Flood insurance

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.'Even AI Rappers are Harassed by Police' | AI UnlockedCongress created the National Flood Insurance Program in 1968 as a way for the federal government to bear a risk that private companies wouldn’t. Since then, Uncle Sam has backed the vast majority of flood insurance policies in the United States.Yet it is impossible to buy or renew such plans directly with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which administers the…

In this aerial view, flood water surrounds a building after Hurricane Nicole came ashore on November 10, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.American homes in flood zones are overvalued by hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Nature Climate Change. Low-income homeowners in states controlled by Republicans are especially at risk of seeing their home…

Homes are seen surrounded by floodwaters on January 11, 2023 in Planada, California. Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.California has nearly seen the last of the relentless sequence of storms that inundated the state since late December, leading to tens of thousands of evacuations, at least 20 deaths, and an estimated $1 billion in damages.From failed levees in the Central Valley counties of Merced and Sacramento to…

A destroyed building sits among debris after Hurricane Ian passed through the area on October 08, 2022 in Sanibel, Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.In the three months since Hurricane Ian struck Florida, the state’s fragile property insurance market has been teetering on the brink of collapse. The historic storm caused over $50 billion in damage, more than any disaster in U.S. history other than Hurricane Katrina. It also…

The Buffalo Bayou, a constant source of flooding, winds through the city on November 12, 2021 in Houston, Texas.Photo: Brandon Bell (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here. This story is part of the Grist series Flood. Retreat. Repeat, an exploration of how communities are changing before, during, and after managed retreat.Dolores Mendoza lived in the Houston neighborhood of Allen Field for most of her life. Once, when her daughter was young, she moved to…