Mayors along the Mississippi River are pushing for changes in how the federal government prevents and responds to disasters.
As national politicians look at ways to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, a coalition of mayors are hoping to inform the process while also finding ways to tackle problems themselves.
“Emergency response is not becoming something that is needed less,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “Emergencies and crises, they are indeed happening more often. And so we all need to be prepared.”
Congress is currently drafting legislation that seeks to streamline the process for receiving aid while also asking states to invest in mitigation and private insurance policies. It also would elevate FEMA to a cabinet-level agency. At the same time, a council created by President Donald Trump is reviewing the agency and recommending changes.
Mayors along the Mississippi want those changes to include new large-scale projects to reduce disaster risks before they happen. They discussed their goals at a meeting of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative in Minneapolis this week.
“There's a lot of moving parts with FEMA right now,” said Colin Wellenkamp, director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative. “Where all those moving parts are going to land, I don't know. But as the mayors pointed out, we know what we have as our priorities, and that is the systemic reduction of risk over large landscapes.”
Wellenkamp said the mayors are calling to update or replace one program, called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities. The program provided federal funding for projects to mitigate natural disasters, but Wellenkamp said the benefits mostly went to coastal communities.
“Our cities really have not been able to get a BRIC,” Wellenkamp said. “It's too heavy of a lift. It's too expensive. It's just beyond our reach. Even for our big cities on the Mississippi River.”
The mayoral coalition wants Congress to instead look at a large-scale grant program to help mitigate disaster risk with projects that expand nature-based solutions, like wetland restoration projects that could store excess water during floods.
“We think that's the biggest bang for the buck for the American taxpayer, is on the mitigation side of the balance sheet, really storing risk in natural areas,” Wellenkamp said.
In the meantime, the organization is partnering with Ducks Unlimited, a wetland and waterfowl conservation organization, to create 100,000 acres of conservation land to reduce risk. There are already nature-based projects along the river, including in East St. Louis, Illinois, La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Iowa, Wellenkamp said.
Plan for faster disaster response
The mayors also announced a new partnership with nonprofit Convoy of Hope to provide immediate disaster response in the first 72 hours after an emergency. Wellenkamp said the first days after a tornado are the largest gap in U.S. emergency response policy.
“Cities have a lot of uncertainty in that space,” he said. “They don't know what help is coming from the state, typically for several hours or days. Plus FEMA certainly isn't coming for weeks or months.”
By establishing a relationship with these cities early, disaster response will move faster, said Stacy Lamb, Convoy of Hope vice president of global disaster services.
“By working together before disasters strike, we can reduce response time, position resources where they're most needed, and make sure families receive help quickly and with dignity,” Lamb said. “This partnership isn't just about responding but it's about building resilience.
New drought dashboard
At the meeting, the mayors also unveiled a new tool from the federal government. The Department of Commerce is bringing together data on drought and flooding in the Mississippi River Basin in a new dashboard.
The mayors say this tool will help cities prepare for coming extreme weather, especially after a year that has seen swings between extremes.
“Anyone on the river knows the extreme changes between flooding and drought can have some serious impacts on just about everybody in the region,” said Stacy Kinder, the mayor of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
The dashboard shows large parts of the Great Plains and lower Midwest are currently experiencing historically dry soil conditions.
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
