Deterring Disaster: As the costs of extreme weather events rise, states turn to mitigation and risk reduction.

• Author: Tyrrell, Kim

Headlines in the last several years have been dominated by a spate of natural disasters, and unfortunately, no state has been immune. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Center for Environmental Information, large-scale disasters cost the country $91 billion in 2018.

Data compiled by The Associated Press shows that 24 states have suffered about $1.2 billion in damages this year to roads, bridges, buildings, utilities and other public infrastructure from floods, storms and tornadoes.

Severe weather in the United States varies by region and season, but flooding affects nearly every state. Flood data, in fact, shows that inland states, near rivers, experience flooding more frequently than coastal states. Whether it's the catastrophic but occasional flooding caused by hurricanes, or the frequent but less severe inundation of low-lying areas caused by inland rainstorms, both threaten millions of people and businesses.

For decades, the framework for dealing with calamities has centered on response and recovery, not on mitigation or risk reduction. As disaster recovery costs have risen for all levels of government, there has been a shift toward preventing damage rather than just repairing it. Many of these mitigation strategies require investing in strengthening infrastructure. In 2018, the National Institute of Building Sciences released a finding that for every $1 invested in disaster mitigation, future costs associated with loss are reduced by $6.

Traditionally, "infrastructure" has conjured up visions of concrete and steel, but when it comes to flooding, a combination of "gray" infrastructure (engineered solutions using concrete, steel and other materials) and "green" infrastructure (living shorelines, open space and wetlands resto ration) can be the best antidote to disaster.

State Actions

So far this year, lawmakers in at least 31 states have introduced legislation related to flood control. In Texas, which is still recovering from 2017's Hurricane Harvey, the Legislature passed seven bills to better prepare the state for future floods. Legislators took the unprecedented step of amending their state constitution to create a flood infrastructure fund to help pay for flood drainage, mitigation and control projects. One bill called for the "construction and implementation of nonstructural projects, including projects that use nature-based features, to protect, mitigate or reduce flood risk." These...