Affordability prompting net loss of residents from flood-prone areas
FEMA begins funding the Elevate Florida program as a part of an $89 million package, American’s are fleeing flood-risk zones over affordability, and a new study shows the wetlands are a huge help in avoiding economic loss from river flooding. It’s all in this week’s Flood Digest.
FEMA Elevates: More than 70 recovery and mitigation projects across Florida are getting $89 million in federal funding, according to a recent announcement from FEMA, including the state Division of Emergency Management’s newest flood mitigation program, Elevate Florida, which received its first $14 million. That includes $12 million in grants to assist 35 homeowners in the state for the titular mitigation effort of lifting homes up off the ground. Earlier in June, FEMA approved $481,000 for qualified Elevate Florida properties in Dixie County. The program has been wildly popular in the wake of Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton with over 1,200 applications submitted by Hurricane Milton survivors in the program’s first six hours of operation; yet many homeowners have been vocal about extended waits from a clogged approval pipeline. Over the past 90 days, FEMA has provided nearly $371 million to Florida from post-disaster grant programs.
Away from the Flood: A recent Redfin study found that the allure of coastal and high flood risk properties may be waning, as a sizeable share of Americans are moving away from high-risk counties for the first time in five years. Flood prone counties, or those listed in the top 10% for their share of homes very vulnerable to flooding, posted a net loss of 63,357 residents from mid-2024 to mid-2025, more than double the rate of the previous 12-month period. The analysis combines U.S. Census Bureau data with assessments from climate analytics firm First Street, and a Redfin reading of an Ipsos survey of 1,000 Americans planning to move in the next calendar year. While flood-risk itself may not have been the primary reason for relocation – that title went to general affordability – “affordability and climate risk are becoming more tightly linked,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said. For instance, flood-prone Miami-Dade County saw a loss of 72,000 residents, the biggest in the county’s history. Yet other places where affordability and flood risk are both high saw influxes, like St. John’s County just south of Jacksonville, which posted the largest gain of residents.
Wetland Flood Impact: Another new study, published in early June by Nature Water, has found a correlation between loss of wetlands and higher insurance claim payouts, indicating that wetlands may play a pivotal role in flood resilience. The numbers come from federal flood insurance claims for residential structures flooded by rivers between 1985 and 2023, which is a niche data set, but co-author Adam Gold is adamant the results are likely a low estimate for the true impact of wetlands. The study was inspired by the 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision that rolled back vital protections for non-jurisdictional wetlands. In turn, many of the wetlands not connected to navigable waterways were left in danger and the eventual wetland loss across the U.S. increased residential flood insurance claim payouts by an estimated $10.1 billion since 1985. Because wetlands act as a large store of excess water during heavy rainfall and other inundations, storing up to 1 million gallons of water per acre, the study found that payment amounts for individual properties increased by an average of 0.01% to 0.03% per hectare of upstream wetland loss. While this amount may seem small, it, like many of our other ecological changes, is compounding quickly.
See you on the trail,
Lisa
LMA Newsletter of 7-6-26
