2022 Norfolk floods (provided by Jim Morrison)
NEW YORK — When it comes to flood protection, the National Flood Insurance Program is increasingly under water in Virginia, especially in Hampton Roads.
A new analysis and online tool created by the Natural Resources Defense Council reveals that nearly 7,000 properties in Virginia had repeated flood damage claims over a 10-year period. And the program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will continue to make payments. The NRDC study found that only 554 of these properties were able to reduce their risk of flooding by filling basements, raising the roof, or replacing structures with flood-resistant structures.
(Courtesy of Natural Resources Defense Council)
“One of the most frustrating aspects of the flood reconstruction model we have in the United States is that there is currently no obligation for property owners to mitigate their properties to reduce the likelihood of repeated flood damage.” said Mary Carson Stiff. , executive director of Wetlands Watch, a Norfolk-based nonprofit organization that helps create resilience and adaptation solutions.
Previously, FEMA declined to provide details about flooded properties and personal addresses were not included in the data, but the new analysis includes important information about payments, flood mitigation, and zip codes. There is.
NRDC data shows that the number of repeat loss properties continues to rise as storms become more intense and more frequent in a warming world. They also show that FEMA’s flood maps are inadequate. FEMA’s flood maps are not updated frequently and rely on older data that looks back through warmer, wetter Virginia rather than forward. But these maps continue to guide developers, engineers, banks, local land use authorities, and homeowners in deciding where to build and finance projects.
“The cost of flooding increases every year with every major storm and every minor storm,” Stiff said.
In Virginia, three-quarters of repeat loss properties are located in Hampton Roads. Of these, 841 are properties with severe repeat losses, with four or more reported claims in excess of $5,000. The majority, 689, have not been able to reduce their exposure to future floods. These accounted for 1% of Virginia’s bill, but 21% of its payments. According to NRDC, 10% of them are outside FEMA-designated flood zones. Approximately 3,000 owner-insured properties in Virginia no longer have flood insurance.
In Virginia Beach, 128 significant repeat loss properties paid out more than $20 million. On average, it’s over 1.5 million yen per person. Of these, 114 cases were not alleviated. In Norfolk, $18 million was paid for 125 properties with significant losses, and 93 were not mitigated. In Hampton, 110 properties received $18.2 million and 91 properties received no relief. Poquoson, a city of about 12,500 people on a peninsula on the west coast of the Chesapeake Bay, paid about $6.6 million for 50 critical risk loss properties.
NRDC’s data shows a codependent cycle of flooding and payments that NRDC calls “lost land.”
In some cases, the amount of damages exceeded the value of the property. In Norfolk, a single-family home received $173,736 in seven claims valued at $104,400, according to the database. It was not protected against future flooding. A home in Virginia Beach valued at $149,400 received a payment of $243,502 and is still insured but not flood-mitigated. A single-family home in Portsmouth, insured and mitigated against floods, received $250,558 in two claims, with a value of $239,380. One Richmond property labeled non-residential in the database received a payment of nearly $1.4 million, but is valued at $211,750. No longer insured or protected. According to the database, an insured single-family home in Poquoson valued at $155,300 has had five claims totaling $480,000.
A relatively new FEMA insurance rate called Risk Rating 2.0 attempts to take a more realistic and fair look at flood insurance. Most policyholders saw their premiums drop or increase by no more than $10 per month in the first year. By law, premiums cannot increase by more than 18% per year.
But Chad Berginis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, wrote in a column last year that flood hazard mitigation measures need to be recognized and that FEMA will be more aware of which mitigation measures lead to lower premiums. I agreed with Mr. Stiff that clarification was needed.
“When we talk about NFIP, we often talk about it as a four-legged chair: floodplain management, flood mitigation, floodplain mapping, and flood insurance,” he wrote. “However, it is clear to the floodplain management community that the new rating system has severed the first two steps, and that as a nation we must prioritize flood mapping across the United States to better reflect flood risk. It’s not done yet.”
Stiff said the current system “results in the virtual bankruptcy of the National Flood Insurance Program.” We are all doing our best to rescue them. ”
He added that communities can track cumulative damage to their properties and, if they reach FEMA’s standard of 50% or more rebuilding, they can require owners to meet the latest flood protection standards. But that’s not an option Virginia cities are embracing.
“This is a higher standard that local authorities can choose to use in their communities, and if they do, they will receive credit through the Community Rating System and receive annual reductions in their flood insurance policies for all of their policyholders. “It will be,” she added. . “While there are ways for our community to be proactive about this issue, our community is choosing not to take these additional steps because it is politically objectionable.”
NRDC’s recommended solutions for recurring payments reflect her comments and include:
Update building and land use standards for floodplain development. Make sure your flood risk maps are updated and take into account future risks. Make flood insurance more affordable for low- and moderate-income households. Provides homebuyers and renters with information to understand the risks.
Anna Weber, senior policy analyst for environmental health at NRDC, noted that Virginia is one of many states that does not require sellers to disclose a property’s flood history. Only seven states require tenant notification, according to a new paper in the Journal of Land Use.
“Virginia is effectively a buyer beware state,” she says. “There are very few guaranteed rights you have when it comes to that information. So when we talk about flood disclosures, we’re not just talking about what FEMA’s flood insurance maps say about your home; We think it’s important that people have the right to know what specifically happened in the past. Have you had a flood before? Have you had a flood insurance claim? How much did your bill cost? How many times has your house flooded?”
While Weber and his colleagues say FEMA maps are inadequate, they also point out that they are often outdated. It must be renewed every five years, but often it is not. For example, the Norfolk map hasn’t been updated since 2017.
Mr. Weber pointed out that flooding has multiple causes and requires multifaceted solutions.
“Part of that seems to include thinking seriously about land use choices. Part of that looks like improving and strengthening building standards so we can build in smarter ways. ” she said. “Part of it has to do with long-term regional planning. What do we want our coastal communities to look like in 50 years?” she said. “100 years from now, we may not be able to live in the same way in the same place.”
Michael Gerrard, founder of Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, recently published a paper examining legal tools to combat what he calls the growing crisis of urban flooding. He supported many of the same solutions proposed by NRDC.
“It makes no sense to keep rebuilding the same homes at government expense,” he said, adding that the cost of the climate crisis needs to be calculated. The overall problem is that people and governments are reluctant to pay for construction. “That’s the cost of climate change,” he said. “And the situation will only get worse over time as the climate worsens.”
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