As climate change intensifies hurricanes, cities along the Louisiana coast and Mississippi River are hoping President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package will bring badly needed funding to fortify flood protections.
“I think the agencies are still figuring a lot of this out,” said Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, which advocates for communities along the river., the Louisiana coast has long been especially vulnerable and the Upper Mississippi is part of a region where flood severity is increasing faster than in any other area of the country.
The city’s levees were built after devastating flooding in 1965 and don’t meet federal standards that would help lower insurance rates and make it easier for residents to fix up their homes without having to spend more to protect against floods, said Brad Woznak of SEH, a flood planning consultant for the city.
“But with this potential infrastructure bill funding, that’s what I keep telling them — don’t rule anything out yet,” Woznak said, noting that it could be a chance to pay for an initial evaluation for the project.Some advocates want agencies to make it easier for communities to learn about funding opportunities and ensure that simple applications from small towns will be able to compete against more sophisticated proposals from richer cities.
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