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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 13, 2022 10:54 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Joe Webster |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Resolution to Study the Economic Costs of Flooding on Residential Homes and Businesses in the Commonwealth |
| Over the past 20 years, Pennsylvania has had at least three major flooding events. Hurricanes Ivan and Ida, along with Tropical Storm Lee, have caused a combined total of more than $600 million in estimated property damage. Additionally, 24 counties in the Commonwealth experience an average of one flood event per year. However, Pennsylvania currently has no way to accurately track the economic impact of flooding in the Commonwealth because there is no single entity that has access to all of the pertinent information. To address this issue, I will be introducing a resolution directing the Joint State Government Committee to conduct a study on the economic costs of flooding on residential homes and businesses in the Commonwealth. The study would focus primarily on data available for the past 20 years and identify trends in costs, locations, and types of damage caused by flooding. The Committee would also provide recommendations on how Pennsylvania can better track and log this information and target future flooding-related prevention and relief efforts. Scholars at Penn State University recently published an article in the Journal of Hydrometeorology that lays out very clearly the situation and our obligation to meet it: “Flood-related risks to people and property are expected to increase in the future due to environmental and demographic changes. It is important to quantify and effectively communicate flood hazards and exposure to inform the design and implementation of flood risk management strategies.” Please join me in support of this important resolution. |
Introduced as HR170