Approximately 1.4 million Californians live in areas at high risk of flooding each year, and climate change is only driving this number up. But flood risk can be a tricky concept for residents and policymakers alike to grasp. Just looking at a FEMA map or knowing that a home is built in a 100-year floodplain doesn't give people an intuitive understanding of how likely it is that a flood will occur—or what could happen when one does.

Approximately 1.4 million Californians live in areas at high risk of flooding each year, and climate change is only driving this number up. But flood risk can be a tricky concept for residents and policymakers alike to grasp. Just looking at a FEMA map or knowing that a home is built in a 100-year floodplain doesn’t give people an intuitive understanding of how likely it is that a flood will occur—or what could happen when one does.

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