U.S. report highlights increasing risks to coastal homes

The Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has issued a caution that sea level rise and worsening storm surge are increasing both the risks of flooding in coastal communities and the potential for large costs borne by taxpayers in the United States.

The caution is outlined in a new UCS report released this week, Overwhelming Risk: Rethinking Flood Insurance in a World of Rising Seas.

UCS is calling for reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and state-backed wind insurance programs to discourage risky development, notes a press release from the group. In a warming world, North Atlantic-forming hurricanes are likely to be stronger and more destructive, the statement adds.

Rachel Cleetus, a senior climate economist at UCS and author of the report, points out the coasts are becoming more populated and built-up at the same time climate change is contributing to sea level rise that is generating more intense hurricanes and causing bigger, more damaging storm surge.

“The result is that coastal residents and business owners are at increased risk and taxpayers nationwide are looking at shelling out more money to help with post-storm rebuilding efforts,” Cleetus says in the UCS statement.

There is a need to “build resilience along our coasts, including through reforms to insurance programs, and we need to protect the long-term future of our coast by reducing carbon emissions to help slow global warming and sea level rise.”

Coastal communities can be helped to make smarter choices about building and rebuilding in flood-prone areas through changes to the NFIP, the report argues. Instead of some of the program’s incentives, including artificially low insurance rates and other subsidies, the report recommends setting “rates that reflect true risk and phase out unfair subsidies.”

The report regards as particularly wasteful that the NFIP program continues to pay out claims on properties in high-risk areas that have been repeatedly flooded. Citing NFIP statistics, UCS reports that repetitive-loss properties account for 1.3% of overall policies, but have been responsible for 25% of all NFIP payments since 1978.

Among other things, the report recommends that government take steps to help residents and communities be better prepared for the effects of a changing climate, including mandating that homeowners disclose flood risks prior to home sales; establishing programs to help low-income residents buy insurance or relocate; and requiring property owners to take protective measures, such as elevating buildings, when areas are rebuilt with taxpayer dollars.

Like the NFIP, the UCS contends a need also exists to reform many state-subsidized wind insurance programs, which also set artificially low rates that do not reflect risk.