Nurture Nature Foundation Receives Federal Support
For Flood Awareness Campaign
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Initiative to focus on flood-prone areas of the Delaware River Basin
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Support advances development of Nurture Nature Center in Easton, Pennsylvania

(EASTON, PA) –Apr. 30, 2009–   The Nurture Nature Foundation, http://nurturenature.org/, an environmental nonprofit headquartered in New York that is deeply involved in Easton, has secured $250,000 in federal funding to support a flood awareness and emergency preparedness education campaign in the recently flooded regions along the Delaware River, in the four Basin states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York.  The program is designed to increase public use of the flood forecast and flood warning system resources of the National Weather Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (PA-15), secured funding for the project as one of several important programs focused on flooding in the mid-Atlantic region that were part of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act. These include a resumption of federal contributions to the Delaware River Basin Commission, which had not received its funding allocation from the federal government since 1996.

“Flooding has imposed many difficulties on our communities along the Delaware River and it is one of my top priorities to help avoid the kind of devastation we have seen recently,” Congressman Dent said. “Nurture Nature’s education and outreach program is an essential part of the multi-step process of region-wide education, evaluation and planning that can help avert a flooding catastrophe in the future.”

Nurture Nature Foundation is supporting the creation of the Nurture Nature Center (NNC), which recently opened offices in Easton, Pennsylvania (www.nurturenaturecenter.org). NNC’s mission, like that of the Nurture Nature Foundation, is to promote sustainable development, and flood education will be a core theme of its work (www.floodproject.org).  This recently announced programming will be coordinated from NNC’s Easton office. The initial focus will be on outreach regionally in the Delaware River Basin, but the materials that are developed will be suitable for use nationwide in flood-prone communities. 

A landmark evaluation of the National Flood Insurance Program in 2006 identified flooding as the nation’s most common natural disaster, but also stressed that the losses caused by floods are also the most preventable.

“Delaware River Basin communities have learned, through the repetitive floods of 2004, 2005 and 2006, how damaging flooding can be,” said Chairman Theodore W. Kheel, noting that a historic hotel in Easton that the foundation recently restored at a cost of over $12 million had felt the impact of those floods. “The tragedy is that many of the losses could have been prevented. This program will help residents of the region who live in flood-prone areas be better prepared for future flooding events, and will form the basis of a national program that can help reduce flood losses across the country.”

This program will build on NNF’s developing efforts at educating the public about living near the water’s edge. The foundation recently completed a film segment, titled the Pennsylvania Flood Challenge, in cooperation with award-winning film producer Marshall Frech, who will also be working with NNF on the development of educational materials for the campaign. NNF has also been working in partnership with Lafayette College, Northampton Community College and Easton Area High School, and has developed and presented flood education programs for professional audiences. NNF’s work on this issue has drawn national leaders in the field to Easton, and inspired other initiatives to address flood problems in the area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Rachel Hogan
518 Northampton Street
Easton, PA 18042
610-253-4432
Email: rhogan@nurturenature.org