In and around Jackson , Mississippi , more than 180,000 peoplehave been without running or drinkable water for over a week . Flooding from cloggy rainfall damaged piddle treatment works and other base , exacerbatingexisting issuesof an old and poorly maintain system . Though body of water pressure was doctor over the weekend , according to the city , a boil water notification ( which initially move into effect back in July ) remains .
The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) , Deanne Criswell , chew the fat Jackson amid the crisis on Friday . And , espouse her visit , admitted to CNNthat her government agency ’s flowage peril judgement maps are n’t currently capable to account for mood change and the extreme weather events that come along with it .
Beyond Jackson , severe implosion therapy has beenwidespreadacross the U.S. this summer . Multiple so - called“1,000 yr ” rainwater eventshave happened in quick taking over over the retiring few months inMontana , Kentucky , St. Louis , Death Valley , Illinois , andDallas .
Just a few hours after FEMA’s director admitted the agency doesn’t know how to map flood risk under climate change on Sunday, more flooding hit the Southeast—this time in Georgia. Here, mailboxes are submerged in the city of Summerville.Photo:Olivia Ross / Chattanooga Times Free Press(AP)
Just hours after Criswell appear on CNN ’s State of the Union , flood word of advice and a nation of emergency were declare inparts of Georgia , as more than a foot of rainfall fell . legal injury isstill being assessedfrom those floodlight .
In many cases of laborious rain , observe implosion therapy can extend far beyond areas fate “ flood zones ” by FEMA . For example , 78 % of the dwelling house and concern inundated in St. Louis in July were outside of those geographical zone , according to an earlierCNN analysis .
“ hoi polloi should not trust exclusively on FEMA flood function in this leg of clime change , because the flood single-valued function only front backwards . They seem at historical flooding,”Michael Gerrard , a climate modification law expert at Columbia University , tell the outlet last workweek .
scientist and outside analysts have long vocalize concerns that FEMA ’s map system , which is meant to leave an evaluation of hazard and facilitate inform determination making , is overleap the mark . A 2020 report from the non - profitFirst Street Foundationdetermined that60 % more propertieswere at satisfying hazard of implosion therapy than FEMA ’s prescribed act suggest . Now a summertime of catastrophe seems to well - support the critique . It ’s become manifest that existing federal risk projection are n’t decent for the mood change geological era .
“ I think the part that ’s really difficult mighty now is the fact that our flowage maps do n’t take into chronicle excessive pelting , ” Criswell assure CNN on Sunday . “ In St. Louis , right , record rainfall of over [ 1,000 ] years — when you have that amount of rain per time of day , that ’s what our deluge maps do n’t necessarily take into consideration . ”
Yet climate variety is turningrecord rain eventsinto regular occurrences , worsening stormsand develop new weather patterns . Formerly 100 - year rain events are already happen 5x as frequently and could soon occur every 5 years on average , according toone 2020 study . Other published research suggest the U.S. has already incurred$75 billionin flood damage because of climate change , in just the retiring 30 long time .
Asked if FEMA will update its projections to admit climate change , Criswell said , “ I opine there ’s a lot of work that require to go into that . ” Though , the delegacy head offer no specifics or timeline .
Instead , she added that FEMA is “ going to stay on to work with all of our local jurisdiction to serve them good identify what their motivation are and help them produce better predictive models , because we have to bulge thinking about what the threats are going to be in the future as a effect of climate variety , so they can put the palliation touchstone in place . ”
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