OPPORTUNITIES FOR STATE AND REGIONAL ACTION TO
ENHANCE RESILIENCE
Mark N. MaurielloDirector of Environmental Affairs and
Planning Edgewood Properties
FACTSRELATIVE SEA LEVEL IS RISING (MORE
THAN ONE FOOT OVER THE PAST CENTURY)
SEDIMENT SUPPLIES ARE DIMINISHINGDEVELOPMENT AND IMPERVIOUS COVER
ARE INCREASINGFLOOD HAZARD AREAS ARE EXPANDINGFLOOD HEIGHTS ARE INCREASINGEXTREME WEATHER EVENTS ARE
OCCURRING MORE FREQUENTLY
MORE FACTSHIGH DENSITY OF DEVELOPMENT PUTS
MANY PEOPLE AND PROPERTIES AT RISKTENDENCY TO UNDERESTIMATE HAZARDS
AND VULNERABILITY…AND REGULATE ACCORDINGLY
MINIMUM REGULATORY STANDARDS ARE INSUFFICIENTLY PROTECTIVE
LACK OF COORDINATED PLANNING RESULTS IN MISSED OPPORTUNITIES (NOAA, FEMA, ACOE, NJDEP, NJDCA, NJDOT)
WARMING TREND (IPCC, 2007)
ESTIMATES OF RELATIVE SEA LEVEL RISE ALONG THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES
(NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, 1987)
NEGATIVE SEDIMENT BUDGETS
SEA ISLE CITY MONMOUTH BEACH
HOLGATE OVERWASHBARRIER ISLAND MIGRATION?
MINIMUM REGULATORY STANDARDSTOMS RIVER TOWNSHIP
BRICK TOWNSHIP
MINIMUM REGULATORY STANDARDSSEA BRIGHT
DRIFTWOOD CABANA CLUB
SINGLE FAMILY HOME
BAYSIDE FLOODING/SURGESEASIDE PARK
URBAN AREA CHALLENGESHOBOKEN
DEBRIS MANAGEMENT6.2 MILLION CUBIC YARDS
LONG BRANCH SEASIDE HEIGHTS
LESSONS LEARNED?Belmar to Spend $20 Million Rebuilding Wrecked Boardwalk
(Source: Bergen Record, 12/4/12)
BELMAR – One of New Jersey’s most popular beach towns is moving swiftly to rebuild its boardwalk that was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. Belmar is scheduled to vote Monday night on a $20 million spending plan to pay for a new boardwalk, as well as some of the cost of cleaning up the ruins of the old one.Mayor Doherty said the Federal Emergency Management Agency should pay for at least 75 percent of the cost of boardwalk repairs, and said New Jersey’s Congressional delegation is working to have the agency approve a 90 percent reimbursement rate. To help pay for the Borough’s share of the cost, Belmar will help pay for the work by increasing daily beach badge fees from $7 to $8, and seasonal fees from $50 to $55.The Monmouth County community is also considering building a sea wall to help protect against future storms.
BEYOND STAFFORD ACT ASSISTANCE:FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS TO NFIP
Katrina and other 2005 hurricanes left $18.75 billion in debt to the U.S. Treasury
Nationally: 5.53 million policies in force with an insured exposure of $1.27 trillion
NJ Policies in force: 235,654NJ Insurance in force: $54,386,729,100NJ Losses (1/78 - 9/12): 111,963NJ Payments (1/78 - 9/12): $1,617,544,537
LengthOf Period
10 – YearEvent
25 – YearEvent
50 – YearEvent
100 – YearEvent
500 – YearEvent
1 Year 10% 4% 2% 1% 0.2%
10 Years 65% 34% 18% 10% 2%
20 Years 88% 56% 33% 18% 5%
25 Years 93% 64% 40% 22% 5%
30 Years 96% 71% 45% 26% 6%
50 Years 99+% 87% 64% 39% 10%
70 Years 99.94+% 94% 76% 50% 13%
100 Years 99.99+% 98% 87% 63% 18%
Frequency – Recurrence IntervalNatural Hazard Probabilities During Periods of Various Lengths
(FEMA, 2001)(The percentages shown represent the probabilities of one or more occurrences of an event of a given magnitude or larger within the specified period. As the length of the period increases, so does the probability that floods of a given magnitude or greater will occur.)
WHAT IS OUR GOAL? DISASTER RESILIENCE!
The capacity of a community that is exposed to hazards to adapt, by resisting or changing, in order to reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure. Resilience is determined by the degree to which the community is capable of organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning from past disasters.
Disaster resilience means that communities can withstand the impacts of floods and storms and readily recover, which in turn, contributes to long-term sustainability of communities for the enjoyment of all, both now and for future generations.
(Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction, 2005)
DISASTER RESILIENCE THROUGH HAZARD MITIGATION
COMPREHENSIVE PLANNINGACQUISITION/RELOCATIONHIGHER STANDARDSREGULATIONSLAND USE MANAGEMENTNATURAL RESOURCE RESTORATIONFLOODPROOFING AND RETROFITTINGLEGISLATION
COMPREHENSIVE MULTI-HAZARDS PLANNING
IDENTIFY VULNERABILITY AND RANGE OF MITIGATION OPTIONS
PRE-STORM PLANNING FOR POST-STORM MITIGATION AND RESPONSE ACTIONS
ALIGN AGENCY PLANNING, PROGRAMS, PRIORITIES AND FUNDING TO MAXIMIZE BENEFITS
PROMOTE LONG-TERM COST-BENEFICIAL ACTIONSPLAN AND IMPLEMENT REGIONAL SEDIMENT
MANAGEMENT ACTIONSEMPLOY A BROAD RANGE OF SOLUTIONSCOMMUNITY RATING SYSTEM (CRS)
ACQUISITION/RELOCATIONTHE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE LONG-TERM
MITIGATION OPTIONREPRESENTS A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO
PERSISTENT PROBLEMSBREAKS THE CYCLE OF REPETITIVE
DAMAGESFACILITATES RESTORATION AND
ENHANCEMENT OF PROTECTIVE NATURAL RESOURCES
TDR PROVIDES AN ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM TO SUPPORT RELOCATION
HIGHER STANDARDS
ELEVATE STRUCTURES ABOVE THE BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE) AND INCLUDE FREEBOARD
USE ADVISORY BFEsREQUIRE V ZONE (COASTAL HIGH HAZARD
AREA) STANDARDS IN COASTAL A ZONES CONSIDER V ZONE STANDARDS FOR
SURGE-PRONE BAYFRONT AREASCONSIDER NEW REQUIREMENTS TO
ADDRESS POTENTIAL FOUNDATION FAILURE IN A ZONES
REGULATIONSRESCIND EXECUTIVE ORDER #2ADOPT REGULATIONS THAT EXCEED FEDERAL
MINIMUM STANDARDSAPPLY A STRICT PROHIBITION OF DEVELOPMENT
ON BEACHES, DUNES AND COASTAL WETLANDSPROHIBIT ENLARGEMENT OF EXISTING
STRUCTURES IN V ZONES AND EROSION HAZARD AREAS
APPLY COASTAL HIGH HAZARD AREA AND EROSION HAZARD AREA CZM RULES TO ALL DEVELOPMENT
LAND USE MANAGEMENTINCORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SETBACKS
FROM BEACHES, DUNES AND WETLANDSDESIGNATE SETBACK AREAS FOR
NATURAL RESOURCE RESTORATIONADOPT CONSERVATION ZONING ALONG
OCEAN AND BAY SHOREFRONTSLIMIT DEVELOPMENT DENSITY IN V
ZONES AND EROSION HAZARD AREASELIMINATE NON-CONFORMING USES IN
POST-STORM SCENARIO
NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTIONAND RESTORATION
REQUIRE DUNE CREATION AND ENHANCEMENT…EVERYWHERE!
CONDITION STATE & FEDERAL AID ACCORDINGLY
USE CZM STANDARD FOR OPTIMAL DUNE VOLUME
PROHIBIT LOWERING OF DUNESPROVIDE INCREASED BUFFERS TO ALLOW FOR
COASTAL WETLAND MIGRATION OVER TIMECONSIDER SHALLOW WATER FILL FOR
WETLANDS RESTORATION IN BAYS
FLOODPROOFING AND RETROFITTING
AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR HEAVILY DEVELOPED URBAN AREAS
ELEVATE STRUCTURES WHERE POSSIBLEUPGRADE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS…INCLUDE BACKFLOW PREVENTION
FLOODPROOF DOORS AND WINDOWSELEVATE UTILITIES AND APPLIANCESUTILIZE WATER RESISTANT BUILDING
MATERIALS
LEGISLATIONCAFRA LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS: OVERSIGHT?RE-EVALUATE CAFRA ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO REBUILD
STRUCTURES DESTROYED BY STORMSCONSIDER DEVELOPMENT PROHIBITION FOR
STORM DAMAGED STRUCTURES IN V ZONES AND EROSION HAZARD AREAS
LINK DEVELOPMENT PROHIBITION TO BLUE ACRES FUNDING TO COMPENSATE PROPERTY OWNERS
ESTABLISH COASTAL COMMISSION TO FACILITATE REGIONAL PLANNING IN COASTAL ZONE?
DUNE AND SHOREFRONT PROTECTION ACT?
THE BAD NEWSDESPITE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT TO
“CONTROL” FLOODING AND REDUCE RISK, STATISTICS SHOW THAT EACH DECADE SINCE
1900 HAS WITNESSED MORE FLOOD LOSSES THAN THE PREVIOUS DECADE
WE CONTINUE ON THE SAME PATH AND REPEAT PAST MISTAKES WITHOUT MAJOR CHANGES IN POLICY AND REGULATION
SANDY DEMONSTRATED THAT WE CANNOT AFFORD A “BUSINESS AS USUAL” ATTITUDE
THE GOOD NEWSWE KNOW WHAT WORKS
WE HAVE A BROAD RANGE OF PROVEN MITIGATION STRATEGIES AVAILABLE
SANDY PROVIDES A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY TO IMPLEMENT ACTIONS THAT WILL MITIGATE DAMAGES, COSTS
AND MISERY OF FUTURE STORM EVENTS
THE $34 BILLION QUESTION…
CAN NEW JERSEY’S LEADERS SUMMON THE POLITICAL WILL TO IMPLEMENT BOLD, DECISIVE AND COST-EFFECTIVE
ACTIONS NOW, TO ENSURE MORE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES IN THE
FUTURE?
( LET’S MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO! )