Nonprofit report identifies Richmond as facing increased risk of climate disasters

The city of Richmond has more factors that put it at risk for future weather disasters in coming years than any other locality in Virginia, according to a report published.

Rebuild by Design, a nonprofit organization researching ways to adapt and prepare for climate change, found that nearly all of Virginia's 133 jurisdictions declared at least one weather disaster between 2011 and 2021.

Ninety percent of counties nationwide declared at least one disaster in that period, with some facing as many as 12 disasters. King and Queen County, on Virginia's Middle Peninsula, had six federally declared disasters, the most in the state.

FEMA and HUD have provided the state with more than $410 million in public post-disaster aid in the 11-year period, the report found -- a figure that does not include insurance payouts or individual assistance from those agencies or support from other federal bodies like the Army Corps of Engineers.

Louisa County has received the most funding from FEMA and HUD, with $42 million in relief.

The report calls on states to create what Rebuild by Design calls "Resilient Investment Funds" through measures such as issuing state or municipal bonds and levying a 2% surcharge on property and casualty insurance. In its analysis, Rebuild says that such an approach could generate an additional $6.2 billion for Virginia to proactively fund disaster-mitigation infrastructure.