As we watched many of the highways in Houston, Texas, become more appropriate for boats than cars, we gained a better understanding of why President Barack Obama wanted all future interstate highways, bridges and homes located in high-risk flood zones built high enough to escape the increasing risk of future flooding caused by climate change.
In 2013, Obama directed federal agencies to allow states and local communities to use federal disaster money to rebuild homes and roads damaged by hurricanes and flooding "smarter and stronger." This was done in response to out-of-date requirements that state and local communities use federal funds only to rebuild exactly what was destroyed. Thus, states were rebuilding roads by 1970 or 1980 standards instead of 2017 standards. Homes located in flood zones were not allowed to use federal funds to raise homes off the ground to prevent future flooding.
In 2015, Obama signed an executive order titled Federal Flood Risk Management Standard to, as outlined by David Leonhardt of The New York Times, "mitigate the risk of flood damage charged to taxpayers." Obama's executive order, according to Leonhardt, "required recipients of federal funds to strongly consider risk-management standards when building in flood zones, including measures such as elevating structures from the reach of rising water."
According to fivethirtyeight.com, American taxpayers have paid $1.2 trillion in assistance to people and local governments to rebuild after hurricane flooding, only to be flooded again in the next big storm. Making financial assistance contingent upon rebuilding your home off the ground if your home is located in a flood zone, is a much wiser use of public funds. Suggesting to cities in flood zones, like Houston, that they build future highways above flood standards is also smart policy. If we are just going to pay Houston tens of billions of dollars to rebuild their infrastructure the same way it was when it was flooded, we will literally be throwing money down the river.
Unfortunately, President Donald Trump, always eager to repeal anything with President Obama's name on it, repealed Obama's 2015 executive order. Trump called the new requirements unnecessary and said that these regulations would slow down road construction. But what is the use of rushing to rebuild roads that people will not be able to use during future storms or rebuilding homes that are sure to flood again? Even conservatives supported Obama's executive order. For example, R.J. Lehmann, senior fellow at the conservative R Street Institute, reminded us that "… every $1 spent on disaster mitigation can save $4 in post-disaster recovery and rebuilding costs."
The flooding in Houston is not a sudden or unexpected weather event. Houston has been experiencing an increase in rainfall and flooding over the past several years, and scientists understand why this is happening. The surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico did not drop below 73 degrees this past winter. This has never happened in recorded history. The warmer water temperatures increase water evaporation and the warmer air holds more moisture. All this extra moisture leads to heavier rainfall and stronger storms. Add to this the extensive building in flood zones and the rising sea levels, and severe flooding is guaranteed.
What is happening in Houston is also not an isolated event. In Miami, for example, the more intense storms and higher sea levels are causing frequent street flooding. The city is having to install pumps and one-way valves to force rain water out of their streets. Norfolk, Virginia, is having the same problem. Today, even a little rain during a high tide will flood some neighborhoods there. If a hurricane were to hit Miami or Norfolk, the result would look much like Houston today. Dozens of other cities, large and small, along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are in the same situation.
Also, isn't it time to require everyone who owns a home within a high-risk flood zone to have flood insurance? According to multiple news reports, only about 10 percent of homes in Houston and the surrounding suburbs have flood insurance. While this may save the owners money, guess who picks up the repair bill?
I support Trump's goal to rebuild our nation's infrastructure. This is long overdue and I hope he succeeds. But if we are going to spend billions of dollars on new roads and bridges, we should build them smarter and stronger, and build them to withstand the reality of climate change. Keeping our heads in the sand and refusing to recognize the reality on the ground will lead only to a waste of tax dollars and costlier disasters in the future.
Tom Zirpoli writes from Westminster. He is program coordinator of the human services management graduate program at McDaniel College. His column appears Wednesdays. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu.
