$30m Savannah ‘flood prevention’ grant should be reinstated, Sen. Warnock argues

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock is “escalating his fight to reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program,” which supports local disaster mitigation projects, according to a press release WTOC received earlier today.

Among other projects, the program supported a $30 million grant to Savannah for flood reduction measures.

This program was canceled earlier in 2025.

The release states that Senator Warnock is renewing his efforts to pressure the Trump administration to reinstate the flood prevention grant following deadly flooding in Texas which claimed the lives of over 130 people.

“Just last month, catastrophic flooding in Texas claimed the lives of at least 130 people,” wrote Senator Warnock to Secretary Kristi Noem. “These deadly floods tragically demonstrate why the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate a $30 million BRIC grant to reduce flooding in Savannah, Georgia — a fully approved project designed to save lives in one of the Southeast’s most vulnerable coastal cities — is all the more difficult to understand.”

Read the full letter Senator Warnock sent to White House Secretary Kristi Noem below:

The release also states that Senator Warnock also asked Secretary Noem to commit to ensuring that FEMA’s Region IV office in Atlanta, which oversees disaster response for all of Georgia and much of the southeast, remains fully staffed and resourced for the 2025 hurricane season.