"Houses in our region used to have stilts a few meters above the ground in order to allow flood to stay there,"

VOA: standard.2009.12.21

Historically, such settlements have clung to the higher ground on the flood plain.

ECONOMIST: Deforestation and floods

Flood ground, wind blows -- I mean we have water, we have people, and we have plenty of land down here.

CNN: Transcript of June 'CNN Money Summit: Money & Main St.'

Dealerships tend to be located on high ground, away from flood zones, but their inventories of cars can be exposed to downed power lines, or wind or hail damage.

WSJ: What Happens to All Those Swamped Cars?