Flooding caused by old data

Water is a powerful force, and as such can pose a major threat to our infrastructure. Thanks to our changing climate, that threat is greater than ever. U.S. stormwater infrastructure—including sewer lines and curbside grates—is designed using precipitation data gathered the Federal government and used by State Departments of Transportation (DOT). But according to Carnegie Mellon University Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Ph.D. student Tania Lopez-Cantu and Associate Professor Costa Samaras, these data may not be sufficient for designing and building adequate infrastructure—increasing the risk of flooding.