Advancing Resiliency through Housing Assistance in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region
Through funds provided by the Environmental Protection Fund under the authority of the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act and by agreement with New York Sea Grant, G/FLRPC has been awarded funding from the New York’s Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program for the project, Advancing Resiliency through Housing Assistance in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region. G/FLRPC will interview local housing programs throughout the nine-county Genesee-Finger Lakes Region to understand whether resiliency could be incorporated into financial and technical assistance to homeowners and businesses that undertake flood damage reduction measures for existing structures in the regulatory floodplain. Resiliency components can include dry floodproofing, installation of flood vents, and/or structure and equipment elevation.
According to the 100 Resilient Cities report, Strengthening the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is vitally important to the prosperity and resilience of many communities—not only because it helps manage flood risks, but because it provides insurance payments needed by individuals and businesses to recover from catastrophic flooding. The continued viability and solvency of the NFIP, however, is threatened by a number of challenges: the most severe being that the program is $24.6 billion in debt to the U.S. Treasury and taxpayers because of subsidized insurance rates and the recent increases in the severity and intensity of flood events starting in 2005, where claims exceeded insurance payments into the program. These deficiencies pose numerous challenges: outdated floodplain maps; socio-economic threats to communities that have a significant number of lower-income homeowners and businesses located in flood hazard areas; and rate increases that will affect owners of older buildings who previously received insurance subsidies. For lower-income homeowners and those on a fixed income, rising rates could price people out of their homes. Rising rates may also force landlords to raise rents, intensifying housing affordability. While buying out disaster-prone properties and converting them to green or community space is an option, sometimes funding streams are slow—or there’s simply not enough funding. Buyouts can also be emotionally painful, as residents have to willingly walk away from their homes, schools, jobs, and community.
This research and assessment project is a proactive step in addressing the future of communities in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region with numerous structures that were built before the adoption of the community’s flood maps. Advancing Resiliency through Housing Assistance in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region will increase awareness to municipalities, community development corporations, and other housing organizations to consider the implementation of flood protection measures into their programs. The report will include general summaries about NFIP reauthorization and the National Framework to address the dual challenges of increasing climate-driven flood risk and rising insurance rates, followed by the State Framework and its programs such as those available through New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) and the provisions of the Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CRRA).
Contact Senior Planner Jayme B. Thomann, AICP, CFM with any questions or comments about this project at jbreschard@gflrpc.org or (585) 454-0190 x12
According to the 100 Resilient Cities report, Strengthening the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is vitally important to the prosperity and resilience of many communities—not only because it helps manage flood risks, but because it provides insurance payments needed by individuals and businesses to recover from catastrophic flooding. The continued viability and solvency of the NFIP, however, is threatened by a number of challenges: the most severe being that the program is $24.6 billion in debt to the U.S. Treasury and taxpayers because of subsidized insurance rates and the recent increases in the severity and intensity of flood events starting in 2005, where claims exceeded insurance payments into the program. These deficiencies pose numerous challenges: outdated floodplain maps; socio-economic threats to communities that have a significant number of lower-income homeowners and businesses located in flood hazard areas; and rate increases that will affect owners of older buildings who previously received insurance subsidies. For lower-income homeowners and those on a fixed income, rising rates could price people out of their homes. Rising rates may also force landlords to raise rents, intensifying housing affordability. While buying out disaster-prone properties and converting them to green or community space is an option, sometimes funding streams are slow—or there’s simply not enough funding. Buyouts can also be emotionally painful, as residents have to willingly walk away from their homes, schools, jobs, and community.
This research and assessment project is a proactive step in addressing the future of communities in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region with numerous structures that were built before the adoption of the community’s flood maps. Advancing Resiliency through Housing Assistance in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region will increase awareness to municipalities, community development corporations, and other housing organizations to consider the implementation of flood protection measures into their programs. The report will include general summaries about NFIP reauthorization and the National Framework to address the dual challenges of increasing climate-driven flood risk and rising insurance rates, followed by the State Framework and its programs such as those available through New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) and the provisions of the Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CRRA).
Contact Senior Planner Jayme B. Thomann, AICP, CFM with any questions or comments about this project at jbreschard@gflrpc.org or (585) 454-0190 x12