August 28, 2020
A destructive storm rising from warm waters. Again. America and the world are getting more frequent and bigger multibillion dollar tropical catastrophes like Hurricane Laura, which menaced the U.S. Gulf Coast, because of a combination of increased coastal development, natural …
November 21, 2018
Developer Jeff Lamkin knew the risks when he paid $250 million for 63 acres of an island off the Texas coast. But he saw only upside in the quaint little beach town of Port Aransas. Over the next 10 years …
April 24, 2018
When Hurricane Irma reached Florida’s Big Pine Key in September, it caused the floor of Terry and Sharon Baron’s cream-colored mobile home to collapse. On Marathon Key, twenty miles north, the winds lifted Diane Gaffield’s mobile home off its concrete …
December 12, 2017
When Hurricane Harvey sent two feet of water rolling into this small community about 35 miles north of Houston, Alfredo Becerra had to flee his modest 1,500-square-foot house. Muddy floodwater submerged the furniture and ruined carpet inside the construction worker’s …
December 13, 2016
In January, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate gave states a choice for dealing with climate change. Option A: Do nothing about the rising toll of extreme weather, and hope Congress’s threats to restrict disaster aid — by raising …
October 20, 2015
Climate change has added billions to the toll of hurricane strikes on the U.S., according to a study that challenges the prevailing scientific view that the rising cost is mainly because more buildings, towns and businesses are in the way. …
May 29, 2015
Since eight hurricanes whipped through Florida during back-to-back seasons a decade ago, causing $33 billion in insurance claims, the state’s coastal communities have added an additional 1.5 million people and almost a half-million new houses, an Associated Press analysis shows. …
June 4, 2012
Taking the position that Florida’s heavily-subsidized property insurance market is leading to over-development along the state’s coastline, wildlife groups are calling on state lawmakers to make reforms even if they increase costs. In a letter to the state legislature, six …