As the spring season sets in, the potential for extreme weather events like thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods to occur becomes increasingly likely. Accordingly, WaterISAC is sharing several resources to help utilities prepare for and increase their resilience to spring weather hazards.

Severe thunderstorms, which can lead to tornadoes and flooding, are most common in the spring. With the changing climate, extreme weather events are predicted to become more frequent and intense. Flooding is also most common in the spring. And most areas of the continental U.S. are projected to experience greater flood risk in a warming climate going forward. Last year, for example, a First Street Foundation study found that larger parts of the U.S. can expect to experience “1-in-100 year flood” events with greater frequency. Highlighting the threat to critical infrastructure, an AP analysis found about one-third of wastewater facilities in the U.S. would be at risk of flooding if an extreme precipitation event hit their area today. Many drinking water utilities also likely face similar vulnerabilities as flood risks continue to grow. Extreme weather events can also lead to power disruptions. Between 2000 and 2021, about 83% of reported major outages in the U.S. were attributed to weather-related events.

To help prepare for and enhance resilience to these weather hazards, WaterISAC encourages its members to review the following resources:

• EPA’s “Flood Resilience: A Basic Guide for Water and Wastewater Utilities,” helps utilities understand their flooding risk and identify practical mitigation options to protect critical assets.
• EPA - Incident Action Checklist – Flooding
• EPA’s “Power Resilience Guide,” offers utilities information and strategies to help strengthen relationships with their electric providers and increase their resilience to power outages. 
• EPA - Incident Action Checklist – Power Outages
• CISA’s “Resilient Power Best Practices for Critical Facilities and Sites,” offers guidance and discusses power resilience in regards to the all-hazards threat landscape. 
• EPA - Mutual Aid and Assistance for Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities
• FEMA - Climate Risk and Resilience Portal – offers free data to stakeholders seeking to understand the risks facing their communities from natural hazards like flooding, wildfires, droughts, extreme heat, and more through the end of the century.
• FEMA - Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool – allows users to combine layers of community resilience indicators, infrastructure locations, and hazard data to prioritize preparedness and resilience strategies.
• CISA - Extreme Weather and Climate Change
• Risk Factor - allows users to type in an address and see the specific flood risk for that property for the next 30 years on a scale of one to 10.
• ClimateCheck - offers a risk rating for flood, precipitation, heat, drought, and wildfire on a 1-100 scale relative to the risk for the rest of the contiguous U.S.