EPA Releases Tool to Help Communities Be More Flood Resilient
The agency has released a Flood Resilience Checklist to help communities better prepare for, deal with, and recover from floods.
EPA has released a new tool that will help communities better prepare for, deal with and recover from floods, according to a report from the agency. The tool—The Flood Resilience Checklist—provides strategies for communities to consider, such as directing new development to safer areas, conserving land in areas prone to floods, and using more green infrastructure approaches (such as installing rain gardens to manage stormwater).
According to EPA, the checklist comes as part of a new report titled "Planning for Recovery and Long-Term Resilience in Vermont: Smart Growth Approaches for Disaster-Resilient Communities." The report is part of EPA's Smart Growth Implementation Assistance project, which was a year-long project in Vermont in which EPA worked with FEMA and various state agencies to overcome Tropical Storm Irene's damage.
The new tool can work in any community hoping to become more flood resistant, not just those in Vermont.
"Flooding from major storms has cost lives and caused billions of dollars in damage," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy in the press release. "With climate change, storms are likely to become even more powerful in many regions of the country. Where and how communities build will have long-term impacts on their flood resilience, and on air and water quality and health and safety. This checklist will help flood-prone communities think through these issues and come up with the solutions that work best for them."