Philly gets $25M for sewer system as White House announces new flood-prevention funding

Philadelphia is set to receive more than $25 million for sewer-system improvements and other flood-prevention measures, the White House announced Monday.

In all, the White House is making more than $1 billion available to 343 cities and towns to address flooding and extreme heat exacerbated by climate change.

“For years, we debated the potential impact that climate change could have on our communities,” Vice President Kamala Harris said. “And today we know the impact. If folks weren’t clear about it before, just watch the evening news and see that the time for debate is long past.”

“Climate change has become a climate crisis,” she added. “A threat has now become a reality.”

The announcement came as the death toll from flooding in Kentucky continued to climb amid a renewed threat of more heavy rains. In the West, wildfires in California and Montana exploded in size amid windy, hot conditions, encroaching on neighborhoods and forcing evacuation orders.

Multiple Western states continued heat advisories in a prolonged drought that has dried reservoirs and threatened communities across the region.

For Philadelphia, the announcement comes almost a year after catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Ida devastated parts of the region, damaging or destroying hundreds of homes across Southeastern Pennsylvania and traumatizing residents who feared for their lives.

The money will go toward Philadelphia’s comprehensive growth plan, formally called Plan 2035 Citywide Vision, particularly its “transportation, utilities, and environmental resources objectives,” according to the White House. The goal is to fund projects that not only decrease flood risk but also improve water quality and overall quality of life throughout the city, White House spokesperson Seth Schuster said.

Specifically, he said, the money will go toward adding greener infrastructure to street and highway improvements through measures such as curb extensions, storm-water planters, and tree plantings.

» READ MORE: People in the Philly region are ‘still reeling’ emotionally from Hurricane Ida. Now, more rain is coming.

Harris announced the grant programs at an event in Miami with the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other officials. The competitive grants will help communities across the nation prepare for and respond to climate-related disasters.

"We know that the impacts of the climate crisis are here, and that we must invest in building resilience to protect our communities, infrastructure and economy,'' the White House said in a statement.

Harris visited the National Hurricane Center for a briefing by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and FEMA. She then visited Florida International University, where she spoke about extreme weather events across the country.

President Joe Biden announced last month that the administration would spend $2.3 billion to help communities cope with soaring temperatures through programs administered by FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies. The move doubles spending on the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, program, which supports states, local communities, tribes, and territories on projects to reduce climate-related hazards and prepare for natural disasters such as floods and wildfires.

“Communities across our nation are experiencing firsthand the devastating impacts of the climate change and the related extreme weather events that follow — more energized hurricanes with deadlier storm surges, increased flooding, and a wildfire season that’s become a yearlong threat,” FEMA head Deanne Criswell said.

The funding announced Monday will “help to ensure that our most vulnerable communities are not left behind, with hundreds of millions of dollars ultimately going directly to the communities that need it most,’’ Criswell said.

A total of $1 billion will be made available through the BRIC program, with an additional $160 million to be offered for flood-mitigation assistance, officials said.

The Biden administration has launched a series of actions intended to reduce heat-related illness and protect public health, including a proposed workplace heat standard.

The United States recorded 20 climate-driven weather events in 2021, Harris noted in her address. About 700 people were killed as a result of those emergencies, she added, and each weather disaster cost $1 billion in damage.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.