In the News: Sarah Pralle

So much of the response following disasters can feel piecemeal and reactive, says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of poltical science. “Every dollar we put into prevention is going to be a lot more efficiently spent,” she explains. In a world reshaped by climate change, “this idea that there’s safe places you can go hide is unrealistic.”

"We're getting lots of intense rain in short periods of time. And that just means that a lot of the drainage systems in cities, especially with old sort of infrastructure, can't handle that amount of runoff in that quick of a time," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science.

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, was quoted in the High Country News article, "Rising rivers don’t necessarily follow the lines on a map."

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, was interviewed for the Salon article, "Glaciers and 'zombie ice': The planet is melting at both ends, research finds."

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, was quoted in the Grist article, "After FEMA overhaul, hundreds of thousands of Americans are forgoing federal flood insurance."

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, was quoted in the ABC News article, "States take charge to protect people from extreme heat."

The 2022 One University Awards were held Friday, April 22, in Hendricks Chapel. The annual event honors members of the Syracuse University community who are making a difference through academics, scholarship, creative work and dedicated service.

The Cortland County flood map "might show a reasonable flood risk today, but since we don’t make those investment decisions with ramifications far into the future, the maps don’t really help us plan for a different climate," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. "When we look at flood maps now, the conversations are about the insurance cost," Pralle says. Instead, "we have to get to the point where we talk about these things as risks and how to mitigate these things as well." Read more in the Cortland Standard article, "What Cortland County’s flood map does, and doesn’t, show." 

"We need to stop burning fossil fuels and we know when we need to do it," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science.

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, found that the unpleasant surprise of the new insurance costs often causes political pressure that can ultimately lead to map revisions that underestimate flood exposure.

"One problem is the [flood] maps are based on historical data, they're static maps," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. "They don't take into account future development scenarios and future weather-related scenarios having to do with climate change."

"Officials are concerned about the financial burden on individual property owners, but also worry about decreased property values and increased restrictions on development," Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science.

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, talks about why Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps don’t tell the true story of where floods are happening now and in the future.

"Here’s the big lesson from Hurricane Harvey: The U.S. government’s flood zone designation, and the maps based on it, may not predict future flood risks accurately, particularly as climate change alters sea levels and weather patterns," writes Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. 

"In response to the climate crisis we face, our leaders must not continue to merely say 'no' to climate policies proposed by others, or to hope, as we have for decades, for an unforeseeable technological breakthrough that will render fossil fuels uneconomical," write eleven scientists and professors from SUNY ESF and Syracuse University.