The Pennsylvania Silver Jackets Team has been awarded the 2024 national “Team of the Year” for its collaborative partnerships in tackling Pennsylvania’s top natural hazard – flooding. The state Silver Jackets Team of the Year award recognizes an outstanding team that exemplifies effective flood risk management within the context of shared responsibility and that demonstrates significant accomplishments in the preceding year. The team award is chosen through a peer voting process of Silver Jackets teams from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and four territories having the opportunity to cast votes. Pennsylvania won the award previously in 2013.
“We are proud of the efforts of our partners to help reduce flood risk across the Commonwealth each and every day,” said Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Director Randy Padfield. “This award is a testament to the dedication of our partners who have worked on collaborative projects to make our communities more resilient from the devastating impacts of flooding.”
The Pennsylvania Silver Jackets team is made up of over 20 partners including: municipal, county, state, and federal government; river basin commissions; academia and professional associations; and non-profit organizations. The team is tasked with facilitating collaborative solutions to reduce risks for Pennsylvania’s flood risk priorities. Though collaboration and shared knowledge, the Pennsylvania Silver Jackets enhance preparedness, mitigation, and response and recovery efforts.
“Managing floodwaters and flood risk is a shared responsibility, and the Silver Jackets bring together knowledge and expertise among all of the partners to help Pennsylvania communities,” said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “This award recognizes the great partnership that we have across all levels of government and how we can better protect people and communities in Pennsylvania from devastating floods.”
The team has worked together in meetings to identify community-based efforts needed for flood risk reduction. The Pennsylvania Silver Jackets have developed numerous resources to educate the residents and leaders of the Commonwealth to build resilience which include:
- A catalog of flood resiliency success stories from across the state to share with communities in search of solutions.
- A Flood Mitigation Program Guide, outlining available support and resources to assist communities in building flood resilience.
- A Flooding 101: Flood-Related Outreach Gaps presentation.
- A webinar series featuring flood risk education topics such as watershed basics and flood alerting, mitigation, response, and recovery.
- Workshops on floodproofing properties.
- Training on ice jam hazards and associated flooding.
- A multi-state story map highlighting the 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Agnes flooding and how we can prepare for future flood events.
“We regard highly our relationship with the Pennsylvania Silver Jackets Team,” said Susquehanna River Basin Commission Executive Director Andrew Dehoff. “From warning systems and mapping to emergency exercises and educational bus tours, the SRBC realizes significant value from our investments in the team’s partnerships for community-based flood risk reduction.”
