[Senate Hearing 117-217]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-217
THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO HURRICANE IDA
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 6, 2021
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
47-096 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
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COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont Virginia,
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island Ranking Member
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama
MARK KELLY, Arizona JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
ALEX PADILLA, California ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JONI ERNST, Iowa
LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina
Mary Frances Repko, Democratic Staff Director
Adam Tomlinson, Republican Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
OCTOBER 6, 2021
OPENING STATEMENTS
Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware.. 1
Capito, Hon. Shelley Moore, U.S. Senator from the State of West
Virginia....................................................... 3
WITNESSES
Graham, Major General William ``Butch,'' Deputy Commanding
General for Civil and Emergency Operations, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers...................................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Responses to additional questions from Senator Carper........ 14
Response to an additional question from:
Senator Cardin........................................... 16
Senator Inhofe........................................... 20
Senator Wicker........................................... 21
Tickner, Brigadier General Thomas, Commander, North Atlantic
Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers......................... 23
Prepared statement........................................... 25
Responses to additional questions from Senator Carper........ 30
Response to an additional question from:
Senator Cardin........................................... 32
Senator Inhofe........................................... 36
Murphy, Colonel Stephen, Commander, New Orleans District, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers........................................ 38
Prepared statement........................................... 40
Responses to additional questions from Senator Carper........ 45
Response to an additional question from:
Senator Inhofe........................................... 47
Senator Wicker........................................... 48
THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO HURRICANE IDA
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Environment and Public Works,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m. in
room 406, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Thomas R. Carper
(Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
Present: Senators Carper, Capito, Cardin, Whitehouse,
Kelly, Inhofe, Boozman, and Ernst.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE
Senator Carper. Good morning, everybody. I am pleased to
join Senator Capito and our colleagues in calling this hearing
to order.
Welcome, everyone.
To our witnesses joining us today from the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers; Major General Butch Graham; how long have people
been calling you Butch?
General Graham. Senator, since I was born. So, I am a
junior, and my dad took Bill Graham, so they didn't call me
Billy Graham.
[Laughter.]
Senator Carper. My mother wanted me to grow up and be Billy
Graham. Down in Danville, Virginia, we spent a lot of time in a
Baptist church, so you know what I mean.
Welcome, Butch Graham, and welcome to Brigadier General Tom
Tickner, nice to see you again, and to Colonel Steve Murphy. We
are glad that you could join us today.
To the folks that are behind you and part of your
supporting team, we welcome all of you.
Thank you for joining us for what, sadly, has become an all
too frequent issue over that last couple of years, and that is
providing emergency response in the aftermath of extreme
weather.
Each of our witnesses comes from a different position
within the Corps, and actually from different parts of the
country, that we were just talking about. They all are going to
be able to share with us their points of view on the Corps'
response to Hurricane Ida, as well as their thoughts on
investing in more resilient water resources infrastructure or
building back better, as our President likes to say.
As we all know, since 1980, North Atlantic hurricanes have
become more intense, and unfortunately, more frequent. This
trend is projected to continue in the years ahead as our planet
continues to warm. Accordingly, the importance of the Corps'
emergency response services will grow, as well.
That is why we must ensure that all parts of our
government, that includes Federal, local, and State, are all
working together in lockstep to improve the resiliency of our
infrastructure so it can withstand these extreme storms.
In New Orleans, the 14 and a half billion dollar flood
protection system built after Hurricane Katrina is a good
example, really, a great example of a smart, all of government
approach to resilience, one where the Federal Government funded
the total cost of the project and the State of Louisiana has
now begun to pay back its share.
They have, actually, a similar arrangement on a highway in
Delaware, Route 301. If you get to drive out of here and go
east from DC and go through Maryland and finally get into
Delaware, 301, the Federal Government upfronted the money, and
the State of Delaware is paying it back with tolls, a similar
kind of approach.
When Hurricane Ida made landfall exactly 16 years after
Katrina, this new system was put to its first test.
Fortunately, it held strong and prevented the catastrophic
flooding in New Orleans that we saw in 2005. This is where we
can see that Federal investment in resiliency pays real
dividends, but challenges still remain.
One of the biggest obstacles with projects like the one in
Louisiana, as well as the Indian River Inlet in Delaware, is
that States and localities often rely on reimbursements from
the Corps to cover the costs of operating and maintaining these
projects after they are constructed.
But the Corps, constrained by politics and budget
shortfalls, can't always recover all of these costs, leaving
States and communities to foot the bills.
The result is that areas strapped for resources are unable
to make the investments in resilience that they desperately
need, and we know that the need is real. The stakes could not
be higher, including our economy, our homes, and people's very
lives and livelihoods are at stake.
Just look at how Louisiana fared during Ida. While
sophisticated water infrastructure in New Orleans protected
much of the city from flooding, other communities in the State
were devastated. We might have a photo of that. Yes, there we
go.
In my home State of Delaware, which found itself in the
path of Ida's remnants as the storm turned north, we
experienced severe beach erosion; we experienced flooding and
wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour. I think we have a shot
of Smith Bridge Road that we saw.
New Jersey faced similar shoreline erosion, and many of us
saw the videos of water rushing through and flooding New York
City's subway systems. While the final number of deaths
attributed to Hurricane Ida is not yet in, so we know 29
confirmed deaths in Louisiana and more than 40 in New York and
New Jersey, with deaths reported in at least seven additional
States.
In addition to its tragic human toll, experts project Ida's
economic impact at over $90 billion, making it the seventh--
seventh--costliest hurricane to hit the United States since the
year 2000. Just think about that: Seven hurricanes, each
responsible for more than $90 billion in economic impact, all
within 20 years; seven within 20 years.
Like all major storms, Ida is teaching us a lot, including
about what works and what does not work.
While we can all be thankful for the feat of human
engineering that protected New Orleans, one of the Nation's
most vital port systems, from Ida's destruction, we must also
recognize that, until we address the root causes of climate
change, the U.S. will continue to face natural disasters of
increasing severity and intensity with even more devastating
impacts. That is why we need to rapidly and dramatically reduce
our greenhouse gas emissions, while we increase investments in
resilience and create a lot of jobs while doing so.
Benjamin Franklin once said that an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure, and his words still ring true today.
The Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program provides
tremendous value to our Nation as the primary provider of water
resources infrastructure.
And with more extreme weather events caused by a changing
climate, it has never been more important that our
infrastructure stands up to the growing challenge and protects
the people that we all represent.
We look forward to hearing each of your testimonies today,
but first, I want to turn to Shelley Capito; we call each other
wingman and wingwoman, but we are partners in crime here, but
hopefully partners for doing a lot of good. I want to turn to
her for her opening statement.
We all have competing hearings that are going on right now.
I have a business meeting going on in the Homeland Security and
Government Affairs Committee, for which I used to Chair.
It is a business meeting where they need me to come and be
there for a quorum and to do votes. We are going to do that at
the beginning, and then you are in charge and will start our
witnesses' testimonies, and I will come back as fast as I can.
Thank you, Senator Capito.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
Senator Capito. Thank you, and good morning to everybody.
It is good to see a familiar face here in Major General
Graham, who served as Commander of the Pittsburgh District.
When I was in Congress, you were my Corps leader, which
covers a significant portion of my State of West Virginia.
Colonel Murphy, thank you for being here today and for the
warm hospitality extended by you and your team to the Committee
staff during their visit to Corps facilities in Louisiana
earlier this year.
And I want to thank you also, General Tickner, for being
here with us today.
Thank you for your service. I know some of it has not been
domestic; some of it has been international, and I thank you
for that.
We all intently watched the impacts and aftermaths of
Hurricane Ida, both in Louisiana, but also in the Northeast.
Tragically, an estimated 82 people lost their lives and
billions of dollars in damages. Those of us from States and
communities that have recently experienced terrible natural
disasters feel greatly for our fellow Americans impacted by
this hurricane.
As both Ranking Member of this Committee and also of the
Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, my staff and I
have stayed abreast of FEMA's response to this disaster and the
efforts of other agencies providing support, such as the Corps.
How important that has been.
By the most recent count, the Corps has more than 710
personnel deployed and received 24 mission assignments,
totaling $223.4 million in response to Hurricane Ida. The Corps
has also issued $2.5 million in Flood Control and Coastal
Emergency funds under Public Law 84-99. This funding went
toward the protection and repair of critical infrastructure, as
well as the provision of equipment and facilities to fight
floods and maintain essential services.
Again, I want to reiterate my gratitude to the men and
women of the Corps for performing these critical functions. I
am also eager to hear from you on how we can support the Corps'
efforts to help the Nation respond and recover from these types
of disasters in the future.
By all accounts, and our Chair talked about this, the
Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System, known as HSDRRS,
for New Orleans authorized by Congress and constructed by the
Corps after the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina performed as
intended. The system prevented a more significant loss of life
and severe damage to the city.
Not all areas are covered by the system, however, and that
is where we saw the devastation in those unprotected
communities in Louisiana and replicated in the northeastern
States.
It is important that local, State, and Federal partners
continue to work together to identify and address existing gaps
in flood risk management and coastal storm damage reduction.
The $5.7 billion in supplemental funding provided by the
Congress to the Corps just last week will support these
efforts. Solutions will take time, however, which is why it is
also important that the Corps continues to work with
communities to identify and mitigate risks through its Silver
Jackets Program, Planning Assistance to States, and other
authorities.
Challenges with and suggested improvements to existing
technical assistance programs are something that I am keen on
hearing from all of you. I am also eager to hear about how we
can support the Corps' efforts to help the Nation respond and
recover from these disasters in the future.
This Committee will do its part in this process by
authorizing individual projects and studies and providing
programmatic direction to the Corps through biennial Water
Resources Development Act legislation, which we are actively
engaged in right now.
In closing, let me reiterate our gratitude, and again, I
want to thank Chairman Carper for having this hearing.
Senator Capito [presiding]. I would like to introduce our
witnesses in the absence of our Chair.
First, Major General William ``Butch'' Graham is the
current Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency
Operations at Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where
he oversees all the Corps Civil Works activities, a $7 billion
annual program, and responses to storms and other natural
disasters.
His previous Corps assignments include Commander of North
Atlantic Division and the Pittsburgh District, from which he
hails.
Our second witness is Brigadier General Tom Tickner, the
current Commander of the North Atlantic Division. He oversees
all aspects of a $5 billion annual program that covers six
districts, including activities in more than a dozen States,
Africa, and Europe. His previous Corps command assignments
include Pacific Ocean Division, Savannah Division, and
Philadelphia District.
Our third witness is Colonel Steve Murphy. He is the
current Commander of the New Orleans District, where he
oversees all Corps activities in southern Louisiana, so you are
a busy man. He previously commanded the Nashville District of
the Corps of Engineers.
I want to welcome each of you to the Committee today. We
appreciate your service to the country and look forward to your
statements.
General Graham, we will start with you.
STATEMENT OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM ``BUTCH'' GRAHAM, DEPUTY
COMMANDING GENERAL FOR CIVIL AND EMERGENCY OPERATIONS, U.S.
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
General Graham. Ranking Member Capito and distinguished
members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
testify today to discuss the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
emergency response to Hurricane Ida.
Again, I am Major General Butch Graham, the Deputy
Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations here at
headquarters.
I would like to start by extending our sincere condolences
to the families who lost loved ones during Hurricane Ida. Our
thoughts and prayers are with those who have been impacted by
this storm.
As was mentioned, Hurricane Ida made landfall on August
29th as a category 4 storm and immediately began to draw
comparisons to Hurricane Katrina. As was mentioned, following
Hurricane Katrina and the devastating flooding in the city of
New Orleans, $14.5 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk
Reduction System was built. As its name implies, it was built
to reduce the risk of flooding caused by storms to the city.
During Hurricane Ida, this system performed exactly as
designed.
The projects the Corps builds help the reduce the flood
risk of vulnerable communities. We must also be prepared to
respond when some of those flood risks are actually realized.
This aspect of resiliency is achieved through our emergency
response partnerships with FEMA, State and local governments,
and our key contracting partners.
In response to Hurricane Ida, as many as 760 Corps
personnel have been deployed, so we snuck an extra 50 in on
you.
The Corps has indeed done 24 FEMA Mission Assignments,
totaling almost a quarter-billion dollars. As was mentioned,
under our Public Law 84-99 authorities, the Corps has issued
$2.5 million of Flood Control and Coastal Emergency funds.
As part of this massive response, with the team I am
immensely proud of, I would like to highlight one of our
missions: Temporary roofing. Operation Blue Roof is managed by
the Corps on behalf of FEMA. The goal of the program is to
provide homeowners in disaster areas with industrial strength
sheeting to protect storm damaged roofs. This allows residents
to return to their homes, restarting local communities and
local economies.
Since September 1st, the Corps has received over 34,000
valid requests. As of this morning, we have completed over
half: 17,000 roofs have been installed to date.
To put this in context, last year for the two hurricanes
that hit the Gulf Coast, Laura and Delta, the Corps installed
13,000. So, 13,000 last year, and we are up to 34,000 we need
to install this year, and we have completed 17,000 to date.
This threefold increase provides a perspective of just how
damaging Ida was.
After any event, working with FEMA, we critically evaluate
ourselves to see where we can improve. For the temporary
roofing mission, even though we are installing roofs at almost
twice the rate as our previous efforts, we are looking for ways
to get started sooner by speeding up how we get work orders to
our contractors and by bringing in, potentially, our
contractors early, pre-landfall.
Looking more broadly, we continue to see record setting
severe weather events across the Nation. Last year alone, we
responded to 28 different disasters, including 10 hurricanes,
nine major floods, and three major wildfires.
One of the ways we are responding to this challenge in the
future is by incorporating climate change resiliency into our
planning process, giving the scale of climate change a broader,
more regional approach to planning for future events as
required. Recently, the Chief of Engineers made a
recommendation for the authorization of a $29 billion system
wide risk management strategy for the coastline of Texas.
When looking at any future project, we understand that we
need to comprehensively evaluate and analyze all project
benefits. The Water Resources Development Act of 2020 created
flexibility for the Army Corps to address the needs of
economically disadvantaged communities, minority communities,
and rural communities. The act promotes an approach that
analyzes multiple benefits for project justification: Social
benefits, economic benefits, and environmental benefits.
The authorities in this act encourage the use of natural
and nature based features, seek alternatives to accommodate for
sea level rise, and inspire innovative ways to expand
beneficial reuse of dredged material. We are working hard to
put these new authorities to work for the American people.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak today. I look
forward to answering any questions.
[The prepared statement of General Graham follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Capito. Thank you.
General Tickner.
STATEMENT OF BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS TICKNER, COMMANDER, NORTH
ATLANTIC DIVISION, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
General Tickner. Ranking Member Capito, distinguished
members of the Committee, I am Brigadier General Tom Tickner,
Commander of the Corps' North Atlantic Division. Thank you for
the opportunity to provide some context to the Corps' response
to Hurricane Ida in the Northeast region.
As storm risk management is a shared responsibility, one
executed best in a whole of community approach, the Corps
partners with Federal agencies and non-Federal stakeholders.
This collective skill set, combined with the capability,
enhanced our effectiveness in preparing for, responding to, and
recovering from storm events.
In my role, I am responsible for Federal engineering work
in all parts of the 14 northeastern States, from Virginia to
Maine.
Before the storm hit our region, my districts were able to
obtain reliable advance information concerning potential Ida
impacts from the National Hurricane Center, the U.S. Geological
Survey, the National Weather Service River Forecast Centers,
and other meteorological data. This data, obtained through
Public Law 84-99 authority, assisted in the accurate prediction
of potential consequences Ida could bring, and we were able to
communicate this risk to FEMA and the States through the Corps'
mapping systems.
To manage risk to Corps owned and operated projects, USACE
conducted predictive analysis based on weather forecasts, and
the division lowered its Corps' dam reservoir elevations before
the rain arrived to retain the maximum amount of flood storage
available to reduce potential impacts downstream.
We provided early support to our State and local partners
by contacting them to determine their needs. Several of our
district emergency operation centers activated to provide
technical assistance under P.L. 84-99. Flood fighting
materials, such as sandbags, plastic sheeting, and alternate
flood fighting materials, were placed on standby,
prepositioned, and ultimately released as needed.
When the remnants of Hurricane Ida arrived, we were
impacted mostly by significant fluvial events where rainfall
overwhelmed stormwater systems and inundated local streams,
leading to flash flood events and isolated tornadoes.
As part of our post-emergency assessments, I was able to
conduct site surveys of locations within the storm's impact
area. These locations included areas where the Corps has
conducted studies, as in the Passaic River Basin, New Jersey;
Manville, New Jersey; and in Merrimac, New York.
I also surveyed sites where the Corps has active projects,
like the Indian Rock Dam in York, Pennsylvania, and the Raritan
River in Bound Brook, New Jersey, and I am happy to report our
projects performed as designed.
Finally, I observed areas where there was significant
impact, but no current Corps projects or studies, like the
Brandywine and Schuylkill Rivers areas of Philadelphia.
We also provided technical expertise to the States,
including a Corps liaison officer to both Pennsylvania and New
Jersey State Emergency Operation Centers. A subject matter
expert on watering and debris removal to New Jersey EOC and on
watering information for the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation. Both FEMA Regions 2 and 3, along with the
States they supported, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York,
were satisfied with our proactive approach to this event.
In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, Congress asked USACE
to prepare a performance report analyzing how our completed
projects performed. That report and other work following Sandy
has heightened our intent to build resilience into our coastal
storm risk management and flood risk management projects.
Together with our Federal and non-Federal partners, we are
currently completing post-storm evaluations to determine
impacts and develop deficiency reports for these projects. An
initial assessment showed damages incurred to some of our flood
risk management project elements, which will require an
investment in repairs.
In addition to the repairs and maintenance we conducted on
these projects, in some cases, the Corps recommends a
comprehensive assessment of their status to include a review of
performance criteria and recommendations for updating based on
current science, recent storm events, and factors such as
climate change.
In common with much of the Nation's infrastructure, many of
our projects require continuing investment and operation and
maintenance to ensure their effectiveness. The Corps' team is
committed to working together with our Federal interagency,
State, and local partners to provide best engineering solutions
for the tough challenges facing our communities.
Thank you again for inviting us to speak today. I look
forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of General Tickner follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Capito. Thank you.
Next, we will have Colonel Murphy.
Thank you.
STATEMENT OF COLONEL STEPHEN MURPHY, COMMANDER, NEW ORLEANS
DISTRICT, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Colonel Murphy. Good morning, Ranking Member Capito and
distinguished members of the Committee. I am Colonel Steve
Murphy. I am the Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, New
Orleans District. On behalf of my team and I, thank you for the
opportunity to meet with you today and discuss the Corps'
response to Hurricane Ida in my district area of operation.
My area of operation encompasses all of south Louisiana,
from Texas in the west to Mississippi in the east. Day in and
day out, I focus in large part on coastal and climate change
issues.
The Louisiana coast is a working coast, as the State calls
it, due to the significance of its activities and waterways and
their benefits to the national economy. These include five of
the Nation's top busiest ports, the Mississippi River, which is
the busiest waterway in the Nation, and our economic artery, as
well as the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway, which is the Nation's
third busiest waterway, all of which have been and continue to
be impacted by gulf storms.
The majority of the State's population also lives in the
southern half of the State near the coast.
Coastal Louisiana sits at the epicenter of climate change.
Sea level rise and subsidence co-exist as threats that are
major concerns for both the Corps and the State. Consequently,
my major missions are navigation, coastal and environmental
restoration, coastal storm risk management, and flood risk
management. Flooding of any kind, whether from rainfall, storm
surge, or riverine flooding, or what has been occurring on a
more frequent basis, the occurrence of all three at the same
time, is a major concern for the State and for my district.
The men and women of my district are residents of south
Louisiana. During a storm, they endure the same impacts as
their neighbors. For them, working with our partners to ensure
a promising future in coastal Louisiana is not just a
professional responsibility, it is a personal commitment.
During Ida, almost a third of my 1,100 person work force
evacuated out of State, to include my wife and children. Almost
all of us lost power, and almost half saw some form of damage
to their homes, with 37 of us experiencing so much damage from
Ida that their homes are now unlivable.
While we couldn't be more proud of the performance of the
greater New Orleans area's Hurricane Storm Damage Risk
Reduction System, and how it validated the massive national
investment of $14.5 billion that you have heard about already,
other parts of the State were not as fortunate.
Where there was Federal investment and levees and flood
walls, though, the systems performed as designed. Hurricane Ida
has validated and reinforced many of the lessons we have
learned over the last 16 years since Hurricane Katrina made
landfall.
The systems that the Federal Government invested in, and
especially the HSDRRS, have reinforced the value of the Corps'
system wide approach and demonstrated the importance of
sustainability and resilience that the Corps has incorporated
since then into its designs. We have projects currently
underway that are now incorporating these principles outside of
the greater New Orleans area.
We are now in day 40 of recovery from Hurricane Ida. I will
close by saying there could not be a better team to handle
natural disasters and climate change than the team that has
gathered, Federal, State, and local in Louisiana. Everyone here
knows disaster response is truly a team sport. I do not think
we could be working more closely or more cooperatively with the
State of Louisiana than we are right now.
After personally experiencing two of the longest Lower
Mississippi River flood fights in our district's history, the
most active Atlantic hurricane season in history last year, the
COVID pandemic, and now Hurricane Ida, I can definitively say
that this is a highly functional and collaborative team that
has made the USACE response in support of this State and these
disasters, and especially Ida, successful.
That same team spirit and cooperation also drives the Corps
investigation and implementation of natural and nature based
solutions that are in sync with the State's 50 year, $50
billion coastal master plan. These include measures ranging
from beneficial use of dredged material to coastal restoration
to environmental mitigation to the consideration through my
regulatory program of large scale diversions in the Lower
Mississippi River aimed at restoring the coast and making it
more resilient.
I could go on, but out of respect for your time and to
allow for questions, I will close there. Thank you again for
the opportunity to be here.
[The prepared statement of Colonel Murphy follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Capito. Thank you, Colonel.
We will go to questions, and a belated happy birthday to my
colleague from Maryland, Senator Cardin.
Senator Cardin. Well, Senator Capito, thank you very much.
I only have 364 days remaining until my birthday, so thank you.
I appreciate that.
First of all, thank you all very much for your service. We
really do appreciate the leadership of the Army Corps. It is
critically important in Maryland; it is critically important to
all of our States.
I was in Louisiana, New Orleans, after Katrina. Our
Committee went down there to inspect first hand the damage that
was done, and it was shocking to see the amount of loss of life
and of property. So, the $14.5 billion investment is one that
we all supported, and it worked, as you all have said. We are
proud of what we were able to do to mitigate Hurricane Ida.
We also recognize that these storms are becoming more
frequent and more severe and that we have a responsibility to
deal with the realities of climate change, both in mitigating
future pollutants that are emitting greenhouse gases, as well
as adapt to the realities. Your responsibilities on adapting to
the realities, I want to just touch on briefly.
Many years ago, we made a decision in Maryland to invest in
beach renourishment, because the Northeasters were becoming
more and more severe. We invested millions of dollars. The
result has been billions of dollars of savings, and savings of
life.
These types of investments really pay off dramatically, but
there is also a change in the risk factors that I am seeing in
our communities. We saw it during Ida. We have had flooding
before, because of a long sequence of rain, causing banks to
rise beyond what they can handle, and you have dealt with that
issue through your flood management programs.
But in recent years, we have found something different
occurring, and that is the large volume in a short period of
time of rainfall. That was true during Ida. So, it wasn't
really the integrity of the flood system. It was more the
extreme amount of rain in a very short period of time.
I mention that because in Ellicott City, Maryland, as you
all know, we experienced in a 20 month period two 100 year
floods. But what was really unique about these floods that we
had never experienced this type of flooding before. Ellicott
City is on the banks of rivers. We have seen the rivers rise
and cause flooding into Ellicott City. We had never seen the
large volume of rain occur in such a short period of time that
couldn't possibly be managed by the current system.
So, my question to you is, as we look at these new risk
factors, more violent storms, not necessarily hurricanes, just
a large volume of rain coming down in a very short period of
time that are flooding communities, how do we prepare for this?
Now, I appreciate, Colonel, your mentioning the beneficial
use of dredged material. We are doing that in replenishing
wetlands. That is part of our strategy, because wetlands not
only manage the flooding situation, but it also manages the
pollutants going into from runoff, so it is an important part
of our strategy.
I am interested as to what your recommendations are to us
to manage the realities of the current risk factors on violent
storms occurring with a large amount of rain in a short period
of time, which is not the way we have traditionally been
dealing with infrastructure to prevent flooding.
General Graham. Senator, thank you for that question, and
let me address that. We have put together, the Administration
has directed it, a climate action plan. It is right up with CEQ
right now, and we expect that to be released soon.
It has five major components to it. I think those address
your concerns, and those five major components are: We have to
modernize our approach, and that is our programs and our
policies, to deal with a different future. We have to manage
better the facilities we do operate, like the dams around
Philadelphia that General Tickner mentioned. We have got to
enable, as Colonel Murphy spoke to, our partners, and a lot of
that is with sharing our science with them.
I know some of the Committee staff members went down to
Duck, North Carolina, and saw some of that science being
created. We have got to share that information with our local
partners, and that includes this actionable data that can stand
up to scrutiny, so folks, local communities, States, realize
the challenges that they are under.
Then finally, Senator, we have got to plan and put into
operation those futures, and this authorizing Committee plays a
key role in that. Thank you.
Senator Cardin. I think my time has run out. I just would
urge us to think about how we can work in partnership to deal
with these extreme raining events that are causing communities
to be extremely vulnerable. It is hard to plan for every part
of our community getting an extreme weather event, but we have
to have a game plan for our communities, because it is
occurring. We saw it during Ida; we have seen it several times
in Maryland.
It is unprecedented, the type of flood risks that we
currently have, so we are going to be looking to you and this
report to give us a game plan on how we can protect communities
the best that we can from the realities of these storms.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Capito. Yes.
Senator Inhofe.
Senator Inhofe. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I know this hearing is on Ida, but all three of the
individuals as witnesses here were participants in a real
tragedy that we faced in 2019, a flooding case in Oklahoma,
where we had levees that were 75 years old and well, well past
their normal historic lifetime, and they held up. I can
remember actually being up to my waist in water during that
time, and so it was something that we were very fortunate.
Since that time, we have been on pins and needles what
might happen if we should get another flood. But nonetheless,
everyone performed very well, and the WRDA language that we put
into the 2020 WRDA system performed very well.
General Graham, as the Corps plans and budgets for future
projects, do you believe it is important to take into account
safety of life benefits like you did in the Tulsa Levees
Chief's Report?
General Graham. Senator, absolutely.
Senator Inhofe. Well, I have to say that we really did a
good job in terms of the private sector. We had to make some
changes in our current statutes to accommodate that at the
time, and things did work, and worked out really well. Now, we
don't have many hurricanes that hit Oklahoma, but what it is
important to remember is that Oklahoma is as connected as
Arkansas is to the Mississippi River through the MKARNS. A lot
of people have a hard time understanding that we in Oklahoma
are navigable.
I have probably said this 300 or 400 times in the last few
years to let people know that we need to be a part of a system
and participating in that system and have actually done really
good work in terms of working with the private sector.
Colonel Murphy, I would have to say this, I am sure--
Senator Boozman and I have spent a lot of time working on the
impact of the navigation way. Colonel Murphy, is it true that
getting our navigable waterways open to commerce is key to a
successful recovery effort, and how does the Corps prioritize
dredging efforts following flooding in storm surge events?
Colonel Murphy. Senator, thank you for the question. I
would say, absolutely. That is one of the first things we are
looking to do as soon as we can get boats on the road and in
the water. I have survey boats going out on all the Federal
waterways that I am responsible for to get surveys in
conjunction with the Coast Guard to clear them.
Senator Inhofe. I appreciate that. The 2019 flooding was a
shock and exposed a lot of gaps in our system, but we are lucky
in Oklahoma to have numerous private sector entities that we
had to bend the law a little bit to make it happen.
So what I would like to ask you to do is to, for the panel,
for the future, look at the authorities. What authorities does
the Corps need to enable them to respond as capably as they did
respond in this case, and this might be something that you can
do for the record. Get your ideas together as to how can we
work more efficiently with the private sector, such as we did
in the State of Oklahoma.
OK? Very good, thank you.
Senator Capito. Thank you.
Senator Whitehouse.
Senator Whitehouse. Thank you, Senator.
Welcome, all of you. I am glad to have you here. I
represent Rhode Island in the Senate.
Up in New England, the most extreme climate related shift
that we have seen has been in the form of extreme rainfall. It
is kind of off the charts.
In terms of a persistent underlying shift related to
climate, what we see coming is sea level rise. In fact, we are
going to have to redraw the map of Rhode Island to accommodate
the loss of seashore and what is now land turning into an
archipelago of flooded islands.
Against that backdrop, we experienced dramatic failure of
FEMA mapping. I have read press reports that, in Texas, FEMA
mapping was off by as much as 50 percent when floods hit the
Houston area.
As a result, Rhode Island has had to do its own mapping,
going back to the original data and bringing in our own
scientists.
As a result, we have got a very, I believe, accurate and
successful mapping tool called STORMTOOLS that has been run by
our CRMC agency, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management
Council. It is annoying as hell to fund FEMA and also have the
State of Rhode Island have to pay for its own mapping because
FEMA mapping isn't accurate.
I know FEMA ducked because a lot of the reason for the
inaccuracy was that they would have to bake in climate change,
and there are very powerful forces that want to punish anybody
who talks about climate change.
So FEMA took a dive on this one, in my view. But the result
is one that you all have to live with all the time, which is
bad maps.
What are you doing to try to make sure that you are
operating off of good flood maps, and when you have to come in
with your emergency response, people aren't being clobbered by
the fact that they didn't know they were in a flood zone, so
they didn't have proper insurance, so now they are really
stuck? You are in the middle of all that. What is the view from
the front?
General Graham. Senator, thank you for that question. In
any project that the Corps does, there are two imperatives,
Senator. We want to make sure that we get the engineering
right, and that we want to make sure that we are in control of
the projects and are good stewards of the taxpayer's money.
So to your comments, to make sure that we understand the
topography and the hydrology, that is, we agree with you that
it is absolutely essential, and that is the bedrock that all
that engineering is founded upon.
Senator, I will go back and relook based on the information
you provided to make sure we are, indeed, using the best
science available.
Senator Whitehouse. I think, often, predictions related to
climate change are simply zero factored out, which is just
simply bad prediction when we know perfectly well what is going
on here. You see it change, and then you act as if it is just
going to go straight from here on over, rather than continue
its trajectory, when there is zero science to support that
proposition that it is going to go level state. So please take
a look at that.
The other thing I want to just flag for this hearing and
for my colleagues, which I always do, is that, we are talking
about Ida. Ida hit as a coastal flood. The Army Corps of
Engineers has something called the Flood and Coastal--Coastal--
Storm Damage Reduction Program.
In the last decade, it has run between favoring inland over
coastal flooding by 19 to 1. That was our best year, to be at
the tail end of a 19 to 1 losing battle, to 120 to 1, $1 for
coasts for every $120 for inland.
And the fiscal year 2022 budget has it at 45 to 1,
somewhere in the middle, $1 for coastal for every $45 for
inland. And I want to thank the Corps for agreeing to take a
good, hard look at this and try to understand exactly what the
heck is going on.
But when you look at sea level rise, when you look at
offshore storms, when you look at Ida coming ashore as a
coastal storm, the idea that you guys have set up your inland,
your Flood and Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Program in a way
that so inexplicably favors inland flooding over coastal
flooding is a matter of real concern to those of us who
represent coastal States and have huge flooding issues, like
what STORMTOOLS reveals about Rhode Island.
We are working on that through another lane, but I just
didn't want to let this opportunity to go by without raising
that astounding discrepancy and what it means for my State.
Thank you; my time is up.
Senator Capito. Senator Boozman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you very much and thank you all for
being here. We really do appreciate your service to our country
in this capacity, but you have all had outstanding careers and
have just served in so many different ways.
I want to associate myself with Senator Inhofe's words
regarding the MKARNS, the importance of getting back on track,
the benefit to the economy, all of those kinds of things. He
truly has been a great champion and great leader in that for
many, many years, and it really is important, not only to our
States, but to the economy of the entire country, and really,
the world.
Major General Graham, media reports indicate that the cost
of damage from Hurricane Ida could be as high as $95 billion.
This compares to $170 billion resulting from Katrina, $131
billion from Harvey, and $74 billion from Sandy, according to
estimates by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
In your testimony, you discussed how our country invested
$14.5 billion to reduce flood risk in New Orleans. I like how
you used the term ``invested'' instead of ``appropriated'' or
``obligated,'' because infrastructure projects truly are an
investment, especially ones such as the Hurricane Storm Damage
Risk Reduction System that did protect New Orleans, which saves
this country money, and more importantly, saves lives.
I guess the question is, do you believe the American people
received a good return on their $14.5 billion investment? If
so, why?
General Graham. Senator, thank you for that question. I
think, certainly, it was a great investment. I was able to go
visit Colonel Murphy about a week after the storm hit, and I
was expecting to have to stay out in Mobile or maybe up in
Baton Rouge.
But a week after the storm hit, the amazing city of New
Orleans was back on its feet, and it would not have been back
on its feet if it wasn't for that $14.5 billion investment.
Senator Boozman. Very good.
Colonel Murphy, in your opening statement, you talked about
the team effort between the Federal, State, and local
government, tribal and levee boards, to address the issues
caused by Hurricane Ida. In your opinion, how much does it help
the Corps when they are able to lean on their non-Federal
sponsors, and what are the benefits of having local side by
side with the Federal Government when addressing the aftermath
of extreme weather events, and I would say, even, not only
aftermath, but the precursor?
Colonel Murphy. Senator, I say in short, having a single
non-Federal sponsor through the State has been invaluable. Just
during the storm, I was talking to the Governor directly via
phone call and text; I was talking to Chairman Kline with the
State's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and I
push out what we call LGLs, Local Government Liaisons, but
Corps employees directly to the parish and levee district
emergency operation centers.
That communication that that has facilitated really has
created a--we like to say, a one door to the Corps approach,
whereby questions, concerns, friction is immediately
identified, and we can solve problems.
So it helps quicken our response, and I would attribute,
really, a lot of the communication that exists right now to why
we have been successful to date.
Senator Boozman. Colonel, what other Corps constructed
Flood and Storm Damage Reduction projects within the New
Orleans District, apart from Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk
Reduction System, were impacted by Hurricane Ida, and what is
your assessment of their performance?
I had the opportunity to be down there in Congressman
Scalise's district, which butts up to New Orleans, and after
Katrina, and I know that there was tremendous impact there,
sometimes we leave those areas out because of the focus, you
know, on the bigger centers, but tell us what else was
impacted.
Colonel Murphy. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Boozman. Assessment of their performance.
Colonel Murphy. Like I said during my opening remarks, any
Federal system performed as designed. We didn't see any major
overtopping, and certainly not on the hurricane storm damage.
Outside of that, though, we have over $1 billion in DB 18
supplemental projects that we didn't see any major impacts on.
Sadly enough for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Project,
unfortunately, that was not in place. The good news is, we are
actually moving forward. We have let contracts; we just let the
first contract on that. That will reduce risk to La Place,
which was one of the most heavily impacted areas to the storm,
and with those contracts in place, really, the majority of them
this coming year and 2022, we will be well on our way to
completing that project.
Senator Boozman. Very good. You have got a good story to
tell. That is great, thank you.
Senator Carper [presiding]. Senator Capito.
Senator Capito. Thank you, and thank you all for being
here.
After I question, and the Chairman has given me this time,
I have to go to another 11 o'clock meeting, so I want to thank
you.
So, I am going to start with you, Colonel Murphy, on a
quiz. You said, navigation routes, the busiest is the
Mississippi; the third is the inland waterway. What is the one
in the middle?
Colonel Murphy. Senator, it is the Ohio River.
Senator Capito. I was hoping you would say that.
[Laughter.]
Senator Capito. It just happens to run right along the
western border of my State.
Major General Graham, thank you. This is the second time we
have gotten to work together, so this is great. I am going to
say something that we talked about, pre-disaster mitigation and
how important that is. It is interesting to hear my colleagues
talk about these flash rains that just sort of sit, and that
was our last flood in 2016, was very devastating, as you know.
But what we hear from our local partners sometimes, and
even FEMA in some sense, and I am not laying blame here, is
that sometimes, the processes to get help are so doggone
complicated. So you have got an opportunity through the climate
program that you said you wrote that has five different aspects
to it to, I think, really streamline some of these.
If I look at my cities and towns and counties, they don't
have flood disaster experts. They have somebody that is tasked
with that, but they are also tasked with traffic or some
other--trash pickup, or some other functions, because they are
spread pretty thin. You all have all that expertise, and I
think, as much as you can streamline those processes in working
with your local partners, certainly in New Orleans, they have a
lot of experience with it.
But what we found was it was just chaos, but managed chaos.
But I think we could have done better with it and recovered
quicker, had we had a little bit more hand holding and
simplistic way to react to some of those.
I want to ask you, just put that on your radar screen, we
have just appropriated $5.7 billion in supplemental
appropriations in the continuing resolution. I was wondering,
your process and timeline for expending these funds, if you
have any ideas on that.
Also, will you make sure that that information regarding
this funding, when we make requests for information, that that
comes in a timely fashion?
General Graham. Ranking Member Capito, in terms of
transparency with--to respond to the Committee's request,
absolutely. We will be absolutely committed to being responsive
on those.
To the timeline on getting those $5.71 billion that we just
received at work for the American people, we are working on
that right now. We are looking at the investigation projects,
the construction projects, certainly we are looking at the
Mississippi River projects, and the O&M work that we have got.
Our goal is to, as with any of the disaster supplementals, is
to get that work delivered as fast as we possibly can.
Senator Capito. What is the timeline stretch on that, on
those dollars? Do you know?
General Graham. Ma'am, I don't know. I will get that answer
back to your team.
Senator Capito. OK, thank you.
General Tickner, I think we were all astounded when we saw
the video of the post of, well, it wasn't the post, it was
Hurricane Ida flooding the subways in New York City. I think it
was something we hadn't ever really anticipated.
What do you attribute that to? Was there something, again,
here that pre-disaster could have been better performed to be
able to mitigate that?
Because we saw, obviously, as the Colonel said, the pre-
disaster that we did in response to Katrina actually prevented
a lot more damage in Ida. So, what do you see in the Northeast
in terms of very unlikely places to see pictures like that?
General Tickner. Ranking Member Capito, I appreciate that
question. And as an engineer, we all watched what happened in
New York City. We don't really have a project there that takes
care of that.
But what happened was a large amount of rain fell in a very
short period of time, record levels, and their stormwater
system, the drains, couldn't handle it.
So the roads turned into rivers, and water went to the
lowest point, many of which was a basement.
There were a lot of rescues that happened in the basements.
Then there were also folks trying to drive through those,
that stormwater, which, once you get out of your vehicle, you
are now fighting the water, and the power of the water, it will
overtake anybody.
So, regretfully, New York City had 18 deaths. New Jersey
had even more with 30, I believe.
So, from talking to my counterparts at the State level,
from a pure flash flood, when we are not putting in a project,
it is about education and letting people know that this risk is
out there. Don't go into the water. Regretfully, some people
lived in the basements, and hopefully, that problem is being
corrected, where they have a way out.
Senator Capito. Well, I would say that the bill that we
passed, the Safe Drinking Water and Wastewater, and then as was
incorporated into the BIF, in terms of trying to manage or
trying to modernize some of these old storm systems, I don't
know how old New York City's storm system is, but I would
imagine it is in excess, probably, of 100 years. Certainly, we
have systems that old in our State, and then to try to manage
that.
So, this is where I think if we do on the front end, what
we know to have fallacies on the back end, we are going to end
up saving money, saving lives, saving property.
But we have got to make these processes for communities and
States to access these dollars so they actually feel like they
can work with you and work with other local partners, FEMA and
whoever, to be able to get these projects up and running.
So thank you all very much, and I appreciate all of your
good hard work. Thank you.
Senator Carper. Senator Capito, thanks so much, and thanks
for keeping the trains on time while I was trying to wear two
hats at once.
No, the Army is always on time. It is the Navy we worry
about, right? I say that as a retired Navy captain. I like to
say, different uniforms, same team. There we go; how is that?
Colonel Murphy, let me just say, this could be for anybody,
but in terms of what we witnessed in greater New York, the
subways flooding and that sort of thing, my sense is that with
climate change, we are seeing more intense rain. In some cases,
we are seeing storms hunker down and sit on an area for a
while, and just create a lot of flooding. Is that a fair
characterization or not, anybody?
General Graham. Chairman, I believe it is, that that is a
fair characterization, and in that massive rainfall events that
we weren't expecting is, I think, what caught a lot of people
by surprise. We saw the tragedies in western Tennessee with
some of the mountain flooding, and the valleys, where we
tragically lost some lives this year.
If you would ask somebody in New York City, do you think
that could happen here? I am going to guess that they probably
said it couldn't.
So I think education on this coming out of this is probably
our best defense.
Senator Carper. Yes.
General, anyone else want to comment? I know that you
weren't trained, I wasn't either, in weather-ology or
meteorology.
General Tickner. I will just mention a little bit, maybe
beyond New York City, where we have done, we have started to
build over the last 100 years in the flood plains. That is
something that I know our State partners are very concerned
with because they don't want just to do projects; they would
like to do natural and nature based features and non-
structural, which could be moving people out of the flood plain
that exists today.
Senator Carper. All right, thank you.
I want to put a human face on it, so when Hurricane Ida
came up the East Coast, it spun some tornadoes. One of those
tornadoes ripped through nearly just on the other side of the
Delaware Memorial Bridge.
It struck a family farm, a number of them, but also the
family farm of Katie Grasso. We know her; she is my
communications director in Delaware, lives in New Jersey. Her
family farm, their family farm was destroyed, houses,
buildings, equipment.
So, that is a human face. People that we know, and there
are a lot of other folks that are suffering, were suffering,
are suffering today, still, as a result of all of this, but
Hurricane Ida was the first big test of the new Hurricane Storm
Risk Reduction System.
By most accounts, maybe by all accounts, it was given an A.
I didn't get a whole lot of As when I was in school, but that
is very encouraging to hear. I got a few. This system, however,
is only part of the picture. It doesn't function without
tireless communication and collaboration with other critical
players.
My question is for you, Colonel, please. Please tell us
about the differences between the Corps' response to Hurricane
Katrina and Rita and the response to Hurricane Ida. What were
the biggest changes and lessons learned from previous storms
that you put into use in responding to Hurricane Ida?
Colonel Murphy. Thank you, Chairman. I could probably spend
30 minutes, but I won't.
I would tell you a big difference is the systems approach
that the Corps now uses. Before Katrina, it was the Hurricane
Protection System, and it was a system in name only. It allowed
water into the city via canals, and it was incrementally
funded. So I would say a huge change is the Corps approached it
as a system, which I think has application to what this
Committee is interested in is, how do we get after coastal
resilience, how do we get after flooding, is looking at things
as a system.
So, that full Federal funding, key lesson learned, allowed
the Corps to move forward. All the talents and the technology
that the Corps had, we see today in the system. It allows
decisions to be made that are not funding based, but they are
risk based, and you see that in what performed right during
Ida.
I would say we had a willing Federal partner, a single
Federal partner, that did not exist between Katrina.
And now with the State, I work with the Coastal Protection
and Restoration Agency, and they work with the levee districts.
The communication is back and forth.
But I have a single State sponsor who is responsible for
working real estate issues, who I work with on payback, all the
kinds of issues.
Then really third, I would say, another key enabler was the
alternative environmental arrangements. There is no way to
build the kind of infrastructure you need without having some
kind of an environmental alternative arrangements to allow you
to move quickly. Now, we still met those environmental
requirements, but what really Congress allowed working with CEQ
after Katrina, we were able to move forward very quickly.
Senator Carper. You didn't need the 30 minutes, but you
have 27 more minutes. We will just put that in the bank, OK?
I am going to turn next to General Graham for a quick
question pertaining to climate change and project design. As I
mentioned earlier, the intensity, the frequency, the duration
of storms has increased significantly, and as climate continues
to warm, as our climate continues to warm, hurricane intensity
and rainfall are only projected to increase as we continue to
experience the impacts of climate change. The way in which we
approach risk reduction must take these factors into account.
My question is, and I will ask you to be fairly brief on
this because I want to recognize Senator Kelly shortly, but
does the Corps currently account for climate change in its
design process for flood risk management projects?
General Graham. Sir, it does, absolutely. I will give you a
very quick example. We are working on a project. It is on
Highway 1, which goes down to the Florida Keys in Monroe
County, the southern tip of Florida.
We have formulated that project, we designed that project,
for the high sea level curve, because one of the aspects is
raising Highway 1, the only road in and out.
So, we went and had the authority to use the higher sea
level curve, and that is what we are using for this project.
Senator Carper. All right, good.
I have a follow up question for the entire panel. I am
going to yield to Senator Kelly. He is a man on a mission, so
he can ask his questions and head on to his next assignment.
Senator Kelly. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
for all the witnesses today for being here.
General Graham, this question is for you, on emergency
preparedness in Arizona. You have spoken both in your testimony
about the lessons that the Army Corps of Engineers learned from
Hurricane Katrina and how those lessons informed the Corps'
response to Hurricane Ida.
But of course, the goal of emergency preparedness should be
to be ready to respond to any catastrophe the first time. With
a changing climate affecting all aspects of the country
differently, preparing for the worst case scenarios everywhere
is even more important. That is why I was pleased to see that
the Los Angeles District partnered with the Arizona Department
of Emergency and Military Affairs in early September to host an
emergency exercise to plan for a scenario where above average
rainfall in Arizona causes the Corps' Painted Rock Dam near
Gila Bend to fail and risk significant downstream flooding.
So, General, can you describe the value that tabletop
exercises like the one hosted in Arizona can provide to the
Corps as you prepare for the worst case scenarios? What value
do exercises like these provide for the Corps as you work to
respond to the real world damages, like those cause by
Hurricane Ida?
General Graham. Senator Kelly, I certainly thank you for
that question. We were all watching the monsoon season, very,
very wet monsoon season down in New Mexico and Arizona closely.
So, those exercises that our South Pacific Division did in the
Albuquerque District were absolutely key to making sure that
the partnership that Colonel Murphy spoke to that works so well
within the State of Louisiana, that we build that connective
tissue within our State partners in Arizona. It is the ``make a
friend before you need a friend,'' and it is really all about
trust.
In the middle of a disaster, if you haven't established
that trust beforehand, you have got a storm, norm, and perform
during the hurricane or the storm, and we don't want to do
that. So it is absolutely key, those exercises are, to building
trust in that whole of government team.
Senator Kelly. Yes, I mean, it just reminds me of not only
flying the space shuttle simulator, but at times, we also do
tabletop a lot of different scenarios that often are rather
complex.
In Arizona right now, as you know, we have had the worst
drought in our country's history, in Arizona's history. I have
a subcommittee hearing on this specific issue later today to
discuss what do we do here going forward to mitigate for this
drought.
Because of climate issues we are facing, we have had one of
our worst wildfire seasons. As you know, after the fire, if it
rains, comes the flooding. We have been dealing with that, so I
appreciate you doing this.
I have got another question about Corps benefit-cost ratio,
General. As you know, the Corps makes most construction and
investigation investments based on a project's benefit to cost
ratio as a way to measure the value of the project, what value
that project will provide to the surrounding community,
including preventing a worst case scenario during a disaster.
I, like many folks, Senators, on this Committee, support
efforts to ensure that a project's benefit to cost ratio
reflects not just the monetary value of property damage, but
the risks to life and health of those affected by a potential
Corps project. So, General, when you look across the country,
do you believe the Corps does a good job at prioritizing
investments in the construction and investigation projects,
which are most likely to prevent future disasters?
General Graham. Senator Kelly, thank you for that question.
On anything we do, there is always room for improvement. For
the benefits that you spoke of, we often evaluate a project
primarily on its national economic development benefits. We are
working now to incorporate three other benefits, and those are
the regional economic benefits, the societal effects, and the
environmental benefit, as well. So, those include the life,
health, safety that you just spoke to, so we are going to make
sure that we are including all of those when we design our
studies.
Senator Kelly. Well, thank you General Graham, and thank
you to all of you for being here today. And I yield back 18
seconds.
Senator Carper. We appreciate each one of those 18 seconds.
Senator Kelly, thanks. I know you had a full plate this
morning; thanks for making time to come by and participate.
Before I recognized Senator Kelly, I was talking to General
Graham about climate change and project design, and I has
asked, does the Corps currently account for climate change in
its design process for flood risk management projects. You were
good enough to answer that.
I want to do a follow up to that question for the rest of
the panel, if I could. That would be, how does the Corps adapt
its design processes with the rapid advances in science and our
increased understanding of the interconnectivity of these
systems, keeping in mind the increased frequency and intensity
of climate related impacts into our future?
Tom Tickner, would you like to take a shot at that, then
Colonel, and then we will come back to General Graham?
General Tickner. Chairman Carper, thanks for the question.
We have lots of projects on the Northeast that we are studying.
We do take the current science, the existing engineering that
is out there that is really not changing.
But the science and the new data that is coming in with
climate change is adjusting our projects. You see that on the
coastal projects that we have in Delaware and New Jersey and
Maryland with the dune systems that we have.
But it also is going on to all our flood risk management
projects as we look at the potential amount of water that has
got to pass through safely, past urban areas, and to where we
are going to let it expand or go out to sea.
Senator Carper. All right.
Colonel Murphy, anything you want to add to this?
Colonel Murphy. I would say, down in the Mississippi,
Chairman, I would say down in the Mississippi Valley Division,
which is my higher headquarters, we have the Engineer Research
and Development Center, which is Corps of Engineers, and for a
lot of our issues, we are working closely with them to get--
they are our lead for science, technology.
I can tell you, just on studies on the Lower Mississippi
River, we are incorporating the best science and data that they
have helped to provide us.
Senator Carper. All right, thank you. General Graham,
anything else you want to add before we turn the page?
General Graham. Just to reemphasize that, the research and
development aspects of this, which is, we know the world is
changing, and to make sure that we are on a solid foundation of
science is absolutely critical.
Senator Carper. All right, thank you. We will be guided by
science, not blinded by science. That is good.
General Tickner, if I could, another question for you
regarding flooding impacts in urban areas, not unlike what we
saw in the Greater Wilmington, Delaware, area when this
hurricane came through. General Tickner, your command covers,
as we know, the North Atlantic Region, which includes some of
the most densely populated areas in our Nation. While Ida had
significantly weakened by the time it made its way up the East
Coast, it nevertheless produced devastating impacts throughout
our region, including in my home State of Delaware.
Could you just describe for us briefly some of the specific
challenges that the Corps faces in conducting flood response in
urban environments, and how did you overcome them, and how
might we better overcome them in the future?
General Tickner. Chairman Carper, thank you for the
question. It is a shared response. We are working very closely
with all the States, definitely Delaware, but through all the
States in the Northeast.
It is a combination of structural things that the Corps of
Engineers would come up with, non-structural, moving folks out
of the flood plain. It is allowing the water to expand into
certain areas, like parks or other environmental habitats. It
is other educational tools to allow people to know what could
happen in their area, river gauges and installing more of them,
which goes right to the early warning systems.
One of the successes that I have heard from the States was,
they were able to warn their citizens through the automated
systems that were out there. They knew flash flooding was
happening because of the river gauges, and so it is a
partnership and a shared responsibility.
Senator Carper. All right, thank you.
General Graham, a different question, if I might, one that
deals with environmental justice communities; there is a lot of
them in my State and around the country. General Graham,
despite the recent supplemental bills that have provided a
significant increase in Federal investments for critical
infrastructure, the impact of storms like Ida will always
disproportionately affect those who may not have the means to
evacuate in a timely manner, especially those in economically
disadvantaged communities with large environmental justice
populations. Rather than mitigating the damage from these
storms on the back end, it is imperative that we invest up
front to protect those communities that need the most help.
My question would be, would you just discuss with us for a
bit how the Corps is specifically helping these communities
from future storms or natural disasters?
General Graham. Chairman Carper, thank you for that
question. The guidance we received from President Biden is
absolutely clear, to focus the Federal investments on
environmental justice.
One of the areas, and I will focus up in the Northeast,
would be the back bays. We have put coastal storm risk
management systems, the berm and dune systems that you are
familiar with, on the parts of the coast facing the oceans. A
lot of the flooding also happens around the back bays, and
oftentimes, the folks that live back there aren't as well off.
There is a great deal of environmental justice concerns back
there. So we are formulating a bunch of those projects.
Certainly, General Tickner is right now, and those will
soon be, some of them have already been in front of this
Committee, and some of the larger ones will soon be there. I
think that is one aspect of how we are getting at that.
Senator Carper. All right, thank you.
I have more questions I would like to ask, but I am needed
back at the Homeland Security and Government Affairs markup
business meeting, so they are saving you from any further
damage I might inflict. Actually, I have not inflicted, and you
have been very forthright and clear minded in your responses.
I just want to give a brief closing statement here, and
then you can look for a couple more questions for the record
that I would like to have asked, and you will receive those
shortly.
Before we adjourn, a little bit of housekeeping. I would
like to ask unanimous consent to submit for the record a
variety of materials that include letters from stakeholders and
other materials that relate to today's hearing, and asking
unanimous consent while I am the only one in the room, that is
a pretty easy thing to do, so no objection.
[The referenced information was not received at time of
print.]
Senator Carper. Additionally, Senators will be allowed to
submit questions for the record through close of business of
Wednesday, October 20th. We will compile those questions; we
will send them to our witnesses. We ask that you provide a
reply to us by Wednesday, November the 3rd.
In closing, I just want to thank our witnesses for your
testimony today. I really want to thank you for your continued
service to our Nation. As one who spent a few years in uniform
myself, I have huge respect for the work that you and the men
and women you lead do for our Nation.
I know of so many of your teams, both serving in the
military work around the clock to help Americans who are
suffering in the wake of these disasters. We are grateful for
your work. I want to make sure the Corps is equipped with the
resources it needs to carry out your missions and fortify
communities amidst a worsening climate crisis.
I don't have any other unanimous consent requests, do I?
No?
With that, we are dismissed.
Thank you again so much. Great to see you all.
[Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
[all]