Staten Island is a burough of New York City and a barrier island protecting New York from the high seas. Not surprisingly, it felt the brunt of Hurricane Sandy’s wrath and suffered storm surges up to fourteen feet. Homes were lost and 23 people died on the island accounting for more than half of the New York state death toll.
Some folks finally decided “enough is enough” of living in a floodplain. There are more and more serious storms driving forced migrations and even climate refugees around the world. The changes and dire predictions impact sales and property values in disaster prone areas. Governor Cuomo decided to buy out the homeowners in three neighborhoods with the most vocal relief demands - Oakwood Beach, Ocean Breeze and Graham Beach - at pre-storm market value. The Governor wisely stated, “There are some places that Mother Nature owns. I want to give this parcel back.” But perhaps unwisely, the state paid an average of $400,000 per home from a $400 million state pilot program. The cost of those pre-storm buyouts are probably unrealistic and difficult to maintain for the remaining properties. It creates a contentious situation for those that “gets” and those that don’t.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is one of the opponents of the buyouts and said, “We cannot and will not abandon our waterfront. It’s one of our greatest assets.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) now has 400,000 New Yorkers and 70,000 buildings in areas designated at high risk for flooding. Public agencies probably do not have the resources to relocate these kinds of numbers.
Source: Playboy, November 2014