After an extreme weather event, such as Hurricane Ian which devastated parts of Florida last month, most Americans choose to rebuild rather than move to less hazardous areas.
October 9, 2022
After an extreme weather event, such as Hurricane Ian which devastated parts of Florida last month, most Americans choose to rebuild rather than move to less hazardous areas.
But as climate change increases the frequency and scale of natural disasters, does US policy need to adapt?
Gavin Smith, a professor of environmental planning at the University of North Carolina, worked for several states following major hurricanes, including Katrina in Mississippi (2005) and Matthew in North Carolina (2016).
According to him, current reconstruction standards are not up to the challenges posed by climate change, but correcting them will require real „political will.“
Smith’s responses to AFP have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Current reconstruction rules
Q: What are the rules for re-construction after a hurricane, and are they adapted to climate change?
A: Communities must comply with the local codes and standards in place in their jurisdiction before the storm struck.
In the US, we have the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which has historically been subsidized by the federal government.
For a community to join the program, it has to adopt certain flood risk reduction standards. They include building codes as well as land use plans.
Then, if a home is damaged in the storm more than 50 percent of their value, it must be built back to the most recent code and standards in place.
Our standard for flood is rebuilding largely back to the „100 year flood,“ more accurately termed the one percent annual chance flood event.
