The Nation's Responses To Flood Disasters: A Historical Account

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The Nation’s Responses to Flood Disasters: A Historical Account
trend to cut budgets at all levels and to make government smaller and less intrusive in
daily lives, as manifested in a change in the political leadership of the Congress. The
Association has not been able to obtain adequate funding support to undertake a survey of
state and local programs since 1995 to determine whether “this trend has continued or
abated.”
However, the ASFPM report also noted in its summary of local programs that, in
general, floodplain management at the state and local levels appeared to be progressing,
although not as quickly as expected given the high visibility of flooding issues from 1992
to 1995. In response to the extensive survey, 18 states reported that floodplain
management within their jurisdictions had grown steadily stronger during the decade, six
states reported that it had stayed about the same, and six reported that it was weaker now
than at the end of the previous decade. The remaining 10 states that responded indicated
mixed changes.
The 1995 report highlighted two somewhat contradictory, yet discernable and
diverging, streams of change. On the one hand, states reported more floodplain
management activities than ever before, including numerous examples of successful and
effective work. On the other hand, the fundamental components of state-level programs
did not seem as robust as in prior years. State floodplain management budgets
(unadjusted for inflation) were down 12 percent from their 1992 levels, reported as “a
disturbing statistic in itself.” The legal authority under which programs operated had
been weakened in some state legislatures and challenged both there and in the courts.
More than one-fifth of the state floodplain management programs had been reorganized
in the past few years and more were anticipated. More instances of these kinds of
fundamental changes⎯to the detriment of floodplain management⎯occurred during the
1992-1995 period than in previous periods. The Association concluded that “this was a
troubling finding, because without strong financial, legal, and operational foundations,
effective state and local floodplain management is doomed. It is possible that the tighter
budgets are simply a short-term fluctuation, and that it is just a coincidence that the
number and extent of state-level reorganizations and other apparent threats are occurring
at the same time. In any case, these potential shifts in the status of state and local
floodplain management will need careful scrutiny over the next three years so that
potential threats to effective programs can be detected and defused. The next state and
local programs report should shed further light on their meaning and impacts.”
Of note during the 1990s were a number of state efforts. Virginia completed The
Floodplain Management Plan for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The plan, considered
the only one of its kind in the nation, provided a comprehensive assessment of the state’s
flood problems, alternative approaches to reducing flood damages, and solutions
involving local, state, and federal entities. A number of states, including Maine,
Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, developed floodplain management handbooks to assist
local officials in carrying out their responsibilities. At the sub-state level, two regional
agencies, the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (Chicago, Illinois, area) and the