Two recent articles on the contentiousness that breaks out at the local level when FEMA updates its flood maps. Jordan Wolman’s piece in the Commonwealth Beacon focuses on the disconnect between FEMA’s maps and actual flooding risk in Massachusetts (as has been noted before, FEMA flood maps are based on past flooding and can’t make projections based on expected climate change effects). Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal [Apple News+ alt link] looks at how properties in a Montana town that were removed from the flood zone in proposed FEMA maps were later inundated by floods (properties in flood zones require flood insurance, and face additional restrictions, so there are incentives to appeal that designation; on the other hand, if you win your appeal and your property floods anyway and you don’t have flood insurance, well).
Tag: FEMA
FEMA Risk Maps Purged
The current U.S. administration’s map vandalism isn’t limited to a certain international body of water. Maps Mania reports that FEMA’s online flood and risk maps have gone offline as part of the ongoing purge of everything related to climate change. One map, the Future Risk Index, has been salvaged by independent engineers.
FEMA Flood Maps Don’t Account for Future Sea Level Rise
NPR last month, reporting on a problem with FEMA’s flood insurance maps: they’re not keeping up with reality. “FEMA’s insurance maps are based on past patterns of flooding. Future sea level rise—which is expected to create new, bigger flood zones—is not factored in. So some communities are doing the mapping themselves. Like Annapolis, the state capital of Maryland.” [Leventhal]