The greatest numbers are in Ocean County, N.J. More than 2,000 counties nationwide have buildings on the list. (Some buildings, like condominiums, have several units.) Those structures account for 249,049 flood insurance policies, each representing a separate household or business. Yet as many as 112,480 structures nationwide fail that test despite being built after the rules took effect, typically decades ago, according to FEMA data analyzed for The Times by Naomi Kalman, a geographic information specialist at the University of California, Davis, and her colleagues. “We work with the communities and property owners to directly remedy the specific violations,” she said. Rachel Sears, director of FEMA’s floodplain management division, said her office’s strategy was to avoid “immediately pursuing” penalties, and to instead encourage towns and cities to do better. “There’s no negative consequences for violating the rules,” said Rob Moore, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Local governments are responsible for enforcing the requirements, but almost none have been penalized for failing to do so. That toll is likely to increase as climate change makes flooding more frequent and intense. Those structures accounted for more than $1 billion in flood claims during the past decade, the data show. WASHINGTON - It’s a simple rule, designed to protect both homeowners and taxpayers: If you want publicly subsidized flood insurance, you can’t build a home that’s likely to flood.īut local governments around the country, which are responsible for enforcing the rule, have flouted the requirements, accounting for as many as a quarter-million insurance policies in violation, according to data provided to The New York Times by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the flood insurance program.
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