Our Mission

We believe that our leaders in the Governor's office and Tennessee State Legislature must take action now to leave us all better prepared for the weather events we are likely to experience in the future.

What we're facing:

Floods

Tennessee suffers an average of $243 million in damages from flooding each year.
One inch of water in a home can cause an estimated $25,000 in damage, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Flooding has occurred in every region of Tennessee.

Wildfires

The 2016 wildfires in East Tennessee caused almost $2 billion in damages and killed 14 people. (TACIR)
About 35% of Tennesseans live within the wildland-urban interface, where vulnerability to wildfire is elevated. (States At Risk)

Extreme Heat

In 2022, Middle Tennessee experienced 58 extreme heat days, which is 38 more days than the 1970s average.
Currently, Tennessee averages 10 days a year classified as dangerous or extremely dangerous according to the NWS Heat Index. By 2050, Tennessee is projected to see 55 such days annually, a more than 5-fold increase. (States at Risk)

Drought

Drought in Tennessee has caused aquatic species to die off, increased likelihood of wildfires, and limited agricultural production.
Drought conditions can damage the foundations of Tennessee homes and businesses.

2021_December_Tornado_-_Samburg,_TN_(51752209814).jpg

Tornadoes

In the past five years, tornadoes have cost Tennessee $1.7 billion in damages (NOAA Storm Events Database).
Over half of tornadoes that hit Tennessee occur at night, making them harder to predict and even harder to warn the public about.
Tennessee is a part of Dixie Alley, which has a higher number of deaths from tornadoes than the infamous Tornado Alley. (Northern Illinois University)

Earthquakes

Ten years ago, Tennessee had 120 earthquakes in one year. Just seven months into 2023, the state has already had 114 earthquakes. (The Tennessean)
In the average year Tennessee has more earthquakes than 70% of states.
Some areas of Tennessee have a 74% chance of experiencing a damaging earthquake shaking in the next 100 years.

What we stand for:

Communities throughout Tennessee are unprepared for floods, wildfires, extreme heat, drought, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other extreme weather occurrences.
Other states, like Florida, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia taken important steps to support their communities as they adapt to these risks and vulnerabilities. Tennessee has an opportunity to develop its own unique vision for how the state will plan for extreme weather, adapt to future vulnerabilities, and thrive for the betterment of all of its communities.
Tennessee's local communities need help. We call on our state’s leadership to:
- Initiate a statewide resilience planning effort built on sound, forward-looking data and focused on preparedness and mitigation. The planning effort should be led by a designated team or office to coordinate across all of Tennessee's state agencies, county and local governments, and other interested stakeholder groups.
- Establish a state disaster resilience fund to give communities access to resources for federal grant matching and local hazard mitigation projects.
- Provide technical assistance for community resilience planning, grant applications, and project identification and execution through agency outreach or regional efforts.

What we're celebrating:

2023

TEMA has created a specific resilience administrator position to coordinate mitigation and resilience activities across the state.
TEMA has increased its workforce focused on hazard mitigation and is working to develop the state's first enhanced mitigation plan.
TEMA is actively engaging local officials and stakeholders to better understand where resilience efforts will be most impactful, even soliciting community feedback on Tennessee's first hazard mitigation plan through a public comment survey.