what can be done to reduce flood risk?
Encourage your city, town, or county government (municipality) to:
Participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This program allows property owners to purchase flood insurance to cover buildings and their contents. As a requirement for participation, the municipality must adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance that minimizes potential for flood damage from future development. To see if your municipality participates, click here, scroll to the bottom of the webpage, and click on your state to see a list of participating communities.
Participate in FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS). This is a voluntary program in which a municipality adopts floodplain management practices that go above and beyond what is required by the National Flood Insurance Program in exchange for lower flood insurance rates. Categories of action include:
Reducing flood risk to existing buildings
Managing development in areas not mapped by the NFIP
Protecting new buildings beyond the minimum NFIP protection level
Preserving and/or restore natural functions of floodplains
Helping insurance agents obtain flood data
Help people obtain flood insurance
As an individual, you can:
Purchase flood insurance. Click here to get started.
Adopt (and encourage others to adopt) green infrastructure components to manage and reduce stormwater. These include:
Green roofs
Green roofs can retain 40-80% of the total volume of rainfall, depending on design. Water that is released is done so slowly, reducing potential for ground erosion.
They also have additional environmental benefits, such as provision of wildlife habitat, carbon capture/storage, building energy cost reduction, and local cooling.
Green roofs can be up to 40 degrees cooler than conventional roofs, and widespread adoption can reduce citywide temperatures by as much as 5 degrees (according the EPA).
Rain barrels
These are located below gutters and catch rooftop rainfall. Water can then be used for non-potable (non-drinking) purposes, such as watering plants.
Rain gardens
These are areas of native plantings located in a small indentation in the ground. They trap and absorb water runoff, preventing it from leaving the property and allowing for refill of underground aquifers.
Increased landscape vegetation
Provide similar benefits as rain gardens, even if not located in ground indentations. The structure provided by roots can also reduce soil erosion. Vegetation provides other environmental benefits, including wildlife habitat, reduced air and ground temperatures, and carbon capture/storage.
Permeable driveways
Using gravel or substrate with holes allows water to seep through into ground, unlike asphalt or concrete.