US region faces unexpected obstacles in recovery from historic floods: 'We've been fighting'

A year after torrential rainfall caused historic flooding across Connecticut, one town has still been struggling to rebuild the way it wants, with state and federal funds often proving difficult to secure, especially for projects aimed at resilience.

What's happening?

In August 2024, residents of Southbury, Connecticut, were among those in the state to experience flash flooding after heavy rainfall dumped over a foot of rain throughout the region. The flooding caused extensive damage to roadways and triggered numerous water rescues. With thousands of Connecticut residents left without power, Governor Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency. 

One year out from the flooding, Southbury's First Selectman, Jeff Manville, told Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR) that the town has faced an uphill battle in building back with future storms in mind.

"We've learned that building back correctly is the thing to do," Manville said. "Now, unfortunately, [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] does not give you money to build back for resiliency." 

Why is this concerning?

As heat-trapping pollution continues to drive global temperatures higher and higher, extreme weather events such as floods are becoming increasingly common and destructive. 

A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, leading to more intense rainfall and storms. This excess moisture, combined with factors such as warmer ocean waters and altered streamflow patterns, contributes to both inland and river flooding, even in regions that are not historically prone to floods. 

Melting glaciers only add to the problem for coastal communities by driving sea levels up, exacerbating storm surges.

With flooding events projected to increase, many municipalities across the United States and the world want to mitigate future disasters by investing in more, robust, and up-to-date infrastructure projects aimed at reducing dangerous and costly damage. 

What's being done?

Since August 2024, Southbury has struggled to receive the federal and state support it says it needs. This has resulted in the town bonding $8.5 million to finance its projects "with the understanding that we're going to approach every project as a long-term investment," Manville told WNPR. 

According to the First Selectman, attempting to secure sufficient funding from FEMA has been a tremendous challenge. "We've been fighting FEMA: what we think we should do and how we should do it," he said. "It takes an extremely long period of time." 

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For now, the town has focused on reworking its "emergency playbook" to ensure that locally-controlled funds are more readily available in the event of another disaster. But that's not the only precaution it's taking. 

Manville, as well as numerous experts, encourage households and communities to maintain a level of constant readiness by preparing emergency supplies, such as clean drinking water, non-perishable food, and medical supplies. Keeping up to date on safe evacuation practices and routes is also critical, as is checking on vulnerable neighbors to help keep everyone as safe as possible.

"It may never happen again, but it could also happen someplace else — another municipality to the side of us," Manville told WNPR. "We're all trying to be good citizens. We need to help each other when called."

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