Author Archives: recoverydiva

U.S. Flood Risk Higher Than Thought

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From the Homeland Security Newswire: Flood risk for Americans is greatly underestimated,

A new study has found that forty-one million Americans are at risk from flooding rivers, which is more than three times the current estimate—based on regulatory flood maps—of thirteen million people. The study is based on a new high-resolution model that maps flood risk across the entire continental United States, whereas the existing regulatory flood maps produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) cover about 60 percent of the continental United States. Avoiding future losses is particularly important as average flood losses in the United States have increased steadily to nearly $10 billion annually.

Here is another take on the topic from Vox: We’ve radically underestimated how vulnerable Americans are to flooding. New research claims that official estimates lowballed the risk by, uh, about a factor of three.

Dithering Is Not a Strategy

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From the WashPost, this story about planning issues in Boston: As giant storms hammer Boston, officials are doing little to prepare for them.

Of special concern is that the once-in-a-generation flooding has now happened twice in two months.

For a metropolitan areas that includes many fine academic institutions,the state capital, and federal regional offices it is baffling to the Diva why the local planning processes are so inadequate.  Then again the area is famous for its political conflicts.

New: Mayoral Mutual Aid for Disaster Recovery

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From Governing: Mainland Mayors Partner With Puerto Rico Leaders to Help Rebuild. More than 40 city leaders have joined a new exchange to share disaster relief expertise with their local counterparts on the island.

By way of background, the existing mutual aid system is EMAC. Here is an article from the same source about how it works: The Pact Changing How Governments Respond to Disaster

 

Federal Disaster Rebuilding Spending

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From the Wharton School: Federal Disaster Rebuilding Spending: A Look at the Numbers.

Last year set records for natural disaster damages in the United States. NOAA estimates total damages from the 2017 events were over $300 billion. The U.S. experienced not one, not two, but three land falling hurricanes. Hurricane Harvey set a record for rainfall. The wildfires in California were some of the costliest the state has ever seen.

In response to these events, Congress passed two supplemental spending bills in September and October appropriating $34.5 billion in post-disaster funds and forgiving $16 billion of debt for the National Flood Insurance Program. A couple weeks ago, Congress approved a two-year budget that included an additional $90 billion for disaster rebuilding. This puts the total spending in response to the 2017 events at over $130 billion—another record.

Texas In the Wake of H. Harvey

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From the Texas Tribune this article about the Governor and FEMA: Abbott and FEMA are using Harvey to reinvent disaster response. “Some say that makes displaced Texans ‘guinea pigs.'”

In the six months since state and federal officials decided to use the biggest housing recovery in modern history to rewrite the nation’s disaster playbook, neighborly networks and organized charity have buoyed disheartened Texans on the coast.