If every institution acts independently, Boston risks a patchwork of expensive and inefficient defenses that protect individual buildings but fail to secure the broader systems that keep the city functioning. A better approach would coordinate a portion of those inevitable investments into shared infrastructure solutions that protect entire districts and employment centers.
flooding
Posted inEnvironment
‘Not if, but when’: Flood prevention project in Everett and Chelsea remains frozen one year after federal program cuts
One year ago in April, the Trump administration abruptly announced its intent to shut down the bipartisan Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initiative that has allocated billions of dollars in federal grants to pre-disaster mitigation efforts in communities across the country since 2020.
Posted inEnvironment
Climate reckoning: Mass. communities stare down the prospect — and complications — of a retreat from rising waters
Massachusetts is right now engaging in the most robust dialogue in state history around the concept of relocating people, homes, and communities away from places prone to flooding.
Posted inEnvironment
‘People have a right to know’: Flood disclosures poised to step into legislative limelight next year
As flooding touches more Massachusetts households, Gov. Maura Healey is proposing a new requirement to mandate the flood disclosures as a means of steering people out of harm’s way in the first place.
Posted inEnvironment
New state coastal resilience plan proposes voluntary buyout program
The state’s final ResilientCoasts plan, unveiled on Thursday, calls for such a program to be stood up within three to five years, once a study currently underway is completed.
Posted inEnvironment
Boston council urges city to join federal program offering flood insurance discounts
CommonWealth Beacon reported last week that Boston missed a 2021 self-imposed deadline to join FEMA’s Community Rating System program, which has cost residents and businesses at least $785,000 in total unnecessary flood insurance costs over the four years.
Posted inEnvironment
Boston missed its own deadline for applying to a FEMA program. Residents are footing the bill.
Across Massachusetts, more than 300 communities – including Boston – aren’t reaping the benefits of the FEMA program, known as Community Rating System. It’s led to residents in some municipalities collectively paying hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in flood insurance costs that could have been avoided.
Posted inEnvironment
New FEMA flood maps prompt questions, concerns across Massachusetts
Massachusetts property owners are navigating the need for flood insurance as disasters become more widespread and the state looks to reverse an urgent housing shortage.
Posted inEnvironment
Flooding in Massachusetts drains money, energy, and resources
Studies show that extreme precipitation and flooding are increasing in the Northeast and that coastlines are becoming more vulnerable due to changing frequency and intensity of storms and severe rain.
Posted inEnvironment
When the river rises
By 2050, severe floods that were expected to happen once every 100 years will be three times more likely to occur in the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts. But the uneven distribution of resources across municipalities leaves some towns less equipped to plan for and respond to disasters.
Posted inEnvironment
FEMA quietly removes access to New England coastal erosion hazard tool
FEMA has not explained why some climate products have been hidden from view, but the New England regional director told Nantucket that it is “to ensure the alignment” of FEMA actions with Trump directives.
Posted inEnvironment
Echoes of Helene flooding in Massachusetts climate planning
HURRICANE HELENE’S destructive path through the south, flooding inland areas considered to be sanctuaries from the impact of serious weather and climate events, shocked the country with the scale of […]
Posted inThe Download
Seaport: Boondoggle or model for future?
Is the glass half full or half empty? The biggest Boston building boom in decades has been playing out in the city’s Seaport, a once forlorn 1,000-acre stretch of warehouses […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Blue Line an outlier on ridership
WHILE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP has generally dropped on MBTA subway and bus routes, boardings on the Blue Line have been on an upswing, according to data presented by the T’s research […]