1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. 2 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 2: I was out in Kerrville in Kerr County. 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,759 Speaker 1: That's our reporter Kara Carlson, who's based in Texas. She's 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: been speaking with people who survived the flooding in Texas 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: on July fourth, and one story in particular has stayed 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: with her. 7 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 3: I have this thing. 8 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 4: About watching storms interactive maps. 9 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 2: It really struck me. She was actually up, you know, 10 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 2: watching the storm, watching a lot of the alerts and 11 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 2: was still really caught off guard in a lot of ways. 12 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 4: I was really watching where the lightning was striking because 13 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 4: it was intense. 14 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 3: It was scary. 15 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 2: It was like. 16 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 4: Really close. So I went outside and I noticed the 17 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 4: water in the driveway was like out of foot high, 18 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 4: and I thought, Oh, that's weird. 19 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 2: You'd seen that before. 20 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: Rina Bailey lives in Hunt, a small community by the 21 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: side of the Guadalupe River in Texas's Hill Country. She 22 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: lives in a house that was built in nineteen twenty three. 23 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 4: It's better floods many other floods. 24 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: Hunt is mostly a rural area with hills and farmland 25 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 1: and wineries, a place Kara says many Texans visit as 26 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: a summer getaway. 27 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 2: That's a little bit of climate in the summer than 28 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 2: a lot of other areas in Texas. It's kind of 29 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 2: an idyllic area on the river generally. 30 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: But some of the things that make this part of 31 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: Hill Country so idyllic also make it risky. They call 32 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: this area of Texas Flash flood Alley because the steep terrain, 33 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: shallow soil, and intense storms make it exceptionally prone to 34 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: flash floods. 35 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 2: I think what most people are thinking of when they 36 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 2: hear flash flooding is maybe stay off the roads, you know, 37 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 2: stay out of certain areas. They aren't necessarily expecting it 38 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 2: to come to them. 39 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: Rena was used to floods, but she was shocked to 40 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: see the floodwater in her driveway in the early morning 41 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: hours of July fourth. And then the water kept rising. 42 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 4: All of a sudden, it jumped up, and I saw 43 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 4: the Hunt stores and heard the start to de centigrade. 44 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,799 Speaker 4: I saw the post office start to dicentigrade, the office 45 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 4: next to it, and then. 46 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 5: This wall of bar. 47 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: She saw the water sweep their truck away. Her husband 48 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: was still asleep and woken up, and my. 49 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 4: Knees saw it. It was coming up the steps like 50 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 4: there it was, and he said. 51 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 2: You have to get out of here. 52 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: Rina wears a back race and she says she sometimes 53 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: has trouble walking, so her husband helped her out through 54 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: a window and across their yard towards a narrow gap 55 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: in the fence. 56 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:49,679 Speaker 3: There's a seven. 57 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 4: Foot concrete wall and there's a metal fence a gap 58 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 4: that line. 59 00:02:58,280 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 2: That gap had and liten there with The. 60 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: Official death toll has risen to over one hundred people, 61 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: including dozens of children, most of whom were at Camp Mystic. 62 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: Over one hundred people from Kerr County are still missing. 63 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 1: The Baileys made it to higher ground. They climbed the 64 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: hill behind their house and headed for a log cabin 65 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: on their property where they could take shelter and wait 66 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: out the storm. In the wake of the floods, dozens 67 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: of stories like Rena's are emerging, stories of families barely 68 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: managing to evade danger, who were woken up in the 69 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: middle of the night by thunder, or by their dogs barking, 70 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: or by their neighbors, but not by an official warning system. 71 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: These accounts are raising questions about why Kerr County residents 72 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: were caught so off guard and what, if anything, could 73 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: have been done to save more lives. 74 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 2: Should there have been a slightly different alert, Should the 75 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 2: campgrounds maybe have been evacuated sooner? You know, there's a 76 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 2: lot of unanswered questions that are still being looked. 77 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: Into, questions that have repercussions far beyond Kirk County as 78 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: storms become more intense, more deadly, and more frequent due 79 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: to climate change. I'm Sarah Holder, and this is the 80 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: big take from Bloomberg News today on the show What 81 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: the Floods in Texas reveal about the growing risk of 82 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: flash floods as the climate changes, and the difficult economic 83 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: choices facing communities that are grappling with these new risks. 84 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 6: Flooding is the most expensive natural disaster we face. 85 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: Joshua Sachs is the director of the Adaptation program at 86 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: the Georgetown Climate Center. 87 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 6: And it can destroy communities. It not only impacts loss 88 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 6: of life, but someone's home traditionally is their majority of 89 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 6: their wealth. 90 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 7: As we have warmer temperatures, the atmosphere can hold more water, 91 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 7: more moisture, and so then when you have these storms, 92 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 7: they are able to dump more rain. 93 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: Zara here g covers climate for Bloomberg and there's a 94 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: lot of time thinking about how our understanding of risk 95 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: is currently evolving in a warming world. 96 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 7: So Texas is actually a state that has a ton 97 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 7: of resources. It has one of the best emergency response 98 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 7: kind of offices and teams and capabilities in the country. 99 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 7: Most states are not like Texas. 100 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: Zara says, Texas is the gold standard when it comes 101 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: to its emergency response capabilities, but it also faces a 102 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: wide variety of disaster risks, from hurricanes to extreme heat, 103 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: and even if it has a lot of money to 104 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: spend on disaster response, it faces difficult choices about how 105 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: to spend it, and on the ground, localities face their 106 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: own budgetary trade offs. We know, for example, that Kirk 107 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: County considered installing a warning system that could have involved 108 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: sirens in high risk areas, but it didn't. 109 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 7: We have heard from officials in Texas that one of 110 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 7: the reasons why they had not built a flood detection 111 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 7: warning system in this area, saying care ca where some 112 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 7: of the worst fooding was, is because of the cost. 113 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 4: Right. 114 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 7: So it was Care County Judge Rob Kelly who told 115 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,479 Speaker 7: The New York Times that local residents whose taxes wound 116 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 7: up to fund such a system bocked at it. 117 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: How much does it cost to develop a really effective 118 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: early warning system for these emergencies. 119 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 7: I think it depends on the community and the type 120 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 7: of warning and the type of area that you're trying 121 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 7: to cover. But obviously it's an expense, and every local 122 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 7: government and state government has a lot of things on 123 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 7: their plate, and I'll say mitigation often falls to the 124 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 7: bottom of that. 125 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 6: There are traditionally federal grant programs that communities or individuals can. 126 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: Apply for Joshua sax Agon, like. 127 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 6: Putting their homes higher up or elevating their homes, or 128 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 6: elevating air conditioners, water heaters, things like that. Sometimes there 129 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 6: are state grants, but for the most part, people and 130 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 6: community are having to ask the government for money, and 131 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 6: there isn't nearly enough money to go around to solve 132 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 6: all the problems we're. 133 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: Facing, Zara says. At this point, federal government funding has 134 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: become more and more integral to emergency management efforts. 135 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 7: And it really speaks to what's at stake if the 136 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 7: Trump administration kind of pulls back on this funding. Earlier 137 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 7: this year, there are a couple of times when the 138 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 7: Trump administration paused a huge number of federal grants specifically FEMA, 139 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 7: and these are grants that are tied to this mitigation, 140 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 7: this resiliency, this prep. 141 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: All of this worsening storms. The challenges and costs of 142 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,119 Speaker 1: investing in better infrastructure has also made the predictive data 143 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: we get from the National Weather Service even more critical. 144 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: The service is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 145 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: They're the ones that track environmental disasters and put out 146 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: weather advisories and warnings. 147 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 3: NOAH has our responsibility, especially through the National Weather Service, 148 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 3: to put out a series of, one would say, progressively 149 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 3: more action oriented messages. 150 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: Rick Spinrad served as the head of NOAH until January 151 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: of this year. He says those action oriented messages include 152 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: the watches and warnings you get on your phone or 153 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: in weather apps. A floodwatch did go out for Kerrville 154 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: for the Guadalupe River at one eighteen pm local time 155 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: on July third, and a flash flood warning signaling that 156 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: the hazardous weather event is imminent or already happening went 157 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: out about twelve hours later. It was tagged considerable, meaning 158 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: it automatically triggered wireless emergency alerts on mobile devices. 159 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 3: That particular warning included phrases that this was going to 160 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 3: be a considerable and catastrophic event. That is the queue 161 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 3: to emergency managers to start getting people to evacuate, to 162 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 3: start preposition materials and personnel and equipment needed to protect 163 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 3: people from the event. The most perfect forecast is only 164 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 3: as good as how it is implemented by the ones 165 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 3: who need to use it. 166 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: To make sure these forecasts reach the local officials in 167 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,239 Speaker 1: charge of making public safety decisions, there are warning coordination 168 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: Meteorologists or wcns. 169 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 3: At WCN doesn't wait for the phone to ring, but 170 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 3: actually gets out there and begins the discussion and ensures 171 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 3: that all of the sheriff's offices and rescue companies and 172 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,679 Speaker 3: emergency managers are online with him or her. They know 173 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 3: the nature of the alert that went out, and they 174 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 3: are there to tell them what they think is going 175 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 3: to happen with respect to the river levels increased precipitation. 176 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 3: When that kind of thing, it's. 177 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: Too early to know exactly what might have made a 178 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: difference for the flood victims. There are still questions about 179 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: how local officials responded, and reporting is ongoing, but there 180 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: was no WCM in the forecast office for the area 181 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: that flooded. He left his position in April. He took 182 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: an early retirement offered by the Trump administration as it 183 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: moved to cut Noah's staff and its budget. 184 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 3: It's disturbing to know that in the San Antonio Austin WFO, 185 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 3: the WCM position is vacant because that person left the 186 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 3: agency as a result of the cuts, and I would 187 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 3: say coerced retirements that the administration put on the Weather Service. 188 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,199 Speaker 1: The legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, 189 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: Tom Faye, told NBC News that while the San Antonio 190 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,319 Speaker 1: Weather Forecasting Office did have vacancies in two of its 191 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: top positions, it was down a WCM and a permanent 192 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: science officer. The offices in the area had quote adequate 193 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,199 Speaker 1: staffing and resources to respond to this event. 194 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,319 Speaker 7: Happened in Texas. Is that happened in the middle of 195 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 7: the night, and it happened in an area that doesn't 196 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 7: have great or extensive cell coverage. 197 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: My colleague Zara Kirgee. 198 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 7: Again, so even if warnings had gone out and alert 199 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 7: had gone out to people's phones, maybe they didn't get 200 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 7: it and they didn't hear it. And you can imagine 201 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 7: if there was a siren that went off. That is 202 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 7: something that someone who is camping would have noticed, verses 203 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 7: a buzz on their phone if that buzz ever happened. 204 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: At a press conference on Tuesday, four days after the disaster, 205 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: as rescue and recovery efforts were underway, Governor Greg Abbott 206 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,320 Speaker 1: wasn't inclined to discuss what, if anything, he believes went 207 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: wrong in preparing Kirk County for this flood. 208 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 8: Who's to blame? 209 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: Know this? 210 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 8: That's the word choice of losers. Let me explain one 211 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 8: thing about Texas, and that is Texas. Every sport entered 212 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 8: our state cares about football. It could be a hunt Texas, Huntsville, Texas, Houston, Texas, 213 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 8: any size community, they care about football and know this. 214 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 8: Every football team makes mistakes. The losing teams are the 215 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 8: ones that try to point out who's to blame. The 216 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 8: championship teams are the ones to say, don't worry about it, man, 217 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 8: we got this. We're going to make sure that we 218 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 8: go score again, that we're going to win this game. 219 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: Texas officials say. The state legislature is planning a special 220 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: session later this month to discuss flood warning systems, flood 221 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: emergency communications, and natural disaster preparedness. They'll also consider relief 222 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: funding for the Hill country. So what communities are most 223 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,079 Speaker 1: vulnerable to flooding in the US and what can they 224 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:54,079 Speaker 1: do to protect themselves that's after the break. One of 225 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 1: the main tools that communities in the US have to 226 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: understand their flood risk are maps made by FEMA, the 227 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: Federal Emergency Management Agency. In twenty nineteen, FEMA estimated that 228 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: over eight million properties are at risk for severe flooding 229 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: from what's known as a once and one hundred flooding event. 230 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: My colleagues Area here Ge says those maps are used 231 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: for everything from emergency planning to calculating flood insurance premiums 232 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: for millions of people all across the country, but calculating 233 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,839 Speaker 1: the true level of risk out there is complicated. 234 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 7: One of the things that's changing with klindate change is 235 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,679 Speaker 7: places that haven't even flooded historically, like places in Kentucky, 236 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 7: have experienced flooding that they never even thought was possible, 237 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 7: And so you know, you're having more places effectively become 238 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:41,720 Speaker 7: like Carre County. 239 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: Updating these maps to match our evolving climate is possible, 240 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: but it takes investment in technology and research. Some private 241 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,079 Speaker 1: companies like First Treet, which does climate risk financial modeling, 242 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: have more up to date flood maps. In twenty twenty, 243 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:01,719 Speaker 1: First Street released a report identifying nearly six million additional 244 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: properties nationwide that we're at the level of risk that 245 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: FEMA considers severe, a total of fourteen point six million. 246 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 6: It is rarely a surprise when a flood hits a place. 247 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: That's Joshua Sachs from the Georgetown Climate Center. 248 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 6: Again, the issue is simply, when are we going to 249 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 6: start as a country to act on these things. When 250 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 6: are we going to take this knowledge and build it 251 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 6: into public policy to address these climate impacts. To make 252 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 6: ourselves safer is going to cost an inordinate amount of 253 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 6: money and require some levels of personal sacrifice. Some people 254 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 6: who may not want to move are going to have 255 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 6: to move. Some road segments that flood regularly might have 256 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 6: to be abandoned, and these are not popular choices. 257 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: That's because those individual sacrifices can also have consequences for 258 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: the whole community. 259 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 6: A locality cares about its property value. If they encourage 260 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 6: people to move out of beachfront proper, they might be 261 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 6: hurting their own revenue. Or there are other people who 262 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 6: live in flood prone areas who simply can't afford to 263 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 6: go somewhere else. Their home is their only asset, and 264 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 6: until the government or someone decides to step in and 265 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 6: help them, they're stuck. Every time you see communities try 266 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 6: to adopt new flood maps and higher flood standards, there 267 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 6: is always at least a part of the community that 268 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 6: fights against it. 269 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: If a vulnerable community does acknowledge its risk and encourages 270 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: people to relocate en mass, that can drive down housing 271 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: prices and risk your areas and drive up demand and 272 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: safer ones. And for those who stay, it can become 273 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: more costly and more difficult to get insurance. 274 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 6: We can see this if we look at places like 275 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 6: the outer banks in the Carolinas and how homes are 276 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 6: falling into the ocean. We can see this if we 277 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 6: look into what people call the insurance crisis of how 278 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 6: insurers are pulling out of homeowner insurance because they're finding 279 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 6: the risk is too severe to cover. 280 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: This has put pressure on the federal government itself to 281 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: offer flood insurance. That's the program Zara was talking about earlier. 282 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 7: Congress created the Federal Food Insurance Program in nineteen sixty eight. 283 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 7: Basically because the private insurance for flooded risk failed and 284 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 7: private insurance pulled out of that hazard. They said we're 285 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 7: not going to cover this anymore because they didn't feel 286 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 7: like they could price policies affordably enough for most of 287 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 7: the homeowners who are in that area of risk. And 288 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 7: we've seen federal food insurance rates go up because turns 289 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 7: out the risk is really high. And one of the 290 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 7: problems is there've been so much flooding and so they've 291 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 7: had to make so many payouts that they've run out 292 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 7: of money and they keep having to go to Congress 293 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 7: and say we need more money. So it's not a 294 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 7: sustainable program, and you could sort of understand how and 295 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 7: why the insurance market got out of it. 296 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,119 Speaker 1: There are ways to reduce those risks, which brings us 297 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: back to mitigation. Zara says. Research shows spending more upfront 298 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 1: money on mitigation turns out to be significantly cheaper in 299 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: the long run. 300 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 7: In twenty nineteen, there was a report that was partially 301 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 7: funded by FEMA and the federal government looking specifically at mitigation. 302 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 7: It's called the Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves twenty nineteen Report. 303 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 5: And it had found that every one dollar in federal 304 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 5: grant money spent on hazard mitigation saves six dollars in 305 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 5: disaster damages in the future. 306 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,120 Speaker 1: The cost of cleaning up a disaster like the flooding 307 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: in central Texas can be staggering. A preliminary estimate from 308 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: acieather Ink puts the total damage and economic loss from 309 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 1: the floods in Texas in a range of eighteen billion 310 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,360 Speaker 1: dollars to twenty two billion dollars, and. 311 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 7: More than that, the return on investment is even higher 312 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:02,159 Speaker 7: for federal grant spending on riverine flooding mitigation. So I'm 313 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 7: talking about the mitigation that would specifically go towards helping 314 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 7: or preventing the type of event we saw in Texas. 315 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 7: And so in that case, by granting eleven point five 316 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 7: billion dollars to help states build up river defenses between 317 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:20,439 Speaker 7: nineteen ninety three to twenty sixteen, the federal government and 318 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 7: society at large avoided eighty two billion in losses from 319 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 7: deaths from likely flooded damage from business disruptions associated with 320 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 7: the flood. So is the study author. One of the 321 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 7: study authors of that report told me mitigation or preparedness 322 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 7: saves lives, and he didn't say this, but what's clear 323 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:47,640 Speaker 7: is it also very much saves money. 324 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: This is the Big Take from Bloomberg News. I'm Sarah Holder. 325 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: The show is hosted by Me, David Gura, Wanha and 326 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: Salam Mosen. The show is made by Aaron Edwards, David Fox, 327 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: Eleanor Harrison Dengate, Patti Hirsch, Rachel Lewis, Krisky, Naomi Julia Press, 328 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: Tracy Samuelson, Naomi Shaven, alex Ugia, Julia Weaver, Yang Yong, 329 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: and Taka Yasuzawa. To get more from the Big Take 330 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: and unlimited access to all of Bloomberg dot com, subscribe 331 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: today at Bloomberg dot com Slash Podcast Offer. Thanks for listening. 332 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: We'll be back on Monday.