The Flood Insurance Guru Podcast Episode 30: Is Border Security Creating Cracks in the Foundations of Our Flood Preparedness

In today's episode, we'll talk about border security — now, it's not going to be what you think — and really understand how these changes on the funding for border security can impact not just flood preparedness, but overall disaster preparedness moving forward.

The country is experiencing a lot of change with the Trump administration, but we don't want to focus on the politics of it all, but what really matters when it comes to disasters. Now, natural disasters can be a big crisis to face for any country especially when the aftermaths are leaving a lot of people in literal and financial ruin. At the end of August, the government announced that they were moving $300 million from agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — who are very cash strapped at the time of writing — over to border control like the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This funding would be spent on limiting the crossing of migrants from Latin America.

Now, it's important to mention here that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently cash strapped or simply lacking sufficient funds for their operations than needed, and it's been this way for a while. Since there are numerous disasters lately: storms, hurricanes, flooding, and more, FEMA has been losing money to provide proper assistance and grants for those who are impacted.

Also, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which is under FEMA is also getting short-term after short-term authorization when they should be getting long-term authorization considering how much flood insurance they have to manage. This long-term authorization means that they can get enough support from the federal government in funds and certain actions to improve flood insurance across America. 

As the money and funding are moved over to border control and law enforcement officials, this takes away funds for disaster preparedness, disaster aid services, and disaster grants. This money should filter down to local communities like they normally would, but the resources and funds may no longer be there. So this movement of money to border and migration controls really creates cracks on our border patrol when it comes to protecting the U.S. borders against disasters like hurricanes or even flooding that's coming in from other parts. 

Although the long-term impacts of this movement of funding in government agencies are still unknown, it's still possible that "building that wall" might create more disasters that we may not have been prepared for because we didn't have enough resources and the funds. Natural disasters aren't really something we can change or control, and as we face a climate crisis, it's best to be prepared and create our own borders against flooding and other impacts of disasters.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to share this knowledge with you. Reach out to us by clicking the links below and you too can be prepared through flood education and awareness.