What obligations do neighbors have in hazard mitigation

This fascinating article in the New York Times is about how people in a coastal community in New Jersey are shaming neighbors into allowing the construction of a large sand dune in front of their property. The dune would protect property from storm surge. The problem is that the people who won't allow the dune to be built put other people in danger by refusing to allow the dune. They cannot be forced to allow it, but it appears that they are being coerced, and some of the holdouts are not happy.

This article raises so many interesting issues, including

• What is our obligation to the community to mitigate storm hazards in a legal system characterized by individual property rights?
• Why doesn't the government just exercise its powers of eminent domain to build the dune? (Because compensating people for such a "taking" is expensive)
• Why should the government be building hazard mitigation works, like a dune, or other such things such as groins, levees, and "hardened" beaches? Are these just subsidies to wealthy property owners? 

These are the sorts of tough questions that policy makers have to address when regulating land use in hazardous areas.

The Problems with Flood Insurance

I became interested in flooding in the late 1990s, when I worked on a project through the National Center for Environmental Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara, California. In studying policy matters relating to flood mitigation, it became clear that the flood insurance program was not working well. This article in the New York Times explains some reasons why.

Welcome to the Disaster Policy Blog

Welcome, and thank you for visiting this blog. This page was set up to support my course titled PA 553: Disaster Policy at North Carolina State University, but it may appeal to others interested in the study of disasters.

Here on this blog, I will post interesting news articles, links to videos about course topics, and other news from the world of disaster research. I invite reasoned commentary, and particularly urge my students to join conversations, ask questions, and otherwise participate. Of course, if you have any questions about the course or my work, please email me!