SSET Lecture: Dr. Gerald Galloway, Consequences of Urban Flooding

Dealing with the Growing Consequences of Urban Flooding:
Floodplain and Stormwater Management in the Face of Climate Change, Aging Infrastructure, Lack of Funding and Apathy

From 2016 to 2018, a team from University of Maryland and Texas A&M University examined the challenge of urban flooding in the United States. In November 2018, they reported to Congress, the Administration, and the nations’ governors that urban flooding is a national issue, that its consequences are widespread economic loss, social disruption and housing inequality; and that it is not being adequately addressed. The continuing growth of U.S. cities and towns, the expansion of development into the watersheds surrounding these areas, a failure to adequately maintain stormwater infrastructure in the face of its deterioration, and significant changes in urban hydrology have dramatically increased the economic and social impacts of flooding on those who live and work in and around urban areas, especially lower income groups. In 2014, over 60 percent of U.S. economic flood losses were attributed to the urban flooding of the city of Detroit from one intense rainfall event. Disputes between those who support hard infrastructure such as dams and channels and proponents of softer, green infrastructure remain unresolved. As major storms cause billions in flood losses and increase the need for post-disaster recovery funding, the resources available to mitigate future such impacts are reduced. To many, urban flooding is the hidden challenge, one that is continuously put aside and given a low priority for resolution. Governments and the public must recognize the threat and prepare to deal with it.

Gerald E. Galloway, PE, Ph.D.
Brigadier General, US Army, Ret.
Penn State Harrisburg Alumnus

Galloway is a Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland; a Faculty Fellow of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University; and a visiting professor at the A&M Galveston Campus. His teaching and research focuses on water resources policy, resilience, and disaster risk management under climate change. He is a consultant to several international, federal, state and non-governmental agencies and has been involved in water projects worldwide. Galloway is a 38-year veteran of the U.S. Army who retired as a Brigadier General and Dean (Chief Academic Officer) of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He holds a master’s degree in engineering from Princeton; a master’s degree in public administration from Penn State Harrisburg, a master’s degree in military art and science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and a Ph.D. in geography (water resources) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Free and open to the public. Appetizers will be provided.
Funded by the Charles A. Cole Environmental Program Fund

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