— Only initiatives that balance structural and non-structural flood risk mitigation, such as natural-systems restoration, should be supported.

— The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey, should support the development of a coalition of citizens and professional and environmental non-governmental organizations, including the ASCE, to carry out a coordinated communication campaign to educate the public about its exposure to flood risks and the actions that need to be taken.

"It has to be a bottom-up and a top-down process," says Traver, "and I don't think the top-down is go to happen unless there is a bottom-up."