Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $715 Million to Help Communities Across the Nation Build Resilience to Flooding Disasters Through Investing in America Agenda

WASHINGTON -- Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe due to climate change leading to increased response and recovery missions across the nation. Today, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said during Climate Week NYC that the agency will announce approximately $715 million in new project selections to eliminate or reduce flood damage supported by historic funding from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda. The funding, which comes through FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance program will help communities across the nation enhance resilience to extreme weather events. 

The Biden-Harris Administration has provided record funding to this program thanks to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the Flood Mitigation Assistance program. Total funding for project selections increased nearly five times from the amount available—$160 million—for the FY21grant cycle before the law. In total, funding from this legislation over five years for the Flood Mitigation Assistance program is $3.5 billion.

“Flooding is already the nation’s most costly and frequent disaster and climate change is only making it worse,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “Additional funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is providing communities more critical resources to withstand increasing flood threats. Whether it’s elevating or acquiring flood-prone properties, these dollars are going to make communities more prepared and reduce disaster suffering for future generations.” 

“As flooding occurs more frequently and with greater severity, flood mitigation is more important than ever,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “For 30 years, FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program has provided communities with access to federal support to protect against flood risk. Through the funding announced today, FEMA will continue to help states, local communities, Tribal Nations and territories analyze their risk of flooding and take forward-looking steps to protect their communities before a disaster strikes.”

Through this program, FEMA provides funding to states, local communities, Tribal Nations and territories to reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured under the National Flood Insurance Program. There are three categories of funding which include: 

• Capability and Capacity Building Activities, such as project scoping to develop project plans and design.
• Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects, which help build resilience to flooding at the community level, including floodplain management, wetland, marsh, riverine and coastal restoration and protection.
• Individual Flood Mitigation Projects, which protect individual homes and buildings from flooding, including by buying out or elevating properties above flood levels.

Today’s selections further underscore the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to environmental justice by assisting the most disadvantaged communities in building resilience to climate change and extreme weather events. Aligning with the President’s Justice40 Initiative, these efforts will advance the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain covered federal investments go to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.  For this cycle, FEMA almost tripled the amount of funding for disadvantaged communities from 16% in FY21 to more than 50% for a total of $367 million. 

The announcement also aligns with FEMA’s 2024 Year of Resilience campaign, as well as the goals of the National Climate Resilience Framework and will help build capacity to withstand tomorrow’s hazards. As part of FEMA’s strategic goal to promote and sustain a ready nation, FEMA enhanced geographic distributions with more than 60 new selections.

This is the 30^th anniversary of the Flood Mitigation Assistance program, created in 1994. Approximately $2 billion has been obligated by FEMA to address the nation’s costliest annual disaster.

The selections complement a July announcement of $1 billion through FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and a recent $300 million in funding through Flood Mitigation Assistance’s Swift Current opportunity—another important part of the President’s Investing in America Agenda—to make the nation more resilient to natural hazards. Both programs provide climate resilience funding to help address increased demand for federal funds to address the climate crisis. 

Flood Mitigation Assistance

More than 775 buildings will be protected to prevent future strain on homeowners and reduce future claims payments from the National Flood Insurance Program.

The number of projects selected by state with approximate totals:

All 197 projects are in National Flood Insurance Program-participating communities in 25 states. In addition to flood control activities, the selections will reduce risk to individual properties through actions like elevations, acquisitions and mitigation reconstruction of buildings insured by NFIP. 

Examples of project selections that address community flood risk for the purpose of reducing NFIP flood claim payments include:

• The Pacific Avenue storm mitigation project in Wildwood, New Jersey, aims to address street flooding. The flood-prone area will benefit from a redesigned stormwater management system. A new pump station will manage stormwater runoff to ensure efficient drainage. 
• St. John the Baptist Parish in Louisiana plans to elevate 132 flood-prone homes to reduce future damage and minimize flood insurance claims. The parish will elevate structures to at least 2 feet above Base Flood Elevation. 
• The city of Moab, Utah, will mitigate flood risks by improving two detention basins, White Canyon and Johnson Canyon, both of which pose significant flood risks. The project includes building improved spillways to protect downstream properties.
• The Arizona Department of Game and Fish will develop alternative designs to address safety risk to the Black Canyon Dam. The solution will improve the safety for nearly 200 downstream structures. 

Approximately 51% of this cycle’s Flood Mitigation Assistance project selections will go to disadvantaged communities, an increase of 18% from last year’s cycle. Examples of these community-wide projects funded areas include:

• Belhaven, North Carolina will reduce flooding in communities vulnerable to wind-driven tides and severe weather by installing pumps and an automated tidal gate along Wynne’s Gut.  The system aims to mitigate the number of repetitive property losses. The tidal gate will prevent tidal water from entering, while the pump station will discharge rainfall runoff, ensuring a quicker recovery for essential community lifelines.
• Jefferson County, Texas will address severe flooding in three vulnerable areas serviced by storm sewers, ditches, channels and detention basins. The solution includes enhancing drainage to the Neches River.
• In Kansas, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City will advance its floodplain management program to prevent or reduce the risk of flooding. One goal is to improve the unified government’s Community Rating System class, a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management practices that exceed the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program. An enhanced floodplain management program will not only help to reduce disaster suffering but also provide discounts to flood insurance policyholder premiums through the improved Community Rating System class.

For more information, visit FEMA.gov.