I cannot think of a 'code' that stops 75 mph winds nor 8' walls of water. And I bet 9 of 10 flood maps in the region did not show a lot of these properties anywhere close to a flood zone. This means a lot of folks will be uninsured basically.
The weather service posted warnings right and left about this was going to be huge, but they admitted even they underestimated it, and I think most people were expecting heavy rains, just not deluges over wide areas. This is more similar to the flash flooding you see in the dry west. I recall working on the Bookcliffs of Colorado once where a storm was brewing north of us. As I drove down the road next to a dry wash, i saw a wall of water about a foot deep coming down the wash. I sped up to the crossing about half a mile away and quickly crossed the dry wash. I stopped and waited and a few minutes later this water came down the wash and quickly made the wash impassible. I went into town and came back several hours later to find the wash was dry again, well, muddy but no water. And both sides of the wash were dry, only a few sprinkles ever got that far south.
