More and more Americans are seeing their homes and communities flooded due
to rising sea levels and more frequent, intense storms. Too often, they
have to fight for federal assistance that enables them to move out of
harm's way. And years can go by before they get help.

NRDC is fighting to reform FEMA's flood insurance program to better
protect people and properties from extreme flooding and climate impacts —
and we need your help.

[ [link removed] ] TAKE ACTION 
[ [link removed] ]Aerial photo of flooding among a group of homes.






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Dear NRDC Activist,

What would you do if your home flooded over and over again, with no end in
sight? What would you do if the problem just kept getting worse, year
after year?

That's the reality for thousands of households across the country.

Because of climate change, more and more Americans are being forced to
cope with rising seas and more frequent and intense storms that cause
dangerous flooding.

Yet FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, which provides assistance to
homeowners coping with flooding impacts, has not been updated since the
Carter administration.

[ [link removed] ]Make your voice heard: Tell the Biden administration to help protect
communities suffering from the impacts of flooding caused by worsening
climate change.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the nation's primary
mechanism for addressing flood disasters. More than an insurance program,
it sets the floor for local building and land-use decisions, produces
flood maps, and provides assistance to reduce people's vulnerability to
future floods. But these decades-old building and land-use standards have
not been revised to take into account the impacts of worsening climate
change.

The result is that millions of Americans suffer from the impacts of
recurring flood disasters. Families who want to move to higher ground find
it difficult, if not impossible, to get the assistance they desperately
need ... outdated standards allow developers to continue building homes in
low-lying areas that are prone to flooding today and could be permanently
underwater years from now ... and flood maps fail to account for sea level
rise, leading to homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure being
built in places that will likely be inundated with repeat flooding.

This has to stop.

In response to a petition filed by NRDC and our partners last year, FEMA
is now seeking public input on reforms to the National Flood Insurance
Program to address the challenges posed by the climate crisis.

These reforms would reduce harm to the millions of people and properties
at increased risk of flooding due to climate change — especially for
low-income communities and communities of color, who are
disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and more likely to lack
the resources to repair damage or relocate without federal assistance.

FEMA is only accepting comments until January 27. [ [link removed] ]Tell FEMA officials
today: Protect our homes and our communities from the worsening impacts of
extreme flooding and climate change.

A new, climate-smart flood insurance program should:

* Provide timely assistance to homeowners who want to move to higher
ground
* Ensure that home buyers and renters are aware of past flood damage
before they choose a home by adopting a national flood disclosure
requirement, just like the government requires for other environmental
hazards like lead paint
* Modernize FEMA's 50-year-old land-use standards to curb new
development in low-lying, flood-prone areas
* Include future sea-level rise and flood risks on official flood maps
to guide development away from these increasingly vulnerable low-lying
areas

I'm sure you agree: We can't just keep rebuilding after every flood
disaster and hoping it won't happen again. We need to replace FEMA's
antiquated rules and regulations with new standards that account for
current and future climate impacts.

This is about the safety of Americans and our communities. For the most
at-risk populations, it could be a matter of life or death.

[ [link removed] ]Please, make your voice heard in support of a strong flood insurance
program that will protect more people from the impacts of future storms.

Sincerely,

Rob Moore
Senior Policy Analyst, Healthy People & Thriving Communities, NRDC

Photo: Staff Sgt. Douglas Ellis/U.S. Air Force

The mission of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is to
safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural
systems on which all life depends.

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