Discussion Paper
Moving Out of a Flood Zone? That May Be Risky!
Abstract: An often-overlooked aspect of flood-plain mapping is the fact that these maps designate stark boundaries, with households falling either inside or outside of areas designated as “flood zones.” Households inside flood zones must insure themselves against the possibility of disasters. However, costly insurance may have pushed lower-income households out of areas officially designated a flood risk and into physically adjacent areas. While not designated an official flood risk, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and disaster data shows that these areas are still at considerable risk of flooding. In this post, we examine whether flood maps may have inadvertently clustered those households financially less able to bear the consequences of a disaster into areas that may still pose a significant flood risk.
Keywords: insurance; floods; flood risk; climate; climate change; flood maps; neighborhood composition;
JEL Classification: D14; G2; R31;
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https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2023/04/moving-out-of-a-flood-zone-that-may-be-risky/
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Part of Series: Liberty Street Economics
Publication Date: 2023-04-20
Number: 20230420b