OCR Text |
Show By SUSAN LOTH News Service The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is promoting an old way to reduce flood damage. THE IDEA today is to minimize mini-mize development on the flood plain the low, flat area next to river or stream beds. In- stead of a subdivision or an industrial in-dustrial center, there can be a wildlife preserve or a recreation recrea-tion area. These uses give a community commun-ity valuable open space most of the time that can survive flooding with minimal damage. THIS APPROACH to flood-fighting flood-fighting may sound like a turnabout tur-nabout for an agency building flood controls. But flash floods those that come within a few hours of heavy rains or perhaps a levee failure are the nation's top weather disaster. In 1979 such floods killed 100 persons and caused an estimated esti-mated $4 billion in property damage. During the 1970s, according to the National Weather Service, an average of 200 people a year died in flash floods, or triple the rate of the 1940s. DECADE BY decade, the death and property toll is rising, ris-ing, largely because more development de-velopment is taking place on flood plains. No state is immune im-mune not even Arizona, well-known for its desert climate. |