Major flood would hit Los Angeles Black communities disproportionately hard, study finds
A Black community in Los Angeles county would face a greater threat of a catastrophic flood than the majority Latino communities most often targeted with flooding, according to a new study on flood risk in California and nationwide.
The study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found that a major flood would hit a Black community in Los Angeles county — which in 2015 was home to a population greater than 20 percent Black — twice as often as the Latino communities most often targeted.
The study, released Tuesday, also found that the threat of a major flood in Los Angeles county had increased since the 1990s — when flood protection was built to protect the minority populations in the area.
“What these studies are saying is that it’s not just the Latino communities that are disproportionately impacted by the kind of flooding that we’re seeing in southern California,” says Dr. David Brown, co-author of the study who spent a year of research on the issue.
Flooding is a natural and common weather phenomena that in recent years has taken a more severe and destructive form.
The study, based on government records and flood modeling, found that if the Black community in Los Angeles county was targeted with a major flood the risk of it happening to them would increase by 15.5 percent. The likelihood of the Latino community being targeted increased by only 4.4 percent.
The studies found that the Black community in the county had the highest risk of a catastrophic flood occurring. The Latino communities in Los Angeles county had the least risk.
“This is not to say that all Black homes are more vulnerable than Latino homes. This is simply saying that the ones that are disproportionately affected the way they are,” says USGS hydrologist Bill Smith, who led the study.
“This is not to say that all Latino homes are more vulnerable than Black homes. This is simply saying that the ones that are disproportionately affected the way they are.”
Studies show that the flood protection system of buildings and infrastructure had done little to protect these communities from the rising waters.
The government, in response to the flooding, built more flood control measures in the area, including the Central and South canyons and the San Gabriel Mountains.
“We built flood protection systems in the area that have done nothing, and if we’re looking at the numbers, we’re looking at the same
