Oceanfront property owners along the South Coast don’t want to leave their homes in paradise. But the cost of insurance and a shifting philosophy of federal disaster relief may start to drive this discussion, according to Chad McGuire, a professor of public policy at UMass Dartmouth.
Since Hurricane Betsy in 1965, Congress has been generous with federal ad-hoc disaster relief money for damaged coastal communities, given their role as regional economic drivers.
Yet McGuire said costs have gone up to roughly $25 billion per year over the last 30 years, a product of more billion-dollar disasters tied to climate change. Congress is also starting to hit the limit of its generosity and is stalling on disaster relief packages, and both trends are driving up coastal homeowner’s insurance rates, McGuire said.
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South Coast confronts rising seas
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Federal policymakers are working to reduce coastal redevelopment subsidies through small changes, according to McGuire, such as implementing a new flood insurance pricing model that is driving up premiums on beachfront properties.
These shifts in federal policy are affecting the South Coast. Officials in Marion, Mattapoisett, and Wareham said flood and homeowners’ insurance rates have gone up for residents.
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
Rising Seas and Coastal Impact ⇢
The Light holds its first Community Conversation of 2024, featuring environmental reporter Adam Goldstein and a panel of experts discussing Rising Seas and Coastal Impact. The event is free at the New Bedford Art Museum on Feb. 28, beginning at 6 p.m.
McGuire said these trends point to a shift towards reduced federal subsidies for coastal redevelopment, which will start to drive debate over when to develop and redevelop the coastline after storms.
“It’s much more difficult to make that decision about what you’re going to prioritize when you’re paying for it,” McGuire said.
South Coast officials said they were concerned that rising insurance rates will drive coastal homeowners away from their communities, which depend on property tax revenue.
“When you have a beautiful $2 million home on the ocean, and you have to pay a 5% deductible on that before anyone even touches your claim,” Marion town administrator Geoff Gorman said, “how many coastal events can you go through before you move?”
Email environmental reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@newbedfordlight.org.
