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Florida flood risk study identifies priorities for property buyouts

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A study of flood damage in Florida by scientists at UC Santa Cruz and the Nature Conservancy proposes prioritizing property buyouts based on flood risk, ecological value, and socioeconomic conditions. Forecasters say an above-normal hurricane season is likely in the Atlantic Ocean this year, while a rising sea level is making Florida increasingly vulnerable to dangerous flooding.

The study, published in the Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics, focused on the problem of "repetitive loss properties" and aimed to identify lands in Florida that are potential targets for projects with multiple benefits: reduced flood exposure, conservation benefits, and remediation of social vulnerability.

The study shows the location of more than 15,000 repetitive loss properties in Florida which, collectively, filed more than 40,000 claims against the National Flood Insurance Program between 1978 and 2011 (more than 1,200 claims per year, on average). As of March 2016, the National Flood Insurance Program, which is up for reauthorization in 2017, owed the U.S. Treasury $23 billion.