Congress must prioritize the safety of river communities.

Flooding in western North Carolina | Haywood (NC) County Govt.

The destruction caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton underscores how the Southeast U.S. is on the frontlines of the worst impacts of climate change – and how the climate crisis is a water crisis. Hurricanes bring flooding, not only from storm surge along the coast, but from extreme precipitation that impacts river communities many miles inland.

While it may be difficult to see it now, the region can be a model for flood protection solutions – and can prove to the nation and the world how to make communities safer and stronger. Communities across the Southeast will be making decisions in the coming days and weeks about how to move forward and rebuild. There are proven ways to keep people and property safe along rivers, while reaping all of the benefits a healthy river offers. That is why we are calling on you to ask Congress to take emergency actions in support of people and healthy rivers. Here are three steps that Congress can take right now to support river communities:

Improve access to disaster relief: Congress must pass a supplemental appropriations bill that funds the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Watershed Programs.
Help people move to safer ground: Congress should require FEMA and HUD to better integrate programs for affordable housing with healthy floodplain management to meet the housing needs of families and communities who need to relocate to safer ground.
Strengthen natural defenses: We must repair or remove outdated, unsafe dams to prevent catastrophic failure and downstream destruction.
Strengthen dam safety: Congress needs to reauthorize FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program and eliminate barriers that often prevent communities from accessing assistance.
Protect rural and agriculture futures: Congress needs to pass a new Farm Bill in 2024 and properly define the Emergency Watershed Program as a covered program under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

As communities across the region recover and rebuild, we have an opportunity to break the devastating cycle of flood damage. By advancing smart solutions along our rivers, we can make communities safer and stronger. Please stand with us as we ask Congress to prioritize the safety of river communities.

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Dear {contact_data~salutation}{contact_data~lastName},

Hurricanes Helene and Milton left heartbreaking trails of destruction across the Southeast. The storms and their floodwaters claimed over 120 lives to date and destroyed homes and businesses. Evacuation sirens sounded as dams threatened to fail. Landslides cut off many communities from travel, and many remain without power or water.

Just outside of Asheville, NC, more than 3,000 people were asked to evacuate when failure was eminent at the Lake Lure Dam. Thankfully, the waters receded before the concrete failed. This high hazard potential dam, a classification that means failure of the dam will result in fatalities, is just one of many dams impacted by the hurricane.

This powerful storm underscores how the Southeast U.S. is on the frontlines of the worst impacts of climate change – and how the climate crisis is a water crisis. Hurricanes bring flooding, not only from storm surge along the coast, but from extreme precipitation that impacts river communities many miles inland.

While it may be difficult to see it now, the region can be a model for flood protection solutions – and can prove to the nation and the world how to make communities safer and stronger. Communities across Georgia, North Carolina and Florida will be making decisions in the coming days and weeks about how to move forward and rebuild. There are proven ways to keep people and property safe along rivers, while reaping all of the benefits a healthy river offers. That is why I am calling on you to take emergency actions in support of people and healthy rivers. Here are four steps that Congress can take right now to support river communities:

1.	Improve access to disaster relief: Congress must pass a supplemental appropriations bill that funds the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund. The fund was already more than $2 billion in debt before Helene, which restricts FEMA’s ability to help communities rebuild after the initial threat has passed. Congress also needs to eliminate the barriers that often prevent low-income communities and communities of color from accessing assistance. Finally, Congress must fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Watershed Programs.  
2.	Help people move to safer ground: A number of repeatedly flooded communities have made the decision to relocate to higher ground. Many want to, but lack the resources. The administration Congress should require FEMA and HUD to better integrate programs for affordable housing with healthy floodplain management to meet the housing needs of families and communities who need to relocate to safer ground. Programs helping people rebuild after a storm should provide sufficient financial support to buy a similar property outside of the flood area, not just the cost of rebuilding their existing property that remains in harm's way. 
3.	Strengthen natural defenses: Floodplains are the low-lying lands along a river, that hold and absorb floodwaters during a storm. Too often, houses and business are allowed to be built right next to a river or stream, yielding high risk of flooding over the life of a home loan or business investment. We must restore and reconnect floodplains that are communities’ natural defenses against flood damage. In addition, thousands of outdated, unsafe dams are ticking time bombs on rivers across the Southeast. We must repair or remove outdated, unsafe dams to prevent catastrophic failure and downstream destruction. An investment in the “natural infrastructure” of a healthy river is an investment in a community’s long-term health and safety.  
4.	Strengthen dam safety: Across the country there are nearly 17,000 high hazard potential dams, of which 6,439 are in poor, unsatisfactory, or an unrated condition. These dams impact thousands of communities, and tens of thousands of individuals. FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program plays a vital role in the safety of the nation’s more than 92,000 dams. The program is a primary source of federal funding for under-resourced state dam safety programs. The program’s legislative authority officially expired on September 30, 2023. Congress needs to reauthorize the program and eliminate barriers that often prevent communities from accessing assistance. 
5.  Protect rural and agriculture futures: Congress needs to pass a new Farm Bill in 2024 and properly define the Emergency Watershed Program as a covered program under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

As communities across the region recover and rebuild, we have an opportunity to break the devastating cycle of flood damage. By advancing smart solutions along our rivers, we can make communities safer and stronger.
 
Thank you for your attention, and for standing up for the health of rivers and clean water and the protection of river communities.

Sincerely,

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