The Case for Investing in Flood Adaptation and Resilience

In recent years, millions of Americans have seen their lives upended by increasingly catastrophic weather events and natural disasters. In fact, 2020 marked the sixth consecutive year in which ten or more billion-dollar natural disasters impacted the United States, including devastating hurricanes, wildfires, and floods.

The overwhelming scientific consensus is that sea levels and precipitation will continue to increase, and extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and severe over the decades ahead. In light of these projections, America urgently needs to make investments to make communities more resilient, especially to protect against flood-related disasters—the costliest and most frequent disaster threat in the nation.

The Bipartisan Policy Center and our partner, the American Flood Coalition, explain the need to invest in flood adaptation and resilience and outline options for policymakers as they consider comprehensive infrastructure legislation.