By Lewis Nibbelin, Contributing Writer, Triple-I
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy lately took to the Senate flooring to name for restoration of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, whose elimination the company introduced on April 4.
Established by Congress by the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018, the BRIC program has allotted greater than $5 billion for funding in mitigation tasks to cut back financial losses from floods, wildfires, and different disasters for tons of of communities. Ending BRIC will cancel all purposes from 2020-2023 and rescind greater than $185 million in grants supposed for Louisiana, leaving the 34 submitted and accepted tasks funded by these grants in limbo.
Whereas the FEMA press launch described BRIC as “wasteful and ineffective,” Cassidy recognized “not doing the program and then having to rescue communities when the inevitable flood occurs – that is waste, because we could have prevented that from happening in the first place.”
Mitigation funding saves
Cassidy defined that flooding causes as much as $496 billion in damages yearly all through the United States, including that, “when we invest in levees and floodwalls, communities are protected when the storm hits, and we save billions on a recovery effort we never had to do.”
A 2024 examine backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce helps this declare, which discovered that catastrophe mitigation investments save $13 in advantages for each greenback spent.
FEMA’s choice coincides with restoration efforts in Natchitoches, a small Louisiana metropolis, after flash flooding inundated houses and downed energy strains simply weeks earlier than. BRIC was set to fund enhancements to town’s backup generator system to pump out floodwater throughout extreme climate.
Similarly, Lafourche Parish will lose $20 million to strengthen 16 miles of energy strains, which Cassidy famous toppled “like dominos” throughout final yr’s Hurricane Francine. Jefferson Parish residents displaced following Hurricane Ida in 2021 will lose the house elevation catastrophe grants they lastly secured earlier this yr.
“Louisiana was the third-largest recipient of BRIC’s most recent round of funding and is the largest recipient on a per capita basis,” Cassidy stated. “Without BRIC, none of these projects would be possible.”
A nationwide drawback
Beyond Louisiana, Cassidy pointed to quite a few states ravaged by extreme storms thus far this yr, significantly inland communities the place flooding is historically sudden. At least 25 folks died amid a extreme climate outbreak throughout the southern and midwestern U.S. final month, underscoring a rising want for resiliency planning in non-coastal areas.
BRIC is one in every of many applications dealing with sudden termination underneath the Trump Administration. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit demanding the federal authorities unfreeze important funding, together with BRIC grants. Though the administration is reportedly complying with a federal decide’s order blocking the freeze, the states concerned declare funding stays inaccessible.
Louisiana has not joined the lawsuit, however Cassidy emphasised the congressional appropriation of this system and requested the success of preexisting BRIC purposes. He argued that “to do anything other than use that money to fund flood mitigation projects is to thwart the will of Congress.”
As President Trump weighs disbanding FEMA solely – whilst FEMA responds to record-breaking numbers of billion-dollar disasters – it’s crucial to acknowledge the huge co-beneficiary advantages of catastrophe resilience, and develop our partnerships throughout these stakeholder teams.
Learn More:
BRIC Funding Loss Underscores Need for Collective Action on Climate Resilience
Louisiana Reforms: Progress, But More Is Needed to Stem Legal System Abuse
Undisclosed Flood Risks Spur Wave of State Laws
Tenfold Frequency Rise for Coastal Flooding Projected by 2050
Triple-I Brief Highlights Rising Inland Flood Risk
Hurricane Helene Highlights Inland Flood Protection Gap
Removing Incentives for Development From High-Risk Areas Boosts Flood Resilience
Executive Exchange: Using Advanced Tools to Drill Into Flood Risk