00:00Floodwaters surrounding homes, streets left underwater, and roads torn apart.
00:05After a destructive storm, repairing that damage is only part of the cost.
00:09In Dare County, North Carolina, along the Outer Banks,
00:12Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson says getting the community back up and running starts locally.
00:18Everything starts and ends locally.
00:20When local resources are overwhelmed, the county turns to the state.
00:24And when the state needs more help, it requests federal assistance.
00:27Our county just said a little bit more money aside in our reserve fund
00:31on the off chance that we're not able to be eligible for a FEMA declaration that we wouldn't get there.
00:37We still have to take care of our community.
00:40In a statement to AccuWeather, FEMA says federal help supports state and local response,
00:44but cannot make individuals or communities whole after a disaster.
00:48And the financial impact extends beyond rebuilding.
00:52AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist John Porter says AccuWeather's estimates of total damage
00:56and economic loss also account for business closures, lost jobs,
01:01hits to tourism, and long-term health impacts.
01:04They can last for weeks, months, years, or even a decade or more
01:08in some of the most intense storms and impactful storms and natural disasters.
01:13Experts say investing in resilient infrastructure now could help reduce the cost of damage
01:18when the next major storm hits.
01:20For Amy Chester, the director of Rebuild by Design in New York City,
01:24that means thinking generations ahead and planning for future flood risks.
01:28So not only building to the flood elevation today, which is actually quite low,
01:32but thinking about what is it going to be in a hundred-year storm,
01:35because most of our infrastructure stays way longer than a hundred years.
01:39Chester says using parks to absorb stormwater is another way to help neighborhoods manage flooding.
01:44She says her organization identified more than half a billion dollars
01:47in projects across New York State that need investment to help communities become more resilient.
01:53That's not building back after the storm, that's building forward.
01:57For AccuWeather, I'm Heather Fordham.
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