* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Saturday, September 27, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Cardi B Adds More Dates to Little Miss Drama Tour: ‘Y’all Making Me Work’ – Yahoo

    Cardi B Extends Little Miss Drama Tour: “Y’all Making Me Work

    ‘Today’: Sheinelle Jones Thanks Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Death – CBS 19 News

    Sheinelle Jones Expresses Heartfelt Thanks to Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Passing

    Sate your hunger at DBA’s Taste of Downtown – Bakersfield.com

    Indulge Your Cravings at DBA’s Taste of Downtown!

    Caesars Entertainment (CZR): Assessing Valuation After Times Square Casino Setback and Mounting Investor Concerns – simplywall.st

    Caesars Entertainment Faces Times Square Casino Hurdles as Investor Concerns Mount

    Why Hilaria Baldwin Has Found the ‘DWTS’ Process ‘Embarrassing’ At Times – WFXG

    Hilaria Baldwin Opens Up About the Embarrassing Moments on Her ‘DWTS’ Journey

    Harvest Fest 2025 – yadkinripple.com

    Celebrate the Bounty: Harvest Fest 2025 is Coming!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Autonomous Solutions shows off cutting-edge technology for the public – Cache Valley Daily

    Autonomous Solutions Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology for the Public

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    What are we really gaining from technology? – Fast Company

    What Are We Really Gaining from Technology?

    TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. Expands SteraMist iHP Technology Services in Healthcare Sector with New Provider Partnership – Quiver Quantitative

    TOMI Environmental Solutions Accelerates SteraMist iHP Technology Expansion in Healthcare with New Provider Partnership

    Indiana County Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee looks to the future as program plans began to take shape – Indiana Gazette Online

    Indiana County Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee Charts an Exciting Path Forward as New Program Plans Take Shape

    Meta to expand Montgomery data hub, pushing total investment to $1.5 billion – Alabama Department of Commerce

    Meta to Supercharge Montgomery Data Hub with $1.5 Billion Investment

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Cardi B Adds More Dates to Little Miss Drama Tour: ‘Y’all Making Me Work’ – Yahoo

    Cardi B Extends Little Miss Drama Tour: “Y’all Making Me Work

    ‘Today’: Sheinelle Jones Thanks Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Death – CBS 19 News

    Sheinelle Jones Expresses Heartfelt Thanks to Katie Couric for Support After Husband’s Passing

    Sate your hunger at DBA’s Taste of Downtown – Bakersfield.com

    Indulge Your Cravings at DBA’s Taste of Downtown!

    Caesars Entertainment (CZR): Assessing Valuation After Times Square Casino Setback and Mounting Investor Concerns – simplywall.st

    Caesars Entertainment Faces Times Square Casino Hurdles as Investor Concerns Mount

    Why Hilaria Baldwin Has Found the ‘DWTS’ Process ‘Embarrassing’ At Times – WFXG

    Hilaria Baldwin Opens Up About the Embarrassing Moments on Her ‘DWTS’ Journey

    Harvest Fest 2025 – yadkinripple.com

    Celebrate the Bounty: Harvest Fest 2025 is Coming!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Autonomous Solutions shows off cutting-edge technology for the public – Cache Valley Daily

    Autonomous Solutions Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology for the Public

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement – The New York Times

    What are we really gaining from technology? – Fast Company

    What Are We Really Gaining from Technology?

    TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. Expands SteraMist iHP Technology Services in Healthcare Sector with New Provider Partnership – Quiver Quantitative

    TOMI Environmental Solutions Accelerates SteraMist iHP Technology Expansion in Healthcare with New Provider Partnership

    Indiana County Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee looks to the future as program plans began to take shape – Indiana Gazette Online

    Indiana County Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee Charts an Exciting Path Forward as New Program Plans Take Shape

    Meta to expand Montgomery data hub, pushing total investment to $1.5 billion – Alabama Department of Commerce

    Meta to Supercharge Montgomery Data Hub with $1.5 Billion Investment

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

FEMA will now consider climate change when it rebuilds after floods

July 11, 2024
in Science
FEMA will now consider climate change when it rebuilds after floods
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

When the Federal Emergency Management Agency spends millions of dollars to help rebuild schools and hospitals after a hurricane, it tries to make the community more resilient than it was before the storm. If the agency pays to rebuild a school or a town hall, for example, it might elevate the building above the floodplain, lowering the odds that it will get submerged again.

That sounds simple enough, but the policy hinges on a deceptively simple question: How do you define “floodplain”? FEMA and the rest of the federal government long defined it as an area that has a 1 percent chance of flooding in any given year. That so-called 100-year floodplain standard, though more or less arbitrary, has been followed for decades — even though thousands of buildings outside the floodplain go underwater every year. 

Now FEMA is expanding its definition of the floodplain, following an executive order from President Joe Biden that forced government agencies to tighten rules about how they respond to the increasing risk of floods. In a significant shift, the new standard will require the agency to factor in the impact of climate change on future flood risk when it decides where and how it’s safe to build.

The new rule will result in higher-elevated and better-fortified buildings, and could help break a cycle of destruction and reconstruction that has cost the government billions of dollars over the past few decades. In a press conference announcing the rule, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell hailed it as a significant change in how the government responds to disasters. 

The rule “will allow us to enhance resilience in flood-prone communities by taking future flood risk into consideration when we rebuild structures post-disaster,” she said. “This is a huge win that will also allow us to end the repeat loss cycles that stem from flooding and increase the safety of families and save taxpayer dollars.” 

Under the new rule, the agency will “integrate current and future changes in flooding based on climate science” when it estimates flood risk, factoring in sea level rise and intensified erosion that will get worse over the course of the century. This will be easiest in coastal areas, where the science about sea level rise and flooding is well established. In riverine areas, where science is less robust, the agency will rebuild at least as high as the 500-year floodplain, or the land that has less than a 0.2 percent chance of flooding in a given year — and sometimes even higher for essential infrastructure such as bridges and hospitals.

This is a dramatic shift from previous measurements, which relied on historical data to estimate future flooding. Because climate change has intensified since the collection of that initial data, previously the agency was systematically underestimating climate-related risk. Therefore, the new system assumes that flood risk is much higher than in the past, and that it will keep rising as time goes on. To mitigate that risk, FEMA will build farther from the water wherever possible and will raise structures on stilts and pilings when it can’t pull back from the coast.

“The federal government really has a duty to account for a future flood risk when it’s providing funding to build or rebuild homes or infrastructure, because it’s using taxpayer dollars,” said Joel Scata, a senior attorney at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council and an expert on flood policy. Under the new rule, he said, FEMA is “going to be building in a way that’s not setting people and infrastructure up for future failure.”

FEMA has estimated that elevating and flood-proofing structures at this stricter standard could cost the agency as much as an additional $150 million over the next ten years — a proportionally small sum given the agency’s $3 billion annual disaster spending. The agency says that elevating structures by 2 additional feet adds around 2 percent to the cost of the average project, but that this spending will pay for itself over the next 60 years by preventing future damages.

There could still be trickle-down costs for local governments, which often have to pay around 25 percent of the cost when FEMA repairs a damaged school or installs a flood barrier in a community. Many small towns and low-income communities have struggled to provide these matching funds, and they have been excluded from federal resilience grants as a result.

The Biden administration is not the first to consider the 100-year floodplain standard inadequate. Then-President Barack Obama tried to expand the definition after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, but the Trump administration scrapped this revised standard just after taking office. President Biden’s rule has now advanced farther along in the regulatory process than the Obama administration’s rule was able to, which will make it much harder for a potential second Trump administration to repeal it.

Local updates to floodplain standards have already shown results: Houston, Texas, saw three massive floods in consecutive years between 2015 and 2017. After Hurricane Harvey struck in 2017, the city updated its building regulations to prohibit construction in the 500-year floodplain, forcing builders to elevate homes much higher or build farther back from rivers and streams. These standards likely prevented thousands of homes from flooding earlier this week during Hurricane Beryl, which caused several rivers and bayous to overflow and spill onto surrounding land.

Editor’s note: The Natural Resources Defense Council is an advertiser with Grist. Advertisers have no role in Grist’s editorial decisions.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Grist – https://grist.org/extreme-weather/fema-flood-rules-climate-change-biden/

Tags: changeclimatescience
Previous Post

How the last queen of Hawaiʻi is influencing the debate over deep-sea mining

Next Post

Dangerous heat grips the US for another record-shattering summer

Hypertension – World Health Organization (WHO)

Hypertension – World Health Organization (WHO)

September 26, 2025
In Kansas City, Secretary Rollins Speaks on State of Farm Economy, Announces Suite of Actions to Support American Farmers – USDA (.gov)

Secretary Rollins Launches Bold New Initiatives to Boost Kansas City’s Farm Economy and Empower American Farmers

September 26, 2025
Cardi B Adds More Dates to Little Miss Drama Tour: ‘Y’all Making Me Work’ – Yahoo

Cardi B Extends Little Miss Drama Tour: “Y’all Making Me Work

September 26, 2025
Vandalia Health Mon Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital to host blood drive Sept. 29 – Mon Health

Vandalia Health Mon Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital to Host Life-Saving Blood Drive on September 29

September 26, 2025
Special congressional election sees 3% voter turnout in Nashville: Week in politics – The Tennessean

Nashville’s Special Congressional Election Draws Just 3% Voter Turnout

September 26, 2025
Ecological burns slated for Corvallis area this weekend – NPR for Oregonians

Ecological Burns Set for This Weekend to Revitalize Corvallis Habitats

September 26, 2025
Beijing International Week for Science Literacy Wraps Up with Focus on AI-Driven Communication – The Korea Herald

Beijing International Week for Science Literacy Wraps Up Highlighting AI-Powered Communication Innovations

September 26, 2025
Science & Society: September 2025 – Yale School of Public Health

Science & Society: September 2025 – Yale School of Public Health

September 26, 2025
New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival expands to two-day event – Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival Grows into Exciting Two-Day Celebration

September 26, 2025
Autonomous Solutions shows off cutting-edge technology for the public – Cache Valley Daily

Autonomous Solutions Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology for the Public

September 26, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (838)
  • Economy (859)
  • Entertainment (21,734)
  • General (17,259)
  • Health (9,902)
  • Lifestyle (871)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (860)
  • Politics (869)
  • Science (16,068)
  • Sports (21,358)
  • Technology (15,841)
  • World (842)

Recent News

Hypertension – World Health Organization (WHO)

Hypertension – World Health Organization (WHO)

September 26, 2025
In Kansas City, Secretary Rollins Speaks on State of Farm Economy, Announces Suite of Actions to Support American Farmers – USDA (.gov)

Secretary Rollins Launches Bold New Initiatives to Boost Kansas City’s Farm Economy and Empower American Farmers

September 26, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version