East River Collaborative look to limit damage, improve rebound from flooding in Green Bay area

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - The Wisconsin Deputy Insurance Commissioner met with the East River Collaborative to tour within Greater Green Bay to show the areas most at risk for flooding.

The East River Collaborative is a group of several organizations that is grant-funded by The Nature Conservancy, Wisconsin Sea Grant, NEW water and UW-Madison’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The group was created after flooding in the Green Bay area in 2019 caused 37 homes to be condemned. The East River Collaborative is focused on a watershed-based approach to resilience planning and water resource management.

Wisconsin Deputy Insurance Commissioner Rachel Cissne Carabell sat down to talk and learn more about the several findings from studies conducted by the East River Collaborative that highlighted the improvements and remedies the community and homeowners can take to improve flooding resiliency.

“It’s not just mitigating flooding, It’s also increasing resiliency in the community, increasing economic productivity, making sure homes and businesses aren’t in the floodway anymore and incorporating more green and nature-based solutions in this practice and into the region,” explained Kayla Wandsnider the East River Community Resilience Coordinator. She adds that there are multiple benefits to improving the flooding resiliency. “Which is going to help increase infiltration, water when it falls, is going to be able to be managed on the land and deep into the ground, deep root plants are going to help with that it’s going to be more sustainable.”

The Deputy Commissioner said the East River Collaborative is working towards the right direction with connecting with the communities within the watershed and beyond to improve the flooding resiliency but it’s vital homeowners understand the risk.

“The communities around here that are in a flood plain, they have such a high risk of a flood experience, that it’s really important they understand what steps they can take to protect themselves and protect their community,” explained Rachel Cissne Carabell, the Deputy Insurance Commissioner.

According to FEMA, 40% of claims under the national flood insurance fall outside of the flood plain, which can be costly to a homeowner. Cissne Carabell adding that an inch of water can cause up to $25,000 in damages.

One of the ways you can protect yourself and your home is to learn more about the national flood insurance program.

To learn more about FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, click HERE. To learn more about flood insurance from the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, click HERE.

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