From the article:
Going forward, better land use planning and engineering could help communities mitigate the dangerous flooding that can come with heavy rain. This could look like soft surfaces that water can sink into, depressed basketball courts that can hold flood waters, or streets that are designed to convey water to a safe place, said Franco Montalto, a professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Drexel University and president of eDesign Dynamics LLC.
“You start to think strategically about how to use the landscape to direct the water into places where it can flood,” Montalto said. “You’re not trying to necessarily prevent the flood. You’re trying to make the flood occur safely.”
Humans can also limit future increases in heavy rain by rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years.