The rain fell for five days straight in the District of Columbia during the last week of June 2006. Eleven inches accumulated over that time, smashing old records for rainfall in a five-day period. The flooding that resulted cost the federal government millions of dollars.

On Wednesday, representatives of federal agencies — the National Capital Planning Commission, the General Services Administration and the Department of Homeland Security — and the D.C. government outlined suggestions for reducing the risk of disastrous flooding in the future. The last flood caused so much destruction because of a lack of communication between federal agencies and local government, according to Terri Forline of the GSA.

“During this event, Commerce (Department) didn't get reached. And the IRS didn't get reached and the FBI didn't get reached, and the answer was, 'Because you were federal.'”

The commission could not specify what communication strategies would be needed to coordinate a future disaster response more efficiently.

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“We need to develop that federal agency network and not just at a very high level, but at the working level,” Forline said. “We need to get plugged into that local group. We know the need is there. We did not come up with a solution.”

The GSA hired an independent consultant to study the causes behind the flood. The results of the study were not made public, but in a summary provided by the commission, the consultant could not come to a definitive conclusion as to why Federal Triangle flooded so thoroughly and quickly.

Roger Gans, of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority, stressed a multifaceted approach to flood mitigation. One of the long-term goals would be another study to promote effective flood prevention in the future.

The proposed study would be expensive, but as of right now, according to an commission report, “there is not a long-term federal or local management plan in this important area.”