The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (MPPDC) announced that its nationally recognized Fight the Flood program has surpassed $50 million in direct loans and grants distributed to property owners across Virginia’s Middle Peninsula.

Over the past five years, the program has delivered $52,090,962 in funding, enrolled over 275 properties and partnered with nearly 50 businesses to strengthen the region’s resilience economy.

What began as a bold idea — to treat water as an asset rather than a barrier — has grown into the only flood-resiliency marketplace of its kind in the United States.

“Surpassing $50 million is more than a financial milestone,” said MPPDC’s Lewie Lawrence, architect of the Fight the Flood program. “It represents homeowners protecting their properties, businesses expanding services, innovative shoreline solutions improving water quality and a rural coastal economy proving that resilience can drive growth.”

Launched in 2020 after years of policy development and state-level coordination, Fight the Flood connects property owners facing flood risks with vetted contractors, financing tools and technical expertise. The online marketplace model simplifies what was once a complex and fragmented process.

The program’s growth has accelerated significantly:

• By 2022, investments surpassed $18 million.
• By mid-2024, funding exceeded $44 million.
• In 2025, total grants and loans distributed topped $50 million

This rapid expansion reflects increasing demand for flood mitigation solutions as flooding continue to impact both waterfront and inland communities.

Fight the Flood’s impact extends beyond individual projects. The program has helped:

• Advance living shorelines as the preferred method of shoreline protection statewide
• Support dredging and beneficial reuse initiatives
• Strengthen stormwater and floodplain policy frameworks
• Foster innovation through partnerships supported by GO Virginia and other state agencies
• Create new business opportunities within the resilience sector

With support from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund and continued partnership with the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, Fight the Flood is entering its next phase — focusing on sustained staffing, expanded funding mechanisms, workforce development and deeper integration with the region’s newly designated Economic Development District.

Future priorities include:

• Exploring carbon credit and environmental impact bond financing
• Launching workforce apprenticeships in coastal construction and restoration
• Integrating a regional dredge program to align beneficial reuse with resilience projects
• Developing a public-facing impact dashboard to track projects completed, jobs created and losses avoided

While flooding remains an undeniable challenge in rural coastal Virginia, the Middle Peninsula is proving that proactive investment, collaboration and innovation can shift the narrative.

Through more than $50 million in deployed resilience funding — and counting — Fight the Flood stands as a national model for how rural coastal communities can adapt, protect and thrive.