Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

In the last few weeks, we’ve talked about towns that are creating plans to prepare for rising waters. Today, we’re taking a look at an example of what can happen when that planning is too slow. What should cities do when people want to leave because of climate-related disasters? 

We had Janek Schaller and Emily Tom look into it. 

Janek Schaller: Hi Megan!

Emily Tom: Thanks for having us.

Megan Hall: In our other episodes about coastal retreat, we’ve talked about towns preparing for rising sea levels. But what happens when the water has already risen and people want to leave their old neighborhoods?

Janek Schaller: To find out, we talked to Joe Tirone. Ten years ago, Hurricane Sandy destroyed his home in Staten Island He then led an effort asking the state government to buy out their entire neighborhood. 

Joe Tirone: “I guess you could refer to me as the leader of the Oakwood Beach Buyout Committee.”

Megan Hall: Let’s take a step back. What exactly was a buyout in this context?

Emily Tom: Basically, people whose homes are destroyed by a massive storm— petition the government to buy their property at pre-storm value. This allows residents to move out of areas threatened by climate change.

Janek Schaller: Tirone, along with a few other residents of Oakwood Beach, formed a committee. They wanted to gather information about government buyouts and spread the word to their neighbors. 

Joe Tirone: “And I was convincing to these people, it was one on one thing, you know, we had our committee, and the committee was great, because five out of the eight people live there for up to, one was over 50 years.”

Emily Tom: And it worked. Just three months after Sandy, the state responded to the committee’s requests and launched a program to buy properties that had been destroyed by the hurricane.

Janek Schaller: In 2012, Oakwood Beach became the first community to take advantage of New York State’s post-Sandy buyout program. And the approach was incredibly popular. In a community of 185 people, all but 5 applied for the program.   

Joe Tirone: “I always refer to it as a miracle buyout because it’s just like it’s overwhelming… I did not expect every hand to raise in this auditorium. 

Megan Hall: That sounds incredible. What did it take for them to get there?

Emily Tom: Well, the community didn’t plan on leaving, but Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Irene had already worn them down.  

Joe Tirone: “Sandy was the knockout punch, it was like, I don’t want to be here anymore. It’s not safe.”

Janek Schaller: By then, many residents wanted to relocate, and the government supported them. It wasn’t an easy decision, but they felt strongly that it was the right one. 

Joe Tirone: “It was grandparents living across the street from grandchildren, you know, they were there for 20, 30, 40, 50 years. But because of those series of events, they completely had it.”

Emily Tom: That’s what makes a buyout different from managed retreat. Managed retreat is a way to prepare for a disaster. A buyout happens afterward when homes are destroyed. 

Janek Schaller: While the community effort in Oakwood was incredible, not every neighborhood will have the same opportunity or access to federal aid. 

Emily Tom: According to an investigation by NPR, federal disaster aid is given out using a cost-benefit analysis. That means the money is usually given to people whose properties are worth more, not necessarily people who need it most. 

Janek Schaller: And that same report found that white communities are disproportionately more likely to receive federal buyouts than communities of color.  Most of the buyouts occurred in neighborhoods that were more than eighty-five percent white. 

Megan Hall: So, what’s the takeaway here?

Janek Schaller: Although Oakwood Beach successfully advocated for a buy-out, this approach is only possible for a small number of communities, and those buyouts are not always given out equitably.

Emily Tom: And on top of that, as climate change gets worse, we’ll need solutions that are more proactive. We can’t buy out every property affected by rising waters.

Megan Hall: Got it. Thank you, Janek and Emily.

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on facebook and twitter- at  “ask possibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative

The post How are other cities responding to rising waters? Part 2 appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.

The post How are other cities responding to rising waters? Part 2 appeared first on Possibly.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Today, we’re talking about how cities and towns are preparing for rising waters. Right here in Rhode Island, the town of Warren is developing a plan to relocate residents who live in an area that’s prone to flooding.

But Warren isn’t the only place that is threatened by rising sea levels. In order to get some perspective, we looked at other communities that are grappling with the same issue.

We had Janek Schaller and Emily Tom, two members of our Possibly team, look into this.

Megan Hall: So, we already talked about Warren in a previous episode. What are other coastal cities doing in the face of rising sea levels?

Janek Schaller: Well, I took a look at what’s going on in Norfolk, Virginia, a city located right on the Chesapeake Bay so residents are very connected to the sea.

Mary-Carson Stiff: “We have a long history of living with the consequences of shoreline change.”

Janek Schaller: That’s Mary-Carson Stiff. She’s the Deputy Director of a nonprofit called Wetlands Watch, an organization that is working to help Norfolk adapt to ongoing sea level rise. 

Emily Tom: Norfolk is experiencing some of the fastest sea-level rise on the East Coast, and people in this community are already dealing with the effects of increased flooding. Commuters experience regular road closures and public schools sometimes have to adjust their schedules to cope with the tides that rise higher than they used to.

Mary-Carson Stiff: “Instead of snow days, we have flood days. So schools close when a flood event is actually happening.”

Megan Hall: Wow, that’s a really big deal. Is Norfolk considering a relocation plan to help the community adapt, like what they did in Warren?

Janek Schaller: They are, but they put their own spin on the relocation plan. In 2018, the city of Norfolk updated their zoning laws to make sure that any future development would help the city become more resilient to climate change. 

Emily Tom: Before construction can start on a new building, the project has to earn enough “points” for incorporating resilience and sustainability into its design. They can do that in three categories: risk reduction, stormwater management, and energy resilience.

Megan Hall: That sounds great for responding to climate change, but what about the areas of town that are just going to be underwater? 

Janek Schaller: Well, that’s where Norfolk is being particularly creative. 

Emily Tom: One way developers can earn a lot of points for a new project in a low flood risk area is to put land that they own in a high-flood risk area into a conservation land trust. 

Janek Schaller: So they give up that land, but in doing so, it makes it a lot easier for them to build in low- risk zones.

Megan Hall: Wait, so the city of Norfolk is encouraging people to develop property further away from the coastline?

Emily Tom: That’s right. The city is rewarding folks for giving up coastal properties by making it easier for them to build in areas of the city that are less threatened by sea level rise.

Megan Hall: And has it been successful?

Janek Schaller: We’re not sure yet. They’re still waiting for the first property to go through this transfer. Like many new programs designed to deal with climate change – changing how and where we build is a long and complicated process. 

Megan Hall: Sounds like we’ll need an update when they make that happen. Are the residents on board with these changes?

Janek Schaller: The planning team for the new ordinances worked with community members to design this process and, as a result, has not encountered any major opposition.

Emily Tom: Mary-Carson says it’s important to move cautiously, because with projects like this, cities can run the risk of overstepping their bounds 

Mary-Carson Stiff: “There’s a big trend in this work, the climate adaptation work, to follow the same pattern of we’re the government and we’re here to help. That doesn’t work in this context. The issues that are being discussed and the solutions being proposed are far too emotional and sensitive.

Janek Schaller: Norfolk and Wetlands Watch are trying to pay attention to the voices of the people who are most affected by sea level rise. 

Emily Tom: The important thing is to remember that there is no one answer to this problem and that different communities will choose different solutions.  

Megan Hall: Got it. Thank you, Janek and Emily.

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter- at  “ask possibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative

The post How are other cities responding to rising waters? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.

The post How are other cities responding to rising waters? appeared first on Possibly.