Immune To COVID? New Study Suggests Why

While cities, counties and states across the country shut down in an attempt to slow the wave of coronavirus cases, there's one thing that never stops: the weather.

Researchers with the Union of Concerned Scientists compared coronavirus projection models from Columbia University with NOAA's most recent spring flood forecast and came to some startling conclusions about which communities are most likely to be hit with both the global pandemic and spring flooding between now and May 31.

"For communities already strained and tense, waiting and hoping, grieving and fearful, NOAA's flooding forecast paints a grave picture in which they must — somehow, some way — meet the intertwined challenges that severe flooding and a pandemic present them," Kristy Dahl, senior climate scientist for the UCS, said in a blog post Wednesday.

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States like Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Ohio have already been hit by flooding this year, and floodwaters last week killed six people in Indiana. Many communities, especially those along the Mississippi River, are still recovering from last year's deadly and costly flooding.

The fact that local emergency management personnel, health care workers and first responders may already be overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic before any potential flooding hits could make it difficult for them to respond.

"The areas where major or moderate flood risk intersect with high numbers of infected residents include several towns in the South — Atlanta, Baton Rouge and Little Rock — as well as several in the Midwest that experienced flooding last year, such as Sioux Falls, Cedar Rapids and Kansas City," Dahl said. "In these places, the sheer number of infected people who may need to evacuate their homes could severely burden health care and emergency evacuation facilities."

Cedar Rapids, for example, faces a major flood risk this spring and a projected coronavirus infection rate up to 60%. Southern Louisiana faces a moderate flood risk, but the state is already dealing with a faster rate of increasing infections than anywhere elsewhere in the world.

The coronavirus pandemic is also presenting challenges to those responsible for severe weather shelters. The Red Cross has issued new policies for its shelters in the wake of the outbreak, and the mayor of a small town in Tennessee told residents last week that they should stay away from tornado shelters if they are showing any signs of infection.

"In counties where a large percent of the population is infected, a higher proportion of people evacuating during a flood could increase the spread of the virus or require isolation, a condition that could be difficult given the typical nature of emergency shelters," Dahl said.

"Extreme weather stops for no virus."

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.