Flood Resilience in the Year Ahead: Opportunities for the New Congress

Join experts, officials for webinar discussion of how federal policy can support state and local efforts to limit losses and recovery costs

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Flood Resilience in the Year Ahead: Opportunities for the New Congress

In recent years, the United States has witnessed unprecedented hurricanes and inland flooding. As another spring flooding season approaches, policy opportunities exist for the 117th Congress to ensure that communities—and the roads, hospitals, schools, and other critical infrastructure they depend on—can withstand future floods.

The Pew Charitable Trusts and The BuildStrong Coalition discussed ways in which Congress can better support state and local efforts to address the growing flood risks posed by increasingly severe and frequent disasters.

Remarks from:

The Honorable David E. Price, U.S. House of Representatives (D-NC)

Ben Grumbles, Maryland Secretary of the Environment

Speakers:

Sarah Murdock, director, U.S. climate resilience and water policy, The Nature Conservancy

Forbes Tompkins, manager, The Pew Charitable Trusts’ flood-prepared communities initiative

Pamela Williams, executive director, The BuildStrong Coalition

Moderated by:

Rebecca Hersher, reporter, science desk, NPR

This webinar is the second in a series hosted by Pew’s flood-prepared communities initiative highlighting opportunities to advance flood-resilience planning and policy development in 2021. The first webinar, held on January 21, focused on states leading the way to develop and implement strategies to increase resilience to future flood risks. An analysis with highlights of the webinar can be accessed here.

gulf shores, Alabama flooding
gulf shores, Alabama flooding
Article

3 Ways to Lower America's Flood Risk—and Costs

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Article

Flooding is a major, persistent, and widespread problem across the United States. 2020 brought another record-breaking hurricane season that caused billions of dollars in damage, and, with spring flood season fast approaching, the country could soon face another round of costly weather disasters. Fortunately, there are several initiatives that Joe Biden and his administration can take to mitigate flood risks to Americans as well as costs, which have ballooned by more than $100 billion each decade since the 1980s.

EVENT DETAILS
Date: Friday, March 5, 2021
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Location: Webinar
Floods
Floods

Flood-Ready Approach for Building and Rebuilding

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Losses from flood-related disasters across the United States have risen by more than $100 billion each decade since the 1980s, driven by increasingly severe weather, decay and neglect of infrastructure, and development in vulnerable areas.