Why Flood Insurance Policies Aren’t Ready For Climate Change

June 6, 2016, 11:53am CT

Lucian Perkins

Why Flood Insurance Policies Aren’t Ready For Climate Change

June 6, 2016, 11:53am CT

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For our latest Heat of the Moment Twiter conversation, we took on the intricacies of this Heat of the Moment story about how when it comes to making wrenching decisions about sea level rise, coastal homeowners are basically on their own. Our guests, Dr. Benjamin Strauss of Climate Central’s Surging Seas team and Sam Evans-Brown, host of NHPR’s Outside/In, discussed why current policies aren’t set up to handle sea level rise.

Catch up below and send any other questions you have to @ben_strauss and @SamEBNHPR.

We started with some facts about sea level rise and the areas most at risk:

There are about 100,000 Americans per vertical inch above the high tide line (in the 0 to 10 ft range) #HOTM
— Ben Strauss (@ben_strauss) June 2, 2016

States with most people at risk from sea level rise (below 5 ft), in order: FL, CA, NY, NJ, MA #HOTM
— Ben Strauss (@ben_strauss) June 2, 2016

And how sea level rise affects coastal communities:

A1: Sea level rise most of all means more flooding. It also pinches beaches and wetlands that help protect from storms #HOTM
— Ben Strauss (@ben_strauss) June 2, 2016

And why flood insurance policy doesn’t always reflect these risks:

A2: It’s pretty close to impossible to find someone studying US flood insurance policy who doesn’t think it’s seriously broken. #HOTM
— Sam Evans-Brown (@SamEBNHPR) June 2, 2016

@ben_strauss Why do inaccurately low flood insurance rates still exist? Do we not have the data to predict flood risk accurately? #HOTM
— Matt Zhou (@yang85225) June 2, 2016

@yang85225 I’ll grab that one Matt! Actually FEMA often does not know the exact elevations of homes they are selling insurance for #HOTM
— Sam Evans-Brown (@SamEBNHPR) June 2, 2016

@yang85225 It’s even difficult for them to say how big their risk is because of this, and how large the subsidy is #HOTM
— Sam Evans-Brown (@SamEBNHPR) June 2, 2016

A2: Fiscal conservatives worry about financial liability, enviros that it encourages people to build in some of most sensitive places #HOTM
— Sam Evans-Brown (@SamEBNHPR) June 2, 2016

We talked about future projections…

Another Q for @ben_strauss, @SamEBNHPR and @WBEZ: What is your take on James Hansen’s warnings of much worse sea level rise? #HOTM
— Marc Hertz (@mhertz) June 2, 2016

@mhertz Hansen’s projections are provocative, we must consider, but far far outside of mainstream sea level science #HOTM
— Ben Strauss (@ben_strauss) June 2, 2016

@mhertz however, recent Antarctic research falls in between old consensus and Hansen’s dire projections. Closer to former. #HOTM
— Ben Strauss (@ben_strauss) June 2, 2016

Recent science consensus: about 3 ft, if we keep polluting, 2 if we stop. But new research suggests 6 ft or 2 ft as the choice. #HOTM
— Ben Strauss (@ben_strauss) June 2, 2016

these are projected sea levels by end of the century. #HOTM
— Ben Strauss (@ben_strauss) June 2, 2016

…and why this timeline makes it tough to understand climate change.

A4: The time horizons scientists use are out of alignment with the human scale… difficult for our monkey brains to handle. #HOTM
— Sam Evans-Brown (@SamEBNHPR) June 2, 2016

@SamEBNHPR It’s hard to find studies that predict SLR for 2050. They’re all looking to 2100. We’ll all (likely) be gone! #HOTM
— Sam Evans-Brown (@SamEBNHPR) June 2, 2016