American Flood Coalition

Flooding is impacting communities nationwide with both devastating and costly effects. The solution requires resilience planning, infrastructure adaptation, and community involvement to effectively address flood risk. In this episode, Melissa Roberts of the American Flood Coalition discusses the increasing frequency and impact of flooding across the U.S. and the need for innovative, community-focused solutions. She highlights recent projects, like transforming public spaces to double as floodwater basins in North Carolina and engaging farmers in Iowa to reduce downstream flooding. Melissa also discusses the role of nature-based infrastructure, watershed-based planning, and data-driven policies in building long-term flood resilience. This episode is from a conversation at the Reservoir Center for Water Solutions where waterloop is the media partner.

📢 Important update on how to get the most federal money for all communities dealing with FEMA disaster recovery ⚖️ Usually after disasters, the federal government covers 75% of a disaster recovery project, leaving 25% of the cost to states and locals. 💰 This is often a barrier for our coalition members, so its exciting to share that FEMA’s new interim Public Assistance Mitigation Cost Share Incentives can cover up to 85% of the cost! These new incentives will: ➡️ Increase federal funding for projects that reduce future risk - and will take effect for major disasters declared on or after Sept. 26, 2024, which means they can help communities recovery from Hurricanes Helene and Milton ➡️ Responsibly steward taxpayer dollars by ensuring projects we pay for today will prevent future disaster damages tomorrow (recent research shows every $1 invested in resilience saves $13) ➡️ Increase the federal cost share for communities with updated building codes, reinforcing the importance of strengthening codes for long-term recovery and increased flood resilience. What can communities do now to get more money? 1️⃣ Work with FEMA staff to develop projects that aim to prevent future damage (ex. adding wing walls to a culvert repair project) 2️⃣ Update building codes 🗣️ Comment - these are interim guidelines subject to change! Share comments directly with FEMA, or feel free to be in touch with us at American Flood Coalition as we prepare to share the perspective of our members.

Through a partnership with the City of Muscatine, the Iowa Flood Center collaborated with the American Flood Coalition to help the community understand local flood challenges, potential mitigation projects, and federal funding opportunities for implementation. IFC staff Daniel Gilles and Kate Giannini presented results from a flood study that the community can leverage for future funding opportunities. We're excited by the momentum of this project and the partner contributions, and we look forward to staying engaged with this work!

Thankful for the opportunity to spend time in DC with some amazing leaders from #Helene impacted communities in western #NorthCarolina Particularly excited to introduce them to some of my talented teammates at American Flood Coalition that bring a wealth of knowledge (and caring) on recovery and resilience to aid them in their journey.

Recently wrapped up another trip to visit with local leaders from Hurricane Helene impacted communities in western North Carolina. My roots run deep in WNC and it's tough to see how significantly impacted these areas are and how considerable of a recovery they face. I've enjoyed bringing some of my fellow American Flood Coalition teammates to the region who have deep expertise in emergency management and federal funding streams that could be a source of information, especially for smaller towns with limited capacity. As we have worked to uncover forward looking priorities from local leaders from impacted communities we are certainly hearing common concerns and themes that state and local governments need to grapple with. There are urgent needs to help local economies stay afloat like small business assistance and agriculture and tourism sector assistance. Many individuals still need basic housing and financial assistance, especially as winter quickly approaches. Working to better streamline government response and taking a common sense approach to red tape and regulation reduction is desperately needed. As we begin to focus on longer term recovery much of what we have heard falls into these catagories: 1) Reducing government bureaucracy to speed recovery 2) Better access to recurring state and federal funding so communities can invest in more resilient infrastructure 3) Investing in tools to better understand flood and landslide risk 4) Improve public safety and save taxpayer dollars by incorporating flood and landslide risk into public investments and planning This will be a long recovery with much at stake throughout western NC. We look forward to being a supportive ally to the amazing communities across this special part of our great country.

Flood Hub has two new exciting job openings that can help Florida communities as they build resilience to stronger storms. American Flood Coalition helped develop the Flood Hub to strengthen science-based policy, planning, and flood management. See the job postings below for more information. Scientific Liaison-Flood Hub: https://lnkd.in/evbYaQgU Budget Analyst - Flood Hub: https://lnkd.in/eh2rDN54