NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Tuesday, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities released a new 158-page report on flooding in the state.
“We don't have to look more back from a month ago in the valley area to see how devastating these flooding issues have been,” said Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick, CCM board president. “It is above and beyond the pale that we’ve ever experienced.”
The $100,000 study aims to address the growing concerns surrounding flood risks across the state.
“Flooding of all types is really impacting the communities throughout the state in a very dramatic way,” explained Erik Mas, vice president and project manager at the engineering firm CCM partnered with, Fuss & O’Neill.
In August, catastrophic flooding in southwestern Connecticut decimated roads, washed out bridges and destroyed homes.
“We've been seeing this over the past decade, you know, this increasing frequency of flooding and these events,” Mas said.
Connecticut experiences three kinds of flooding — coastal, riverine and pluvial. Pluvial is rainfall-related flooding that affects drainage systems. Experts say this drainage-related flooding is the most common in the state.
“I think the underlying take home is that that can happen anywhere in Connecticut,” Mas added. “It really is a situation where you don't have to be along the coast. You don't have to be down by the river to be impacted in a serious way by this intense rainfall-driven flooding.”
The report laid out about 30 recommendations, ranging from updating FEMA’s state flood hazard maps, to reintroducing parts of last legislative session’s failed climate resilience bill.
“Even if all of them don't get passed, we pass a few, we're making progress, we continue to work. It's not an all-or-nothing report,” said CCM Associate Director of Public Policy & Advocacy Randy Collins. “There are a lot of different areas where we need to go forward. Will it all get done in one session? This is a land of steady habits, so don't think so, but we can start to make progress that will help and different communities can look at what's the best way locally, regionally and statewide to address these.”
Collins says CCM will be using this report to develop specific policy recommendations for the upcoming 2025 legislative session.
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Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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