A Smarter Strategy for Rebuilding the Coast
Or is it accountants with coastal properties? Whatever. The point is that these folks crunched the numbers on what it would cost to get some flood-prone properties out of harm’s way. In just five cities in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, the cost was staggering. A great read in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog called The Huge, Hidden Cost of Protecting Homeowners from the Rising Sea
Original study by Wetlands Watch
We recently posted about the proposed rules in NJ that would make it easier to develop in the coastal zone, here.
Please read the additional opinion pieces from the Press of Atlantic City here, and from the Star Ledger here.
Additional opinion pieces from Bill Potter, a notable environmental lawyer in NJ here and from Bob Sandberg of the Sierra Club.
We need your help to stop this insanity! Take the time to register your comments, info below. Here are some suggested elements.
Make it personal! Add your true thoughts, feelings, and experiences. We all lived through this!
To make your voice hear on this disastrous rule change please go to http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/comments/ Fill in your information (don’t worry you will not be added to any lists as a result) Where it says Select Rule-making, choose DEP Docket No. 03-14-04 Coastal Zone Management Rules and Coastal Permit Program Rules; proposed consolidation with amendments
3. Add a comment, up to 20,000 characters.
Please take a good look at the picture above. The state of NJ just guaranteed that we will all go through that living hell again.
I guess the state didn’t get the message we posted yesterday about the Rutgers Climate Adaptation Alliance’s new reports on the impacts of climate change. It seems like they learned nothing from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy either.
Because today was the final public hearing on a 1000-page overhaul of the state’s development rules in the coastal zone and guess what? They call for more development in these areas while also making it easier to get these development permits. Kirk Moore of the Asbury Park Press nails it here.
Maybe it was not that bad, but the public, environmental, and planning professionals are feeling snubbed because the Office of Emergency Management in NJ submitted their Hazard Mitigation Plan to the feds without any input from the public. Continue reading “NJ OEM to Public and Experts – Drop Dead”
The Biggert-Waters Act in Congress moved the National Flood Insurance Program, NFIP, towards becoming more self-sufficient and more solvent. In recent years the NFIP has gone $17 Billion in debt after Hurricane Katrina and more recently Sandy. When NFIP is in debt, money is taken from the Treasury (all taxpayers) instead of having coastal dwellers (flood ins. ratepayers) actually pay for flooded private property. Yes, passing Biggert-Waters meant you would have had to pay more to insure your summer or primary home built in a flood or high hazard zone.
But wait, Congress reversed itself by passing another law essentially keeping NFIP in debt and keeping US taxpayers on the hook for flood costs. Huffington Post article here by Elliot Negin.
Raising houses may or may not be enough as oceans rise. What about the ground-level and below ground infrastructure around such homes? Will we need to raise public infrastructure and entire islands?
A thoughtful treatment of the issue by Sarah Watson in this Press of Atlantic City article December 8, 2013. It references a 1990 study by James Titus at EPA, a summer-homeowner on Long Beach Island, NJ who works at EPA and makes a case study of LBI. It prompted us to add the study to our “More Information” Page, see the bottom of the page here.
Pro Publica did some excellent investigative reporting on the state of FEMA flood maps in the lead up to Sandy. In the early 2000’s it seems that FEMA invested only in digitizing old flood maps instead of updating the data on what areas would now flood. An interview with authors Theodoric Meyer and Al Shaw on WNYC aired on December 6, 2013. But don’t just listen to the 4 minute interview, read the story below and see the interactive map of where floods were predicted compared to where they occurred.
http://www.wnyc.org/story/fed-flood-maps-left-ny-unprepared-sandy-and-fema-knew-it/
This Editorial reminds us of the quote, “Nature is indifferent to what Man scribbles on little pieces of paper.” We wish we knew who said it. But the sentiment is true, even though push back from towns got FEMA Continue reading “Flood Maps Scaled Back”