National Flood Insurance Program Costs Likely To Skyrocket, Given Scale Of Flooding, SLR Increase
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — When Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, Thalia Panton watched in disbelief as floodwaters careened down her quiet, tree-lined street in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Sparks flew from downed electrical lines as rushing rapids rose past her thighs. The water receded as quickly as it appeared. But the damage was done. When the skies cleared, Panton was left with $60,000 in losses. The basement had flooded, damaging musical instruments her husband and son use for their gigs as well as electrical equipment that kept the house running. Panton and her neighbors didn’t get flood insurance until after Sandy because Canarsie wasn’t considered a major flood risk at the time of the storm.
Seven years later, as even more communities reckon with rising sea levels and catastrophic storms, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is encouraging homeowners and renters to “buy as much flood insurance as they can.” The agency provides over 96% of all flood coverage through its National Flood Insurance Program, making it the sole option for most Americans.
But FEMA is revamping the debt-ridden program to make it operate like a private insurer, raising concerns that coverage could become unaffordable for many higher-risk areas across the country. Agency officials have not said how many Americans could be affected. Private insurers champion the reforms as a way to modernize the NFIP, but the industry also stands to profit. Insurers are now competing directly with FEMA. Companies have also sold the agency on expensive deals with dubious benefits for taxpayers. New York City officials warn that skyrocketing flood insurance premiums could trigger a foreclosure crisis in neighborhoods like Canarsie, which never recovered from the 2008 housing crash and was a hotbed of predatory loans that targeted black homeowners. Annual premiums in Canarsie — now an average of $600 — could jump to a range of $3,000 to $6,000 as soon as 2022 and become mandatory for more residents.
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FEMA flood maps at the time of the storm, which were based on historical experience, classified less than 40 of Canarsie’s 12,000 buildings as high flood risk, which mortgage lenders typically require to carry flood insurance. Revised figures now suggest more than 5,000 buildings are at risk. The number of flood policies in Canarsie has increased since 2012, but the area remains underinsured. “We’re not talking about people who have irresponsibly built a beach house because they want to have a second home on the shore — these are generational neighborhoods,” said Elizabeth Malone, a program director and insurance specialist at Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn, a housing advocacy organization.
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https://publicintegrity.org/environment/flood-insurance-climate-change-risk-inequality/
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