A 500-Year Flood

I’ve been closely watching the news about the massive flooding throughout the Midwest — I grew up in eastern Iowa, and some of the hardest-hit places very near to my hometown of Dubuque.
I talked to my dad this weekend, who told me the vast majority of the people affected don’t have flood insurance. (My dad, who sells insurance for a living, is in the know about such things.) The most flooded Iowa towns aren’t right on the Mississippi. They’re in a 500-year floodplain. Wikipedia tells me that means there’s a 0.2% chance of these areas flooding in any given year. So it’s not surprising that people aren’t insured for water damage like this, and are really going to be hurting financially.
I’m not going to attempt a “flooding is a feminist issue” post. But with my personal connections to the areas affected, I felt remiss in not mentioning it.
Click here to donate to flood relief efforts.