Pennsylvanians must face the reality of climate change and the increasing threat of flooding | Opinion - PennLive

Pennsylvanians must face the reality of climate change and the increasing threat of flooding | Opinion - pennlive.com

By Megan Tuñón

Scorching, record-setting heat across the West has been the focus of national attention this summer. So have wildfires. Suffocating smoke from the Canadian fires – and with it, unhealthy air quality - has blanketed Pennsylvania and much of the U.S. The deadliest U.S. wildfires in a century, on Maui, cost more than 100 lives.

Here in Pennsylvania, extreme weather in recent years has come primarily in the form of powerful storms and flooding.

Across the state, these storms are blowing through towns, causing major flooding, and putting lives at risk. The dangerous storm that tore through the Northeast U.S. last month devastated towns across Pennsylvania. Most tragically, that flooding claimed 7 lives, including two young children.

My community in Western PA, Etna, sits at the bottom of a 67 square mile watershed, and so is no stranger to flooding. The frequency of flooding in our 1 square mile community has earned us the nickname “Wetna” and, after the departure of the steel industry decades ago, has contributed to disinvestment from the community. Folks moved upstream where new development has only contributed to the stormwater and flooding issues that we experience. In 2004, Etna Borough was devastated by the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan. Over 400 homes were flooded, and many properties were lost for good. It was at that moment that we decided to change our narrative: we decided to shift from being a victim of our place in the watershed to stewards of it.

We adopted a Green Master Plan and launched a planning process focused on sustainability, resilience, and social equity, culminating in Etna Borough becoming the world’s first certified EcoDistrict. Following this plan, and with the needs of the residents at its heart, we have installed rain gardens and greenspaces, completed stream remediation, switched out storm drains to include filters, upgraded our combined sewer system, and redeveloped our downtown streetscape into an award-winning design that captures millions of gallons of rainwater each year.

We have worked, grant by grant, project by project, to mitigate the worst effects that severe rain events bring to our community. In recent years, our efforts have proved beneficial as Etna has seen a reduction in serious flooding after significant rainstorms. Unfortunately, we know that the next Hurricane Ivan is inevitable with the frequency and severity of extreme weather that we have seen in recent years.

A new precipitation model intended to capture climate-driven changes in heavy rainfall events found that Allegheny County could see “1-in-100 year floods,” every 20-25 years, with nearly 4 inches of average rainfall per hour during such events.

That means more death, damage, and devastation for Pennsylvania communities. It also means higher costs to adapt to extreme weather or to recover from it. A new report revealed that climate change adaptations will cost Pennsylvania municipalities and taxpayers more than $15 billion by 2040. Without these adaptations, however, communities will be at steadily increasing risk of disaster and perhaps even higher costs. The longer we wait, the more dangerous and costly it will become.

It’s only a matter of time before Etna floods again, and we will have to once again pull together our limited resources to rebuild and move forward. We are a resilient community that is committed to innovative solutions to stormwater management, but we can’t solve these problems on our own. So many small communities like mine across the state have been left to solve these problems at the hyper-local level when we know that this is an issue that transcends borders. We need continued investments and policy changes at the state, national, and global levels to see real and long-lasting impacts on the climate crisis.

That is why it is so important that the President and Congress enacted new laws and are making new investments to tackle the rising threat. The first anniversary of one of those laws, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), is upon us this month. That l aw, and the bipartisan infrastructure bill are committing billions of dollars to resilience and flood mitigation programs, providing desperately needed support to communities before, during, and after flooding.

The laws are directing billions more to cleaner energy sources and energy efficiency that can begin to reverse the steady pace of climate change. It is a simple equation: pollution is driving climate change, and climate change is driving more frequent and more severe weather. If we want to turn the tide, we must act now.

There must be serious urgency here. Pennsylvania must pursue the federal resources available through these groundbreaking laws, so we can protect our homes, families, and communities, while also benefiting from the jobs and opportunities these investments bring.

We cannot allow ourselves to be swept away in the storm. It’s time for Pennsylvania to seize this tremendous opportunity.

Megan Tuñón is the Executive Director of the Etna Community Organization in the Borough of Etna, Pa., just outside the city of Pittsburgh.