This letter features reporting from "The Hidden Costs of Flooding in D.C.’s Poorest Wards" by Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe

Dear Mayor Muriel Bowser, 

My name is Claire Marble and I go to Ross Elementary. I am feeling extreme worry about the issue of flooding in D.C., and you should as well. Climate change and other problems are causing parts of D.C. to flood. Recently I read an article called "The Hidden Costs of Flooding in D.C.'s Poorest Wards" by Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe and realized that flooding in D.C. is a big problem for multiple reasons, and you need to care about this. 

Problem 1: The citizens of D.C. are wasting a lot of money. People are wasting money because of home flooding. This could cause a lot of problems involving money and housing, as not everyone has the money to prevent and deal with flooding.

Problem 2. More than just humans are affected in the place you are responsible for because recently there was a flood at the dog care center District Dogs that caused the deaths of TEN dogs. More animals could be hurt and affected by floods and this is animals’ world, too!

This problem does have solutions but they will not be possible without your help. Please think about some of the solutions I give you. 

First, I think we need better flood inspections and to really pay attention to buildings to be absolutely positive they won’t flood. This will help stop flooding or at least know if it could happen. We need better flood tests because in the text "The Hidden Costs of Flooding in D.C.'s Poorest Wards," the journalist states, "heavy rains…result[ed] in the deaths of 10 dogs at the dog care center District Dogs... despite the building passing inspection after flooding last year," I myself have lost a dog and almost lost another. I can't imagine that happening to someone's dog because it died in a flood. Better flood inspections could help prevent floods.

The second way we could prevent or at least decrease flood damage in DC could be if we change flood maps to show how bad the flood could be. The text says that FEMA makes maps to show where floods are likely to happen, but they don’t always show the risk from heavy rain and overwhelmed drains. This means that flood maps do not show how bad a flood could be. If we change that small part of the map, people could prepare appropriately for floods and possibly make floods less damaging.

So you might be thinking, how would people see the flood maps? Well, my last solution is to use the Internet to raise awareness. People are on YouTube and Instagram all the time so if you ask people to share flood maps online, people could see it. If people do not see the flood maps, then the last solution will be a waste of time and some money.

D.C. needs help and you have the power to help us. Please consider my solutions. 

Sincerely,

Claire Marble

Claire Marble is a fourth grader at Ross Elementary School in Washington, D.C. where she lives with her mom, dad, sister, and dog. She enjoys ice skating, acting, singing, and writing. Claire has big feelings about the environment and what she can do to help. Claire was born in New Orleans where she first experienced flooding and is interested in the topic because of how it impacts animals as well as humans.

Read more winning entries from the 2023 Local Letters for Global Change contest!