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The city of Alexandria will host its second Flood Resilience Plan community meeting on Thursday, April 16, from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at the Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St. The meeting will also be available via Zoom,.
City representatives will share updated progress on the plan and new details on the policy and programmatic recommendations it will include. Residents will also have an opportunity to ask questions.
The April 16 session builds on a first community meeting held in November 2025 at Patrick Henry Recreation Center, where city staff presented early flood modeling results and a community vulnerability assessment. That meeting drew residents from across the city, with survey data showing the stakes are high: 93 percent of respondents said they had experienced flooding in Alexandria at home or around the city, 52 percent said it happens often or very often, and 59 percent said they are very concerned about future flood impacts. When asked to describe flooding in a word, residents most frequently cited property damage and climate change.
The city's vulnerability assessment, completed as part of the plan, confirmed that watersheds along the Potomac River, Four Mile Run and Hooffs Run face the highest flood risk, while also flagging Holmes Run, Cameron Run and Backlick Run as areas needing further study. The modeling examined three climate scenarios — current and projected flood conditions out to 2075 — and accounted for urban drainage, riverine flooding and coastal storm surge from the Potomac.
The Flood Resilience Plan has its roots in major storms that struck Alexandria in 2020 and 2021, which prompted the city to launch Flood Action Alexandria, a broad initiative encompassing major capital projects, sewer improvements, early warning systems and a flood mitigation grant program. As of November 2025, the city had 16 flood-related projects completed, 11 under construction, 19 in design and seven in planning.
The current plan is funded through a grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Community Flood Preparedness Fund and is expected to be finalized by June 2026. In addition to identifying priority mitigation projects, it aims to help Alexandria qualify for reduced flood insurance premiums under the FEMA Community Rating System and honor commitments in the city's Energy and Climate Change Action Plan.
Several bus stops are nearby, including the Old Town Circulator. A recording of the meeting will be posted on the Flood Resilience Plan webpage afterward. For questions or to request disability accommodations, contact Civil Engineer Ami Cobb at ami.cobb@alexandriava.gov or 703-746-4049. Virginia Relay users may call 711.
