Pluvial flood impacts and policyholder responses throughout the United States

To assess pluvial flood impacts, the authors leveraged U.S. flood insurance claims and policy records for a subset of properties outside 100-year floodplains, streamflow records, and nationwide precipitation data, enabling them to distinguish damage claims caused by pluvial floods over 1978–2021. Pluvial floods pose a significant threat to properties, yet comprehensive impact analysis is hindered by data limitations on pluvial inundation.

Strikingly, 87.1% of the claims analyzed from this subset were due to pluvial floods. Utilizing these pluvial flood claims unveiled distinct regional patterns of pluvial impacts across the contiguous U.S. These patterns are informed by the relationship between claim frequency and precipitation within each region. Remarkably, despite the pervasiveness of impacts, many states are seeing declining uptake in pluvial flood insurance coverage. The study highlights regions facing heightened pluvial flood risks and underscores the critical need for enhanced consideration of pluvial inundation within risk management frameworks.