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Educating Presidential Candidates on Floods and
Public Safety |
 Taking a pro-active approach, the Association of Floodplain Managers
(ASFPM) have reached out to our Presidential hopefuls
Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain in an effort to
educate their administration on flooding and disaster response in
the United States.
One of the more challenging issues that our new President will
face is flood disaster strategy and policy. Year after year, the
United States suffers from catastrophic flooding. This year alone
we experienced the devastating Mid West flood this summer and in
September alone, we endured severe damage from Hurricane
Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna, and Hurricane Ike.
In an August 15, 2008 letter to both candidates, ASFPM noted that effectively
managing and mitigating flood disasters is a wholly nonpartisan |
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goal whose
achievement represents the best that government has to offer
its citizens.ASFPM
also stated that this can only happen when government
resources are organized and managed for success. |
The letters recommend:
- Support legislation to remove FEMA from DHS in order to reduce
the layers of bureaucracy that can diminish responsiveness, resources, and effectiveness.
Also take steps to elevate the stature of FEMA in your administration, including
Cabinet post for the FEMA Director.
- Establish a Presidential Commission on Natural Hazards in the Year 2050,
charged with evaluating future potential risk related to natural hazards and begin
to identify the long-term policy adjustments that will be necessary to ensure the
safety and sustainability of our communities and citizens.
- Improve Water Resource and Water Management Policies and Programs
to enhance coordination among the numerous agencies and to more effectively integrate
their various policies and programs.
- Craft a comprehensive, catastrophic disaster insurance in alignment with
mitigation actions that reduce risk. The present National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP) reform legislation focuses on the program's self-sufficiency.
Also needed is consideration of the issues and eeds of the broad array of flood
hazards and their mitigation.
- Fund science and climate change research - investments in science
and data will provide information that communities and states need in order to adapt
wisely.
- Invest in infrastructure because the nation must depend on sound,
well-functioning infrastructure to reduce hazard exposure and improve environmental,
social, and economic sustainability.
- Leverage Federal mitigation dollars to reduce future disaster costs
by ensuring that both pre-disaster and post-disaster actions are incorporated during
response and recovery by impacted communities.
To read a copy of the letters, go to the ASFPM website at:
www.floods.org.
Source: ASFPM
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