{"id":35031,"date":"2017-08-31T15:43:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T15:43:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-06-19T09:29:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T09:29:02","slug":"10031-as-hurricane-harvey-recedes-us-must-do-more-than-rebuild","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/10031-as-hurricane-harvey-recedes-us-must-do-more-than-rebuild\/","title":{"rendered":"As Hurricane Harvey recedes, US must do more than rebuild"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas last week, people in Houston, America\u2019s 4th largest city, braced for the worst. Harvey was huge. The US National Weather Service warned: \u201cThis event is unprecedented and all impacts are unknown and beyond anything experienced.\u201d Since then we\u2019ve seen rainfall that has broken all records. Harvey is now the most extreme rain event in US history.<\/a><\/p>\n

Though the extent is unknown, there\u2019s an obvious connection between the extreme nature of Harvey and climate change. Warmer air and water coupled with rising sea levels makes hurricanes more powerful and dangerous. In 2015, then Houston Mayor Annise Parker warned that sea-level rise<\/a> would significantly increase the cost of damages from floods.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Boston Herald<\/em><\/a>, climate scientist Juliette Rooney-Varga, described the climate signal: “As the ocean warms, it can transfer energy through the storm. The warmer the atmosphere is, the more moisture it can absorb from the ocean. We are hearing the terms \u2018record-setting rainfall\u2019 or \u2018intense precipitation\u2019 more and more across the country \u2014 not just in this storm.”<\/p>\n

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But the problem isn\u2019t just souped-up storms, it\u2019s how we manage the urban environment. You don\u2019t have to look far to find people<\/a> who have been warning about how Houston\u2019s relaxed approach to urban planning and tolerance for urban sprawl has increased flood risks.<\/p>\n

As the flood waters recede, the damage is likely to be immense. Businesses, homes and car-owners with insurance will likely make claims for up to US$20 billion\u00a0(132 billion yuan) according to JPMorgan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But RMS<\/a>, a global risk modelling firm, estimate that total economic losses caused by wind damage, storm surges, and inland flooding from Hurricane Harvey could be as high as US$70-90 billion (462-594 billion yuan). Why the difference? The reason is because very few people have flood insurance. As of August 2016,\u00a0just 15% of the 1.6 million homes in Harris county<\/a>, which includes Houston, had flood insurance, and just 28% of homes in \u201chigh-risk\u201d areas for flooding.<\/p>\n

Those without insurance will likely rely on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a government effort that was supposed to supply affordable flood insurance coverage in exchange for local government action to reduce risks. Unfortunately, it hasn\u2019t turned out that way. The programme is currently US$24.6 billion (162 billion yuan) in debt.<\/p>\n

But more worryingly, the programme is seen as incentivising rebuilding in areas that have already been hit by catastrophes. These \u201crepetitive loss\u201d properties account for only 1% of all the properties insured, but make up 20-30% of all the claims. Of 30,000 repetitive-loss properties examined by the\u00a0Natural Resources Defence Council<\/a>, 75% had done nothing to mitigate future risks.<\/p>\n

Reforming the programme has brought together some unlikely bedfellows. Private insurers, environmental groups and both Republican and Democrat politicians are demanding the programme be reformed. These groups agree that more accurate flood maps, incentives for reducing risk and private sector competition are needed.<\/p>\n

But effective reforms will have to raise the cost of insurance for people who live in flood-prone areas. And this is a bitter pill to swallow for homeowners and the politicians who represent them. Key reforms that would have raised premiums for many NFIP policyholders, passed in 2012,\u00a0were quickly repealed in 2014<\/a>. The deadline for reauthorisation of the programme is later this month, and the scale of the losses from Harvey will bring new urgency to the debate.<\/p>\n

Whatever happens, urgent reform of the way the US prepares and pays for floods is needed. Yet there are worrying signs that the Trump administration may actually be making things worse. An executive order<\/a>\u00a0issued shortly before Harvey rolled back flood-risk standards for government funded infrastructure projects built in areas prone to flooding or subject to the effects of sea-level rise.<\/p>\n

Scott Pruitt, who runs the Environmental Protection Administration and is an influential member of the Trump administration, did not give a clear answer<\/a> when questioned about the link between Harvey and climate change. The Trump administration has been undoing or undermining efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, going as far as removing mention or explanation of the phenomenon from some government websites. It\u2019s hard to plan for something you won\u2019t acknowledge is happening.<\/p>\n

With seas rising and skies warming, Houston will need to build back smarter if it\u2019s going to avoid even greater future losses. But the city is also home to much of the country\u2019s oil and gas industry, which produces the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. The changes needed in Houston therefore go beyond better urban planning. The city that is known for fossil fuels needs to embrace clean energy. There are positive signs \u2013 Texas is already the nation\u2019s largest producer of wind energy.<\/p>\n

The damage wrought by Harvey has been devastating. But at a time of increasing political fractiousness, the response to the storm by ordinary people has been resolute, unified and often ingenious<\/a>. That same spirit will be needed to cope with the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Urgent reform of the way the US prepares and pays for floods is needed, writes Tan Copsey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":59689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[761],"tags":[519,544],"country":[],"class_list":["post-35031","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-climate-impacts","tag-finance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAs Hurricane Harvey recedes, US must do more than rebuild<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Urgent reform of the way the US prepares and pays for floods is needed, writes Tan Copsey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/10031-as-hurricane-harvey-recedes-us-must-do-more-than-rebuild\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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