The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced new rules in July for the construction it funds, to protect new buildings against flooding.
According to The New York Times, anything constructed with FEMA money has to be built to withstand flooding. For example, new builds have to be constructed above the "expected height of a flood or, if that's not feasible, by building in a safer location." They must be built by factoring in risks today and in the future. The buildings that FEMA funds include public spaces such as libraries as well as police stations, hospitals, bridges, and sewage treatment plants.
The news comes as the cost of flood damage is projected to rise, according to Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers. Berginnis believes damage from floods will reach $40 billion of average yearly losses within this decade.
"We're on this trajectory of losses doubling every decade, which should be scary as hell. We can't ignore this problem anymore," Berginnis told the Times.
According to the Navigating Impact Project, floods comprised about 44% of all natural disasters between 1970 and 2019. They also caused about 45% of reported natural disaster deaths and 74% of financial losses. While creating buildings resilient to flooding can have a higher cost upfront, it can save money in the long run.
Many buildings can get flooded multiple times. The National Flood Insurance Program has the data to prove this, showing that more than 44,000 buildings have often experienced flood damage. Thirty buildings have also been flooded at least 30 times.
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On a call, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell explained to reporters why the new rules are significant.
"We are going to be able to put a stop to the cycle of response and recovery, and rinse and repeat," Criswell said, per the Times.
Rules such as FEMA's are an essential part of making our communities more resilient to natural disasters, which have generally become more severe and frequent as global temperatures have warmed. Sea levels have risen as a result, too, making coastal communities more vulnerable to flooding.
The government can work slowly at times, as the Times noted. For example, FEMA first proposed the aforementioned rules in 2016, when Barack Obama was president, but got pushback from homebuilders who said the costs would be too high. The organization withdrew its proposal during Donald Trump's presidency, but current President Joe Biden asked FEMA to implement rules to protect buildings from flooding.
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"The Biden-Harris Administration is taking action to address these heightened risks by getting this new standard over the finish line," Criswell said in a news release.
Using your voice — whether in the voting booth or to support local climate initiatives or conservation organizations — can make an impactful difference in the future resiliency of our communities.
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