A Rain Ready Nation: Protecting American Homes and Businesses in a Changing Climate

As ever more destructive storms pummel our towns and cities, we are increasingly confronted by flooded homes and businesses, disruption of municipal services, overflowing streams and rivers, and compromised drinking water. Destructive weather events cost tens of billions of dollars every year across the United States. Although most current flood control programs focus on overflowing rivers, our research found that more than half of all damage claims in the study area were in towns and cities nowhere near designated floodplains. Clearly, the problem of urban flooding must be better understood before it can be tackled! In 2012, CNT started working with insurance companies, large and small businesses, state and federal agencies, municipalities, and individuals to better understand the scale and impact of flooding. Working directly with affected homeowners, we learned of the toll that repeated flooding has taken on their lives, their finances, and their health. We also identified barriers to flood victims getting help, and of the inequity of that help. Working with residents from a few of the worst impacted communities, we designed and tested strategies and services, using simple technologies, to mitigate the impacts. From this, CNT's RainReady initiative was born.