Calling last month’s deadly flash flooding “a wake-up call,” a statewide coalition of cities and towns is recommending drastic action to prevent more devastating floods.

A new report from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents all 169 communities in the state, makes dozens of recommendations. But many are expensive and could be a tough sell for taxpayers.

The report comes nearly one month after a flash flood dropped a foot of rain in just a few hours. The sudden storm killed three people and caused more than $300 million in damage, according to Gov. Ned Lamont’s office.

Randi Marcucio’s home in Oxford collapsed into a creek, taking almost everything she owned with it.

“I had my watch on, but everything's gone,” she told News 12 Connecticut two days after the storm.

Connecticut has asked the White House to declare a major disaster in Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties. In all, flooding destroyed 19 homes and left 77 businesses with major damage.

Can the damage be prevented?

On Tuesday, CCM issued more than two dozen recommendations to mitigate flood risk. The top suggestion? The state should develop its own flood maps that go beyond those from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“Several of these areas have maps that are 20, 30, 40 years old now,” said Erik Mas, with Fuss & O'Neill Engineering, who conducted the nearly two-year study for CCM.

The report also recommends more building restrictions, including higher elevation requirements. It also urges uniform standards to monitor aging dams.

“You can fix flooding in one town. That water’s going to go someplace, and is it fair to just push it?” said Randy Collins, CCM’s associate director of public policy. “I’ve contained it in one town, but if it’s rolling downhill, what does that do to the next town?”

The report urges a new flood warning system and statewide evacuation routes – plus better coordination. Right now, a half dozen state and regional agencies are responsible for flood planning.

“It’s a quagmire,” said Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick. “We’re dealing with FEMA, CIRCA [Connecticut Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaptation], our internal consultants.”

COSTLY SOLUTIONS

Now the catch. Many of the recommendations are expensive, and some could raise taxes.

The report does not put a dollar figure on them, but the federal government could pick up some of the tab. CCM notes that Connecticut towns leave millions of federal dollars on the table each year because they don’t have enough staff to fill out grant applications, or don’t have enough money for matching funds.

To raise more money, CCM said it will once again push for legislation letting communities form Resilience Improvement taxing districts “to provide funds for resiliency projects.”

Taxes may not be popular, but the report’s author said, last month’s flooding proves that doing nothing will cost even more.

“You don’t have to be along the coast. You don’t have to be down by the river to be impacted in a serious way by this intense, rainfall-driven flooding,” said Mas.

The report makes other key recommendations, like encouraging more homeowners to purchase flood insurance.

Read the full report here: