In 2016, the Virginia General Assembly created the Virginia Shoreline Resiliency Fund, a revolving loan program to help residents protect their homes and businesses from flooding. But it has yet to receive any funding, despite the commonwealth experiencing more than 10 major floods over the past decade that cost tens of millions of dollars in recovery efforts alone. This year, lawmakers from both parties have introduced measures that would strengthen the fund in the following ways:
Voters statewide have signaled strong support for allocating money to the fund to help communities reduce their flood risk. A December 2019 survey by The Pew Charitable Trusts of Virginia registered voters shows that:
The General Assembly can help by voting in favor of these measures so Virginians can take actions to keep their families and businesses out of harm’s way and reduce disaster recovery costs.