Beryl made landfall as a hurricane in Texas, and there are forecasts that as the storm breaks apart it will drive deeper into Midwestern states like Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan – even Ontario, Canada.

This FAQ is for the millions of people who live in increasingly flood-prone parts of the United States, and who want to know how to stay safe and prepare for a changing climate.

Moving water can tear homes from foundations, destroy roads, fill underground subway stations and wash away cars.

But it’s an important piece of the puzzle, especially in dense urban areas where heavy rain is projected to get extremely common in the coming years.

If humans keep burning enormous amounts of oil, gas and coal, the atmosphere will keep getting hotter, and heavy rain will get even more common and even more severe throughout this century.

If humans dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade or so, that will help control heavy rain, especially later this century.

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