The National Mall Coalition applauds the DC Silver Jackets on the success of its 2016 DC Flood Summit on September 8th that brought together public and private parties to learn about Washington’s flooding history, hear about government initiatives, and develop partnerships to solve flooding problems and build a more resilient nation’s capital. The all-day summit on September 8th drew 200 participants to the Gallaudet University Kellogg Center.
Following opening remarks by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, a series of panels featured speakers from the Mayor’s Office, DC Water, Army Corps of Engineers, National Weather Service, FEMA, and others who discussed DC’s flooding history, challenges and opportunities, and DC ongoing actions to reduce flood risk.
The day ended with a Call to Action by Sandra Knight, Director of the Center of Disaster Resilience at the University of Maryland, who summarized the meeting’s main findings: the need for collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries, people to stop talking and start doing, two-way communication that includes the public, and innovative flood control solutions such as those implemented by the Dutch.
The event was organized by DC Silver Jackets an inter-agency flood coordination team headed by Phetmano Phannavong from DC’s Department of Energy and Environment, Stacy Underwood of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Mark Baker of the National Park Service.
The National Mall Coalition was pleased to be invited due to our efforts to educate the public about Washington’s flood history and our outreach to federal and DC government with the National Mall Underground flood control/parking garage proposal. Our banner illustrated for summit attendees the two different flood threats, Potomac and Anacostia River flooding and stormwater (interior) flooding, as explained also in this slideshow on our website.
Tags: Flooding
