News Brief
Climate Change Could Double Need for Flood Insurance
By Evan Dick The Federal Emergency Management Agency is concerned that flooding, like this event following Hurricane Irene in Halifax, VT, will threaten much larger geographic areas as a result of extreme weather caused by climate change. This change could both endanger flood zone inhabitants and strain the already overburdened National Flood Insurance Program.
Expanding floodplains will endanger millions of existing properties not formerly vulnerable to flooding and increase pressure on FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which already holds 5.6 million policies protecting property worth $1.2 trillion.
The report, which is to be released later in 2011 but has already received coverage in the
New York Times, warns that flood insurance premiums could rise by as much as 70% by 2100 and that further new development in coastal cities is extremely risky.
Insurance companies have long understood that rising population in flood-prone areas increases the cost of damage caused by floods. According to this report, insurers will now have to contend with both continued population increases in floodplains and the expansion of floodplains to encompass greater populations.
Published August 30, 2011 Permalink Citation
Dick, E. (2011, August 30). Climate Change Could Double Need for Flood Insurance. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/climate-change-could-double-need-flood-insurance
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