After the Hurricanes, a Question Mark on the Coastline
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have raised anew the question of whether to rebuild along vulnerable coasts. Renee Montagne talks with Dr. Robert Young, a geologist at Western Carolina University who would like to see a nonpartisan commission formed to evaluate where federal money for rebuilding should — and should not — go.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
This year's historic hurricane season has reopened the long-standing debate about whether to build along vulnerable coasts. Much of the debate centers on the federal money that goes into insuring and rebuilding flooded areas. For example, the federal National Flood Insurance Program reports that $850 million was paid out last year in the wake of five hurricanes. That federal program pays up to $250,000 for a home destroyed by floodwaters. Now one coastal expert has come up with an intriguing proposal. Geologist Robert Young suggests forming a commission, modeled after BRAC, the powerful independent commission which has managed to cut through regional politics to allow military bases to be closed. Rob Young will tell a congressional committee this morning that he'd like to see such a concept applied to coastlines.
Dr. ROBERT YOUNG (Geologist, Western Carolina University): I'm envisioning that the political outcome of this commission would be a federal retreat from coastal subsidies and that means no more federal dollars to rebuild the infrastructure of those communities after a hurricane, and no more federal flood insurance subsidizing the flood insurance risk for those communities.
MONTAGNE: The geologist has given his proposal an acronym, and it's catchy, like BRAC. Rob Young calls it ShRAC for Shoreline Retreat Advisory Commission, made up of experts without political ties.
Dr. YOUNG: This is why it has to be something like the BRAC. It has to be non-partisan, and the experts have to be allowed to make a list of recommendations and then the policy-makers, whether it's Congress or the president--they just get to vote thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the whole thing. You can't allow them to start pulling apart different areas because then they'll just protect political turf. You know, it's--if all you can do is vote thumbs-up and thumbs-down and everybody's been equally impacted, then it becomes a little bit more politically palatable.
MONTAGNE: So when you talk about coastline areas that would be retreated from, are you talking about massive coastlines, or almost like the way the bases are, here, there?
Dr. YOUNG: What I'm envisioning is that this is probably done community by community, and we're certainly not talking about large cities like Miami or Charleston, South Carolina. We're talking about communities that are primarily resort communities, primarily investment property, a few miles of shoreline here, a few miles of shoreline there, and you know, this is America. We have a strong private property ethic, and I'm not suggesting that the federal government step in and tell people that they can't rebuild or they can't develop. I'm simply suggesting that federal taxpayers shouldn't be subsidizing the risk of them developing in a very dangerous, vulnerable area.
MONTAGNE: And what, building, or rebuilding can't be challenged very easily in these communities at this moment in time because it's too politically charged?
Dr. YOUNG: That's right. And it is a political hot potato, that's for sure, and I'm quite certain that there are a couple of congressmen in my home state of North Carolina that won't be very happy to hear what I'm saying at this moment. But the fact of the matter is that there are a lot more of us who live outside of the coastal zone and who live in the central US, and who have been spending their taxpayer money for years to subsidize the existence of these coastal communities.
MONTAGNE: What would you say to someone listening on the coast that says, `What about California and the earthquakes? What about the fires? What about all these other areas? Why us?'
Dr. YOUNG: Well, I think there's a couple of answers to that question. Certainly I have heard that argument made, when, you know, we talk about tornado damage and fires and all these other hazard risk areas. But none of those come close to the billions of dollars that we've been paying out in hurricane damages over the last decade, and the federal flood insurance program wasn't intended to be insuring coastal property like this when it was created. And you know, I think we should go back to its original intention.
MONTAGNE: Rob Young is a professor of geology at Western Carolina University. He's proposing that the government create the Shoreline Retreat Advisory Commission, or ShRAC, to keep some vulnerable coastlines from being rebuilt.
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