Just two years ago, the collapse of the Edenville Dam caused life-threatening flash flooding. That day, homes, businesses, and infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, costing us more than $200 million.
With over 2,500 buildings affected, 10,000 residents were forced to flee, eventually returning to pits of mud where their homes once stood.
At the time, we were told this was a 500-year flood event – a level of flooding so rare it’s only expected to happen once every 500 years. But with a changing climate, floods like these are becoming all too commonplace. Five years ago, Houston, Texas experienced their third ‘500-year’ flood within three years! Warmer temperatures mean more moisture in the air, causing flooding to be far more frequent and more dangerous.
But even after the flooding abates and folks begin to pick up the pieces, the devastation for a community continues. Mom-and-pop businesses, whose owners are struggling themselves to rebuild their homes and lives, rarely survive these tragedies.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA), 40% of businesses hit by a flood or natural disaster never reopen. And even those that do manage to reopen, another 25% are forced to close their doors within a year.
Overall, the Small Business Administration estimates that 90% of businesses fail within two years of being hit by a disaster.
That’s why it is so important to get federal disaster relief right.
No city or state can rebuild alone. And while federal assistance does provide some invaluable help, more can be done to plan and prepare for the next disaster that’s likely just around the corner.
Currently, 17 different agencies are responsible for the federal government’s resilience efforts; each agency with a different – and sometimes overlapping – aspect of disaster preparedness. The lack of coordination and the overlapping responsibilities leads to a slowed down response, duplicated spending in some areas, and a lack of resources in others.
Natural disasters don’t abide state boarders, and their destruction doesn’t discriminate between people’s political ideology. That’s why a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to introduce The National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act, (NCARS).
Paramount to streamlining disaster response, NCARS establishes a Chief Resilience Officer to serve within the White House as the point person between all the agencies working on disaster preparedness and with non-federal partners to ensure support is targeted and coordinated. 15 states have adopted their own Chief Resilience Officer positions and more than 140 localities have plans around climate, hazard mitigation, and related issues.
This bill will create a proactive, long-term, national resilience strategy, guided by input from local governments, state agencies, and the public. This strategy will direct the federal response to climate vulnerabilities including both current and future threats, and using the most up to date science. Existing federal resilience operations will be assessed every 3 years to identify challenges and barriers to resilience and ensure federal support is directed to the most vulnerable communities.
Right now, coming out of the pandemic, businesses are facing a lot of uncertainty. There have been disruptions to supply routes, concern for employee and customer safety, and changing demand, all of which create challenges for our business community and families whose livelihoods depend on them. But one area we should not be caught off guard by is natural disasters. It is clear that floods, hurricanes, and severe storms are occurring with more frequency which means we need to plan, prepare, and build stronger.
When the great flood of 2020 hit, we weren’t as prepared as we could have been, both locally and federally. The partnership between the federal government and localities needs to be stronger.
That is why bipartisan legislation like The National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act takes the important step to bring all of us together to solve this problem.
If Congress can take action to address our preparedness gaps, then businesses, homeowners, and local communities will be safer the next time flood waters begin to rise.
Veronica Horn serves as President and CEO of the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce.
