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.

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 outdated standards allow developers to continue building homes in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding today and could be permanently underwater years from now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. 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.

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