Buyout, or Raise, Persistent Flood Victims
I have just read the best article on the necessity to buyout persistent flood victims, and to provide a modern flood survey across the country. It is in the Washington Post, by David Conrad and Larry Larson. The Washington Post is making its articles on the Flood available without a subscription, as is the New York Times. It is on outlook@washingtonpost.com. We quote some main conclusions from that article.
It was based on a report in 1994, initiated by President Bill Clinton, in response to the Great Flood of 1993 on the Mississippi that affected Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. That was 24 years ago! It recommended buyouts in risky areas and replacement by parks, recreation areas, and wetlands.
“Each dollar spent on flood mitigation saves $5 in future flood damage.” Following this in Missouri, the “1995 flood cost 99 percent less than after the 1993 flood.”
“We also concluded that many flood insurance policies were heavily subsidized and underestimated risk, leading to premiums that were far too low to make homeowners realize just how flood-prone their locations were.”
About 2% of the policies were getting 40% of the payouts. They were not subject to risk mitigations, even though it was required for damage of more than 50% of their value. 20% of the properties were outside the old 100 year risk areas.
In Houston, “At least 4,000 residential and commercial structures have been built within the identified 100-year floodplain since 2010”.
Mitigation can include raising housing with stilts, or at least 2 to 3 feet.
A new nationwide flood risk survey would cost $7.5 billion. The National Flood Insurance Program is already in debt $25 billion, and Hurricane Harvey’s rising cost is at $100 billion. Katrina cost $125 billion in current dollars. The Discretionary Budget is about $500 billion.
