Posted on Categories Land Use, WaterTags , , , , ,

Russian River communities feel blindsided by recent changes to flood zones

Marisa Endicott, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Permit Sonoma webpage with FEMA Flood Hazard & Zoning Update Map

A change to federal flood zones could affect insurance rates, property values and building, especially along the lower Russian River.

Nick Schwanz went to a Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting in November to weigh in on a particular agenda item.

He was surprised to learn, however, that another item, which appeared to be a routine and technical set of zoning adjustments, actually carried huge implications for his community.

Schwanz, a board member of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce, quickly pivoted and became one of the few to comment on an apparent change to the federal flood zones that could affect insurance rates, property values and building especially along the lower Russian River.

“As far I know this isn’t on anybody’s map,” Schwanz said.

Supervisors, too, seemed taken by surprise.

“This was sort of framed to me as technical corrections, and honestly the way the data was presented made it impossible to see the bigger picture,” said Fifth District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, who represents much of the affected area. “When we have constituents coming to us who received a notice in the mail yesterday and have no idea what it means, that’s a failure of community engagement. That’s a failure of communication, and we need to do better. I can’t in good conscience vote on this.”

At issue was a new study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of flood hazards in the Russian River Watershed, the first update in 30 years. The maps are used to determine flood risks and insurance requirements and must be adopted by counties to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/russian-river-fema-flood-zones/

Posted on Categories Climate Change & EnergyTags , , , ,

Rescuing FEMA (and ourselves)

Dan Farber, LEGAL PLANET

FEMA needs to grow in order to handle its work. The need for growth will only get greater as time goes on.

2021 was a year of disasters, with extraordinary heat waves, fires, a string of hurricanes, a cold snap that left Texas in the dark, winter tornados, and torrential rains. FEMA has been left badly overstretched. That’s an urgent problem, and it’s likely a foretaste of the future.

This is not just a problem for the overloaded folks at FEMA. It’s a problem for all of us, in an era where disasters are coming fast and furious.

The agency is stretched very thin indeed, with duties ranging from assisting with the care of detained migrant children, responding to COVID, supervising funding for rebuilding from past storms, and preparing for the upcoming season of wildfires and hurricanes. In May, according to the NY Times, “just 3,800 of the agency’s 13,700 emergency workers are available right now to respond to a new disaster,” about a third fewer than last year. The problem, the Times says, was not so much a lack of funding as a lack of staff.

Some of FEMA’s current assignments, like COVID response, are temporary. There’s every reason, however, to expect the pace of disaster situations to increase rather than slow. There are three reasons.

First and foremost, there’s climate change, which will result in an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The increase in frequency also means that there will be a greater number of disaster clusters, meaning that FEMA will be faced with multiple major disasters in short spans of time. The increased severity of disasters will also complicate and extend the post-disaster response, requiring corresponding commitments of staff by FEMA.
Continue reading “Rescuing FEMA (and ourselves)”

Posted on Categories Climate Change & Energy, Sustainable LivingTags , ,

How federal disaster money favors the rich

Rebecca Hersher & Robert Benincasa, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

The federal government spends billions of dollars annually helping communities rebuild and prevent future damage. But an NPR investigation has found that across the country, white Americans and those with more wealth often receive more federal dollars after a disaster than do minorities and those with less wealth. Federal aid isn’t necessarily allocated to those who need it most; it’s allocated according to cost-benefit calculations meant to minimize taxpayer risk.

If they had known, they never would have bought the house on Bayou Glen Road. Sure, it was a beautiful lot, tucked in a bend of the creek, backyard woodsy and wild, the neighbors friendly and the street quiet. A little piece of nature just 20 minutes from downtown Houston. It was exactly what John and Heather Papadopoulos — recently married, hoping to start a family — were looking for in 2007. They didn’t think much about the creek that ran along their yard, aside from appreciating the birds it attracted to the neighborhood.

Across town, the Evans family was similarly indifferent to the wooded bayous that cut through their neighborhood. Janice Perry-Evans chose the house she rented because it was conveniently located near the local high school, which made it easy for her two boys to get to class and home from football practice. Her commute to the post office wasn’t far either. Plus, at $800 per month, the rent was affordable. By 2017, the family had lived there for four years, and didn’t have any plans to move.

And then, in August of that year, both homes were destroyed. Both families had to start over from nothing. But today, one family is financially stable. The other is facing bankruptcy.

Read more at https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/688786177/how-federal-disaster-money-favors-the-rich

Posted on Categories Climate Change & Energy, Sustainable LivingTags , ,

As storms keep coming, FEMA spends billions in ‘cycle’ of damage and repair

Kevin Sack and John Schwartz, THE NEW YORK TIMES

In the exact spot where Hurricane Katrina demolished the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center, a new $105 million jail now hovers 19 feet above the marsh, perched atop towering concrete pillars. Described by a state official as the “Taj Mahal” of Louisiana corrections, it has so much space that one of every 27 parish residents could bunk there.

But on an average day in the first half of this year, more than 40 percent of its 872 beds went unoccupied, making it one of the emptiest jails in the state, records show. And because of its isolated, flood-prone location, the jail still must be evacuated before any major storm or risk becoming an accidental Alcatraz.

There is but one reason the Plaquemines jail was rebuilt on endangered land, with needless capacity, at immense cost: The sheriff wanted it that way. But unlike most new jail construction, his project did not have to be financed through bond sales or other local revenues, with voters able to hold him accountable. Rather, because the old jail was destroyed by a natural disaster, the cost was covered by federal taxpayers, through a Federal Emergency Management Agency program that is required by law to distribute billions in aid but exerts little control over how the money is spent.

Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/us/fema-disaster-recovery-climate-change.html