With wild fires raging in Los Angeles and flooding closer to home, Gov. Ned Lamont called Tuesday for measures to combat climate change in Connecticut in order to preserve property and even save lives.
The state was hit by unexpected flooding in 2024 that resulted in multiple deaths as areas that were not known for flooding were suddenly inundated with fast-moving water, including Oxford and Seymour.
Lamont called for increasing access to flood insurance, reducing development in areas prone to flooding, increasing state oversight in high-risk areas, and better planning for new bridges and culverts in areas that have become more prone to the storm damage. The measures will be included in a bill that will be unveiled next month and will then be debated by the state legislature.
At a time when state and national news show hurricanes and damaging winds, Lamont expressed concern and said it is time to take action.
“I don’t think we’re winning. I think we’re losing,” Lamont told reporters at the state Capitol in Hartford. “As I look around the country, ask L.A. Ask Florida. Ask North Carolina. Climate change is real, and these extreme weather effects are costing us more and more every day. … We’re playing catch-up. I used to think that resiliency was all about the shoreline and rising sea levels. Then here’s the Little Creek right in the middle of central Connecticut.”
The once-tiny waterway that caused major damage at the Klarides Plaza shopping center in Seymour is known as the Little River. It overflowed this summer in a 1,000-year storm that dumped as much as 16 inches of rain in mere hours and caused extensive damages for roads and businesses.
Residents were flabbergasted that the extensive damage came from a tiny brook that is normally only 10 feet wide and one foot deep. With the torrential rains, the brook quickly swelled to 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep. That allowed the water to rise quickly and cause major damage to more than a dozen retail outlets in the plaza
Since then, Lamont has announced that 278 small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven counties had received a combined total of nearly $6 million in emergency funding through one-time grants. The businesses reported having $38 million in damages, which does not include additional damages for roads and small bridges that were washed out in various towns.
On a national level, Lamont said he was stunned by a first-day executive order Monday by Republican President Donald J. Trump.
“I was really dismayed that one of the first executive orders the president signed was getting us out of the Paris climate accords,” Lamont said. “New England produces as much C02 emissions in a year as China does in a day. … If we can’t work internationally, we’re going to continue losing on this. I want to make sure that the rest of the world sees that Connecticut and more importantly, America, is taking the lead and not reneging on our responsibilities.”
Locally, the severe flooding on Aug. 18, 2024, caused three deaths and nearly $300 million in property damage.
“I was shocked when I went down to the Naugatuck Valley after that flooding and nobody had any flood insurance,” Lamont said. “It wasn’t in the floodplain. … We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Under Lamont’s plan, bank, insurance and mortgage companies and insurance brokers will be required to provide details on flooding insurance to new homeowners at the mortgage signing. If the new homeowner refuses to buy flood insurance, that must be documented, officials said.
In bipartisan fashion, Republican Sen. Tony Hwang said Tuesday that he supports Lamont’s package, which is similar to Senate Bill 11 from last year that he also supported.
“As ranking senator on the Insurance and Real Estate Committee and a long-time advocate for addressing climate change, I commend the governor for prioritizing resiliency and coastal protection in his proposed legislation,” said Hwang, who lives in the waterfront town of Fairfield. “While we confront the escalating threats posed by rising sea levels, severe storms, and other extreme weather events, it is critical that we take proactive and comprehensive action to protect our communities.”
Weather impacts
Aside from the severe flooding in Oxford and Seymour, state officials cited instances of extreme weather that included:
- Heavy rain that flooded the Yantic River in Norwich in January 2024 and raised concerns about the near-failure of the Fitchville Pond Dam in Bozrah
- Excessive flooding that stranded families in Scotland in Windham County after two bridges collapsed in September 2023
- One of the largest brush fires in recent state history that damaged acres on Lamentation Mountain in Berlin and Meriden that caused the death of a volunteer firefighter and was not extinguished for several weeks.
Besides various one-time events, the year that stretched from July of 2023 to June of 2024 was recorded as the most rain in state history, while 2024 marked the warmest year ever. The summer of 2024 marked the warmest summer in the city of Hartford.
Nearly 20 restaurant patrons and a dog had to be rescued when a restaurant in Oxford and a nearby residence experienced severe flooding in August 2024. (Courtesy of Beacon Hose Company No. 1)Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
