Thank you, Chair.
Thank you very much, witnesses, for being here today. I really appreciate your time and your views on the circumstances.
Like some other members of the committee, I remember the first time that I heard the term “atmospheric river”. Then I recalled that it used to be called the “Pineapple Express”. It's been here for a very long time.
I'm going to take a look at this issue a bit from the point of view of the taxpayer. I don't think it's very efficient for taxpayers to be.... Let me back up a bit. Federal disaster recovery programs happen after the fact, after something has already happened, and that is not an optimum circumstance.
We could speak to federal insurance programs that would co-pay or participate with homebuyers and municipalities to mitigate, but again, that's after the fact, and that's still not optimum. I'm wondering about what disaster mitigation or adaptation mechanisms are most effective and what we should look at before the fact.
Mr. Coyne, could you tell me to what extent urban design aggravates circumstances and what we could do better compared to the circumstances we have on the ground today?