Municipal leaders have an opportunity to lead their communities to a resilient future and mitigate flood risk. A case study from Algonquin, IL highlights resiliency investments that have fundamentally transformed how flooding affects the community and have yielded significant cost savings.
At the recent Milken Global Conference, rebuilding LA was top of mind. Partnership, system-level engagement, and local leadership were key themes. And the insurance sector has a critical opportunity to reframe its role in disaster preparedness and society at large.
Unexpected disasters are causing damage in unlikely places, forcing decision-makers in the public and private sectors to prepare for the most common disasters in their region as well as the rare, once-in-a-hundred-year ones. But strategies exist to help decision-makers prepare for the unexpected.
A smart transition of FEMA toward state and local disaster responsibility would encompass 1) reform to the Stafford Act to rebalance federal and state contributions, 2) a restructuring of state disaster relief funds, and 3) a shift toward regionalization of disaster response.
The muni bond market presents an opportunity to finance resiliency in a way that aligns policy-makers, community stakeholders, business interests, and investors. By strengthening local infrastructure to render assets less vulnerable to climate shocks, it can reduce disaster costs for communities.