Hurricane Sandy task force report calls for better data, affordable flood insurance

The Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force in the United States has released a report outlining 69 recommendations for the coastal areas affected by the storm, including making flood insurance more affordable for homeowners.

In January, the U.S. Congress passed the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013, which provides about $50 billion in funding for rebuilding in the areas affected by last October’s storm, which damaged or destroyed and hundreds more than 650,000 homes and hundreds of thousands of businesses.

The 200-page report released Monday sets out policy recommendations, some of which have already been adopted, for using those funds to make infrastructure more resilient in areas including New York and New Jersey, two of the states worst affected by the storm.

One of the goals behind the recommendations is to “coordinate the efforts of the Federal, State, and local governments, with a region-wide approach to rebuilding,” according to the task force.

Among the recommendations are making “the best available data and information on current and future risks” available to governments and residents for recovery and planning. That could include the creation of a widely-available Sea Level Rise projection tool, according to the report.

The report also recommends developing a “resilient power strategy” for phone and internet communication, and “making the electrical grid smarter and more flexible.”

In terms of insurance, the report recommends Congress work on the “affordability challenges posed by reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) so that responsible homeowners aren’t priced out of their homes.”

Part of the recommendations around the NFIP also include public education to increase the uptake of flood insurance among homeowners and businesses.

The report also recommends “…that the NFIP provides structure specific information and hazard mitigation suggestions for Sandy-impacted customers’ annual premium bills.”

“This will serve as a mechanism by which the program can stimulate individual demand for hazard mitigation measures and more effective hazard mitigation and flood plain management at the community level,” the report adds.

So far, about 99.5% of the 143,000 Sandy-related NFIP claims are closed and more than $7.8 billion has been paid out to policyholders, according to the government.

The full report, including all 69 policy recommendations, is available on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website.