diseases. Although floods pose serious health risks, their direct health impacts are not well understood because of limited data and lack of strong causal analysis. As FEMA’s capacity has been weakened, there is an urgent need for clear evidence on how floods affect public health. This project will use human-centered machine learning to identify the causal links between flooding and health outcomes. By combining health data, flood records, remote sensing, and flood models, this work will produce reliable, actionable policies for flood preparedness and health risk management. The results will be shared through publications, policy briefs, and easy-to-use maps that identify areas at high risk for future flood-related health impacts. This framework will help guide local mitigation strategies, protect vulnerable communities, and improve emergency planning across California, with the potential to scale to nationwide analysis.

Image: Flooding in downtown Sebastopol, California after an atmospheric river dumped up to a foot of rain in 48 hours. Credit: Anne Belden / iStock