The 'Vicious Cycle' of Property Flood Risk

A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) pinpoints the threshold at which coastal homes and businesses will begin to suffer chronic flooding from sea level rise. 

By 2100, the report anticipates 2.5 million properties will be at risk of flooding 26 times a year or more, but in just 30 years, potentially 311,000 coastal homes and businesses in the U.S., valued at $117.5 billion, are at risk of tidal flooding. So far, the UCS says money for flooded homeowners, and new flood barriers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) without incentive to reduce risk exposure has encouraged cities and states to rebuild as normal, meaning new properties remain at risk of flooding. Current federal law requiring flooded homes be rebuilt above the current floodplain can also be less effective than other measures, as floodplains are "moving targets," CBS News reports. 

After Superstorm Sandy devastated New Jersey in 2012, singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen lamented that "the Jersey shore has always been a special place where if you had a few bucks you could own a beach house." As shoreline communities from the San Francisco Bay to Miami Beach encounter ever higher-reaching tides and chronic flooding, a "few bucks" is probably not enough. In fact, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has said a trillion dollars may not be enough.

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