Montpelier | 14 Feb 2012
What can Vermonters learn from Tropical Storm Irene, in order to help make our state stronger and better prepared for flooding in the future? Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources Climate Change Team today released “Lessons from Irene: Building Resiliency as We Rebuild,” an interdisciplinary look at Irene’s many impacts and challenges.
Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, Deb Markowitz said, “Climate data shows that Vermont is experiencing more extreme rain events, and because of this we can expect to see more frequent flooding. This is why it is so important for us to learn from Irene so that our communities can be better prepared for future floods.”
This new report points out that flood resiliency may be a critical part of Vermont’s adaptation to climate change, given that 1) many Vermont communities are built along rivers and 2) climate change predictions call for more intense storms and precipitation events in Vermont over the coming decades.
The report illustrates the vulnerability of our river valley communities and natural resources to intensive flood disasters, begins to count the costs associated with that vulnerability, and poses some of the hard questions our state and communities will need to answer in order to build flood resiliency.
The ANR Climate Change team has been working to promote both mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to a changing climate.
To see the new report visit the ANR climate change website at:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/anr/climatechange/irenebythenumbers.html.
