Overwhelming Risk
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Material Information

Title:
Overwhelming Risk Rethinking Flood Insurance in a World of Rising Seas
Creator:
Cleetus, Rachel
Publisher:
Union of Concerned Scientists
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Climate change ( lcsh )
Flooding ( lcsh )
Coastal management ( lcsh )
Hurricanes ( lcsh )
Flood insurance ( lcsh )

Notes

Abstract:
Storms strike the U.S. coast each year, sometimes with devastating force. Both the risks and the costs of flooding and wind damage to seaside coastal communities are growing.1 Rising population and increasing development along scenic coastlines are putting more people and more valuable property in harm’s way. Accelerating sea level rise, which puts higher water levels in the path of coastal storms, is a growing threat, especially along the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States, which have seen much higher and faster rates of sea level rise than the global average.2 Global warming has resulted in stronger and more destructive hurricanes in the North Atlantic, and more frequent heavy rain events. Together, those socioeconomic and climate-related trends are driving increased property damage and loss along our coasts—costs that are projected only to grow in a warming world. In the face of increasingly unmanageable risks, many private insurers have left the coastal insurance market. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is now practically the sole provider of flood insurance for home owners and small businesses nationwide. To ensure widespread coverage against flooding and storm damages at an affordable cost, the federal government and many state governments have established taxpayer-backed subsidized insurance options. However, the artificially low insurance rates that result, and other aspects of these subsidized programs, have instead allowed—indeed, reinforced— risky patterns of land development. They have also created perverse incentives for repetitive insurance claims and an unsustainable level of financial exposure for all taxpayers, who ultimately help pay for insurance claims and disaster relief in the event of a major storm. With sea levels projected to rise globally between at least eight inches and more than six and a half feet above 1992 levels by the end of this century, and at a substantially faster rate than at present along densely populated parts of the East Coast, our risk of physical and financial harm is rising rapidly, too. We urgently need to reform our insurance system so that it can help us manage these risks effectively, even as we invest in measures to slow global warming and sea level rise and prepare for their impacts. ( English )

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
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