Hurricane Isaac, National Flood Insurance Program

The Impact of Hurricane Isaac on Louisiana

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http://theadvocate.com/news/5301477-123/isaacs-impact

After Hurricane Katrina questions were raised about the long term safety of low lying communities outside the New Orleans levee system. No decisions were made and redevelopment was funded in these communities. These areas were flooded by Hurricane Gustav, and then flooded again by Hurricane Isaac. Despite being a very small storm, Isaac caused massive damage to these communities. This emphasizes that these communities are sustainable in the long term.

CRS, Law, Teaching Materials

Climate Change and Existing Law – CRS

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Climate Change and Existing Law: A Survey of Legal Issues Past, Present, and Future

This report surveys existing law for legal issues that have arisen, or may arise in the future, on account of climate change and government responses thereto. At the threshold of many climate-change-related lawsuits are two barriers—whether the plaintiff has standing to sue and whether the claim being made presents a political question. Both barriers have forced courts to apply amorphous standards in a new and complex context. Efforts to mitigate climate change—that is, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—have spawned a host of legal issues. The Supreme Court resolved a big one in 2007—the Clean Air Act (CAA), it said, does authorize EPA to regulate GHG emissions. Quite recently, a host of issues raised by EPA’s efforts to carry out that authority were resolved in the agency’s favor by the D.C. Circuit. Another issue is whether EPA’s “endangerment finding” for GHG emissions from new motor vehicles will compel EPA to move against GHG emissions under other CAA authorities. Still other mitigation issues are (1) the role of the Endangered Species Act in addressing climate change; (2) how climate change must be considered under the National Environmental Policy Act; (3) liability and other questions raised by carbon capture and sequestration; (4) constitutional constraints on land use regulation and state actions against climate change; and (5) whether the public trust doctrine applies to the atmosphere.

Hurricane Sandy

Tropical Cyclone Report – Hurricane Sandy

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Eric S. Blake, Todd B. Kimberlain, Robert J. Berg, John P. Cangialosi and John L. Beven II, Tropical Cyclone Report – Hurricane Sandy (AL182012) 22 – 29 October 2012, National Hurricane Center, 12 February 2013.

Sandy was a classic late-season hurricane in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. The cyclone made landfall as a category 1 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) in Jamaica, and as a 100-kt category 3 hurricane in eastern Cuba before quickly weakening to a category 1 hurricane while moving through the central and northwestern Bahamas. Sandy underwent a complex evolution and grew considerably in size while over the Bahamas, and continued to grow despite weakening into a tropical storm north of those islands. The system restrengthened into a hurricane while it moved northeastward, parallel to the coast of the southeastern United States, and reached a secondary peak intensity of 85 kt while it turned northwestward toward the mid-Atlantic states. Sandy weakened somewhat and then made landfall as a post-tropical cyclone near Brigantine, New Jersey with 70-kt maximum sustained winds. Because of its tremendous size, however, Sandy drove a catastrophic storm surge into the New Jersey and New York coastlines. Preliminary U.S. damage estimates are near $50 billion, making Sandy the second-costliest cyclone to hit the United States since 19001. There were at least 147 direct deaths2 recorded across the Atlantic basin due to Sandy, with 72 of these fatalities occurring in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. This is the greatest number of U.S. direct fatalities related to a tropical cyclone outside of the southern states since Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

 

Flood Control History, Flooding, Flooding mitigation, History, National Flood Insurance Program, Rivers and Inland Wetlands

Flood Control History

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The Nation’s Responses To Flood Disasters: A Historical Account

Alexander, J.S., Wilson, R.C., and Green, W.R., 2012, A brief history and summary of the effects of river engineering and dams on the Mississippi River system and delta: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1375, 43 p 2012.

Interagency Floodplain Mgmt. Review Comm., Sharing the Challenge: Floodplain Management into the 21st Century 2 (1994)

Task Force on Federal Flood Control Policy. A Unified National Program for Managing Flood Losses: Communication from the President of the United States Transmitting a Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1966.

Gilbert F White, Human adjustment to floods: a geographical approach to the flood problem in the United States (1945).

 

CRS, Flood Control Act of 1928, Levees

CRS – Flood Damage Related to Army Corps of Engineers Projects

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CRS – Flood Damage Related to Army Corps of Engineers Projects: Selected Legal Issues, June 7, 2011 (RL34131)

Summary

Over the past century, the federal government has undertaken a number of civil works projects to prevent widespread damage from flooding of various waterways. These flood control projects generally have been designed and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). Despite the existence of these flood control structures, floods have caused major damage to various regions of the country. Hurricane Katrina was the most costly natural disaster ever to hit the United States. Striking land in August 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane, Hurricane Katrina left 80% of New Orleans under water. Since Katrina, a number of major floods in the midwestern states have caused significant damage. In particular, heightened flows of the Mississippi River in 2011 have resulted in historic flooding and controversy over the use of floodways to redirect floodwaters. In the wake of these floods, the issue of federal liability for flood damage is receiving attention in the media and in Congress.

The costly and unprecedented nature of recent flood damage has led to an upsurge in litigation over flood damage liability. Some lawsuits filed against the federal government, particularly after Katrina, assert government liability for damages resulting from the failure of levees and floodwalls designed and constructed by the Corps. Other lawsuits claim federal liability for damages resulting from the Corps’ decision to activate floodways during the 2011 Mississippi River flooding.

The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and the Flood Control Act of 1928 (FCA) may protect the government from liability for some flood-related claims. Under the FTCA, the federal government is exempt from liability for discretionary actions. Under the FCA, the government cannot be sued for damages resulting from federally supported damage reduction projects or floodwaters.

This report examines federal liability for flood damage and analyzes legal defenses available to the federal government. Specifically, it provides an overview of the discretionary function exemption under the FTCA and immunity under the FCA as applied to Corps projects. The report also considers the Corps’ potential liability for damages caused by levee failure during Hurricane Katrina and the activation of floodways during the 2011 Mississippi flooding

A Deadly Coast, Administration, FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program

Congress Reforms the National Flood Insurance Program

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Full Text of the Bill – Technical Correction

Congressional Committee Report – Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

Homeland Security: Privacy Impact Assessment, National Flood Insurance Program Information Technology System, Oct. 12, 2012

Georgetown Climate Center Analysis of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

The Center For Insurance Policy & Research

National Association of Realtors Analysis of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

FEMA Bulletin – FEMA Extends Preferred Risk Policies For Homeowners

FEMA – Write Your Own (WYO) Principal Coordinators and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Servicing Agent

FEMA Timeline for Implementation(12/2012)