It is
insanely difficult to construct general-purpose housing which can withstand metres-deep water flowing at high rates. All the more so where flooding is combined with landslides, debris flows, washouts, sinkholes, and the like.
Prediction and advanced warning helps considerably, but is itself problematic where storms intensify rapidly and threaten a huge area. This has been the case for several recent European flood events, most notably in the Ahr valley in 2021:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/13/floods-then-an...>
As I write, Hurricane Helene, a tropical depression just a day ago, is intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico and threatening landfall on a region which spans from Alabama to the Florida peninsula (though the panhandle / Big Bend region seems most likely). The storm is anticipated to further intensify to major hurricane status (category 3 or higher, winds from 178 -- 209 km/h, 111--130 mph, or higher) before making landfall tomorrow evening local time.
That's a huge area which faces possible evacuation. The more so as despite the localised nature of the hurricane eye, Helene's total diameter is huge, and tropical storm or better wind speeds are forecast from Louisiana to South Carolina, and encompas all Florida and Georgia, along with nearly all of Alaabama and South Carolina, as well as parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
The one saving grace is that the storm seems to be moving rapidly and won't linger over any one area for long, though I suspect that river systems in the southeast will see much flooding.
Forecast cone for eye location: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/213335.s...>
Forecast wind speeds: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/213335.s...>