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Politics and the flood recovery effort

Started by CIM Network · 9 months ago

This spring’s floods were a disaster the size of which Iowa has never before seen. Damages totaled billions of dollars, and thousands of Iowans were left homeless.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver received near-universal praise in the days and weeks following the worst of the flooding. But since th ... Continue reading »

1 comment

  • dshacks

    8 months ago

    Local communities that are threatened by flooding must develop their own emergency response plans, systems and materials. 1] The number of reported flood events in the US has increased by a factor of 12 since 1950; 2] The increase in flood events is nearly the same in Europe, Asia, and Africa; 3] The cost of flood damage, in the US, averages around $30 billion annually and insurance covers only about 20% of the cost; 4] 75% of flood damage comes from water that is less than 3' deep; 5] 60% of all damage from severe weather comes from flooding; 6] Flood damage losses are increasing at a rate of ~20% annually in adjusted dollars.

    If you live where it has flooded before it will flood again. Flood control projects by organizations like the USACE take a decade and more to complete. Therefore, every flood threatened community must have an emergency flood protection system available. Sandbags are not the answer. The cost and resource destruction by sandbags is unsustainable at the increasing rate of demand. New systems are significantly less costly on a per use basis, can be deployed in less than 1/10th the time, and many of them require no disposal and pose no health, safety or environmental risks. You can see one new flood protection system at www.floodwalls.com.
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