 | Welcome to the Flood Zone is a nationally distributed resource for those interested in flood zone issues, land surveying, real estate, history, and educational opportunities. This newsletter has been proudly featured by the Association of State Floodplain Managers, the National Society of Professional Surveyors, and the Maine and New Hampshire Floodplain Management Programs. Please feel free to share with your friends and colleagues! If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, simply click the unsubscribe link in the footer of this message. | In this Issue of Welcome to the Flood Zone: Maine NFIP Corner: Maine Building Officials and Inspectors Association (MBOIA) 13th Annual Maine Code Conference - May 23 & 24, 2022
Real Estate Corner: "Coastal Home Buyers are Ignoring Rising Flood Risks, Despite Clear Warnings and Rising Insurance Premiums"
In the News: "Rain, Floods and Green Infrastructure: Are Cities Mitigating the Hazards Equitably?" and "Pew Commends National Flood Insurance Program for Connecting Premiums and Flood Risk"
Resources: "Do You Have a Preferred Risk Policy (PRP)? 7 Things You Should Know", "Flood Mitigation and Resiliency" and "Coastal Fast Facts"
Climate Corner: "Sea Level Rise Will Be Catastrophic—and Unequal"
Banner Image: From the Missouri Department of Transportation's Current Flood Information web page. | Real Estate Corner Coastal Home Buyers are Ignoring Rising Flood Risks, Despite Clear Warnings and Rising Insurance Premiums By: Risa Palm and Toby W. Bolsen, The Conversation, March 25, 2022 We surveyed 680 licensed Florida Realtors in late 2020. Their responses suggest that prospective homebuyers, by and large, are not taking elevation or flood vulnerability into account when searching for new homes, and the availability of detailed flood risk maps has had little or no impact on them. Part of the problem may be that mortgage lenders and appraisers aren’t accounting for properties’ vulnerability to sea level rise, so homebuyers aren’t immediately feeling the risk in their pocketbooks. Wealthier buyers who don’t need a mortgage aren’t required to purchase flood insurance, and Congress has a history of rolling back flood insurance rate increases. In short, nothing is forcing buyers to consider the long-term risks. Click here to read the full article. | Rain, Floods and Green Infrastructure: Are Cities Mitigating the Hazards Equitably? By: Shaun McGillis, Portland State University, April 15, 2022 New Research Overlays Sociodemographic, Green Infrastructure And Stormwater Flood Risk Data To Assess Equitable Distribution Of Green Infrastructure. The study's lead author, Arun Pallathadka, states, "Flooding is the costliest natural hazard," Pallathadka said. "But when we talk about flooding, the focus is often on the floodplain, on rivers. But with climate change, we're expecting an increase in flooding associated with rainfall events. We wanted to know where the hotspots in cities are associated with a risk of flooding from rain, who are the people living in those communities, and where are cities placing infrastructure to help reduce the hazards." Click here to read the full article and access the paper from Portland State University. | Pew Commends National Flood Insurance Program for Connecting Premiums and Flood Risk Press Releases and Statements, Pew Charitable Trusts, April 1, 2022 “For far too long, flood insurance premiums were based on an antiquated system that often led to many property owners not paying enough for flood insurance while others paid too much. Risk Rating 2.0 aims to fix that imbalance by giving policyholders fairer rates and a more accurate assessment of their flood risk. The information will also promote action to mitigate those risks. Click here to read the full article. | Do You Have a Preferred Risk Policy (PRP)? 7 Things You Should Know Preferred Risk Policies used to be a low-cost flood insurance option for those in low or minimal flood risk areas who still wanted protection. Risk Rating 2.0 is phasing out these policies. This infographic provides 7 things for a PRP policyholder to know as their policy transitions to Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action. Click here to view a PDF of the infographic. | Flood Mitigation and Resiliency The New Hampshire Office of Strategic Initiatives provides a helpful list of resources for learning more about flood risk mitigation and resiliency. Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. Mitigation is taking action now—before the next disaster—to reduce human and financial consequences later (analyzing risk, reducing risk, insuring against risk). Effective mitigation requires that we all understand local risks, address the hard choices, and invest in long-term community well-being. Without mitigation actions, we jeopardize our safety, financial security, and self-reliance. Click here to learn more! | Coastal Fast Facts This fact sheet from NOAA's Office for Coastal Management offers information on coastal demographics and economy, the impacts of hurricanes and nuisance flooding, benefits of wetlands, aquaculture, and more! For example: The Nature Conservancy says coastal wetlands prevented more than $625 million in property damages during Hurricane Sandy; in New Jersey, wetlands saved more than $425 million in property damages. In Maryland, wetlands reduced damages by 29 percent. Click here to view a PDF of the Coastal Fast Facts. |  In the map above, red means the land is adding elevation, and blue means it’s losing it. While the Gulf Coast is very blue, by contrast Alaska is very red because it is going through a period of uplift, basically bouncing back from when the area was covered by glaciers thousands of years ago. This is known as glacial isostatic adjustment. (NASA/JPL-CALTECH) | Sea Level Rise Will Be Catastrophic—and Unequal By: Matt Simon, Wired, February 24, 2022 A group of federal agencies released a report detailing the dire consequences of sea level rise in the United States. On average, it projects up to 12 additional inches in the next 30 years, the same amount that the country has seen in the past century. Emphasis on average. The reality is that different stretches of the coasts will see wildly different rates of oceanic creep...the issue comes down to quirks of physics: how fast the land itself is sinking, and the characteristics of the coastal water. Comparing just two cities on different coasts neatly illustrates what a striking difference these factors can make. Click here to read the full article. |  Image by by Alex Hallatt | | | |
