From today’s New York Times: Insurance companies got out of the business of writing flood insurance decades ago, so much of the risk from sea level rise is expected to fall on the financially troubled National Flood Insurance Program, set up by Congress, or on state insurance pools. Federal taxpayers also heavily subsidize coastal development […]
Tag Archives | planning
Why Communities Should Consider Total Cost of Ownership When Making Decisions
Posted on March 13, 2012
(From FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate): National Leadership Speaker Series: FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate from U.S. Green Building Council.
QUICK-TIP: Using Google Earth to View FIRMs
Posted on March 12, 2012
Need to quickly check to see which flood zone a property is in? Have Google Earth installed on your computer (it’s free, though you may need administrative rights to install it on your computer)? FEMA has a page explaining how to get those pesky FIRMs into your mapping system. Read about it here: Using the […]
Updated FEMA Hazard Mitigation Planning Training
Posted on March 8, 2012
Related to yesterday’s post, FEMA is now offering an updated 12 hour on-line training for hazard mitigation planning. The goals of IS-318, Mitigation Planning for Local and Tribal Communities (also referred to as Hazard Mitigation Planning) are: Assist participants in undertaking the hazard mitigation plan development process. This plan will meet the needs of your […]
Best Practices for Coastal Louisiana Manual not just for Louisiana
Posted on February 4, 2012
The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) recently released the Best Practices Manual for Development in Coastal Louisiana website. What’s novel about this site is that it provides strategies for creating sustainable and resilient coastal communities based on “geotypes” (pick from chenier plain, alluvium, upper riverbanks, middle riverbanks, […]
The Latest on Post-Disaster Recovery [audio]
Posted on November 3, 2011
The American Planning Association has released a short interview with Ed Thomas and Alessandra Jerolleman (both from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association) on the best way for communities to recover quickly and safely from a major storm, flood, etc. Their work is the foundation of our (largely in development) After the Storm section. You can […]
City Folds Climate Change Adaptation into Hazard Mitigation Plan
Posted on October 27, 2011
“Hazard mitigation is very important and there’s a lot of value in looking at past events, but we know with climate change that we can’t use the past to project what the future will be like. For example, the flood that a community used to experience every 100 years may now be the 20-year flood.” […]
San Francisco Bay Adopts Climate Change Regulations
Posted on October 11, 2011
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission has voted unanimously to pass a development plan for land within 100 feet of the bay’s coastline. The plan—which requires that decisions about land use in the area consider factors including the latest climate science and the importance of wetland restoration—gives the agency a tool to deny […]
FEMA Releases Updated Coastal Construction Manual
Posted on October 7, 2011
FEMA has updated their bible on construction in coastal areas, the Coastal Construction Manual. Like the bible, it’s no pamphlet: this version comes in at 253 pages and a hefty 33MB. But if you’re involved in any sort of construction in coastal areas (including deciding where it should happen), you already know that you need […]
What’s the Relationship Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather?
Posted on October 6, 2011
Some scientists give us the rundown: (From Climate Communication)