Flood in the US. AFP
With climate change wreaking havoc the world over, the planet has been facing more extreme weather patterns like torrential rainfall, droughts or floods. To combat the effects of these changes, many people in the United States are opting for the National Flood Insurance Program. However, if they are not living in an area classified as floodplain area (a region that is traditionally susceptible to floods), they cannot avail the benefits of this scheme. Rebecca Elliot, Associate Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, told Now This News that the present flood insurance program is ill-equipped to deal with incidents like the recent floods in California or Las Vegas. A video of the same has grabbed the attention of internet users.
Severe storms struck the US state of California in January, leaving at least 19 dead, as per a BBC report. The city of Las Vegas was hit by flash floods in August after facing its most intense monsoon season in a decade.
The National Flood Insurance Program, managed by United States’ Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), helps homeowners, renters and business owners to buy flood insurance from a network of companies.
Talking about these incidents, Elliot, who also authored Underwater: Loss, Flood Insurance, and the Moral Economy of Climate Change in the United States, told Now This News that the United States’ flood insurance scheme is not feasible considering the widening impact of climate change. As per Elliot, recent disasters have made more and more people realise the importance of flood insurance. According to her, since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, flood insurance has become a big debt on the US Treasury, which it has not been able to pay back. As per a report by Columbia University in November, natural disasters over the last five years have cost the US Treasury $788.4 billion.
Watch:
She also added that getting more people to buy flood insurance could be a task. People often buy the scheme and let it lapse after a few years, instead of renewing it.
In the video, Elliott advocated making it mandatory for people to buy flood insurance and also expanding the areas classified under floodplains as solutions.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.