The Federal Emergency Management Agency will take new steps to ensure that the structures it funds — including schools, hospitals, police stations, libraries, sewage treatment plants and bridges — are protected from flooding.

The agency said Wednesday that projects constructed with FEMA money must be built in a way that prevents flood damage, whether by elevating them above the expected height of a flood or, if that’s not feasible, by building in a safer location. The rule also makes it clear that building decisions must reflect risks now and also in the future, as climate change makes flooding more frequent and severe.

“We are going to be able to put a stop to the cycle of response and recovery, and rinse and repeat,” Deanne Criswell, the FEMA administrator, said during a call with reporters.

The new rule will “enhance resilience in flood-prone communities, by taking future flood risk into consideration when we rebuild,” she said.

Climate resilience experts have long called for FEMA, along with other federal agencies, to ensure that federal tax money isn’t wasted on vulnerable projects.

Flood damage is likely to reach $40 billion in average annual losses this decade, according to Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers.