Coastal erosion and the National Flood Insurance Program

Over the next 60 years, coastal erosion may claim one out of four houses within 500 feet of the U.S. shoreline. To the homeowners living within this narrow strip, the risk posed by erosion is comparable to the risk from flooding. These are the findings of a recent study by The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, prepared for the U.S. Congress and funded primarily by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The study recommends that FEMA: 1) develop erosion hazard maps that display the location and extent of coastal areas subject to erosion and 2) include the cost of erosion losses when setting flood insurance rates along the coast.