Flooded with generosity: Lavish disaster aid helped rebuild N.C.’s storm-wrecked coast.
But critics call it a waste of money – and the wrong message to developers.
Craig Whitlock
November 9, 1997
News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
The National Flood Insurance Program was created in 1968 by Congress to provide low-price
flood insurance encourages development in flood-prone areas and constant repetitive
losses. This news article specifically looks at Topsail Beach, NC and the failures
of several other government acts and entities to disincentivize intensely vulnerable
ocean development.
Principles for Reform of Catastrophic Natural Disaster Insurance
Matt A. Mayer, David C. John, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.,
April 8, 2009
An in-depth analysis of the CAT (Catastrophic Hurricane Fund) and how increased centralization
of America’s natural disaster response just spreads risk around to taxpayers who are
not generally affected by the natural disaster. Also includes five principles of reform
for what our nation’s catastrophic disaster response should look like.
HR 1264
Multiple Peril Insurance Act of 2009: Requires the program to allow the purchase of
multiperil coverage and optional separate windstorm coverage to protect against damage
or loss.
S 764
April 2009
Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act in order
to increase the maximum amount of assistance to individuals and households.
FEMA Create Results-Oriented Incentives to Reduce the Costs of a Disaster
1995
Another article detailing the great extent of federal assistance to state and local
governments in times of disaster, almost always post-event, and the need for more
objective criteria and prevention efforts when making decisions regarding disaster
coverage.
Hurricane Katrina and the Paradoxes of Government Disaster Policy: Bringing About
Wise Governmental Decisions for Hazardous Areas
Raymond J. Burby,
2006
Looks at the two paradoxes (safe development paradox and local government paradox)
that undermine effective disaster policy, and calls for a shift from programs that
insure individuals and businesses to ones that insure communities.
A Disaster Waiting to Happen
Jon Elliston, 2004
An explanation of what happened to FEMA when it merged with the Department of Homeland
Security during the Bush Administration, and how counter-terrorism programs will often
overshadow natural disaster programs.
Rebuilding the North Carolina Coast After Hurricane Fran: Did Public Regulations Matter?
Rutherford H. Platt, David Salvesen, George H. Baldwin, II,
2002
Uses 1996 Hurricane Fran to show that hazardous areas are still seeing a ton of heavy
development – the same heavy development that continue to be flooded and damaged by
storms, and then saved (constantly) by federal assistance.
After Hurricane Floyd: Where Do We Go From Here?
Sheridan R. Jones, William R. Mangun,
2001
This study pushes for a more thorough discussion of habitat enhancement and cultural
preservation, and not just storm mitigation, when it comes to beach nourishment projects.