Coastal Trends

As the hurricane season gains momentum, a new U.S. Census Bureau report, Coastline Population Trends in the United States: 1960 to 2008, helps put into perspective the number of Americans living along the coast who could be affected by storms and for whom insurance of all kinds, including flood insurance, is a concern:

• Between 1960 and 2008, the population in coastline counties along the Gulf of Mexico soared by 150 percent, more than double the rate of increase of the nation’s population as a whole. This area now is home to nearly 14 million residents.
• The Gulf Coast’s population growth over the period surpassed that of coastline counties along the Pacific (110 percent) and Atlantic (56 percent). The region has experienced double-digit rates of population increase each decade since 1960. The Gulf Coast was home to six of the eight U.S. coastline counties with the fastest population increases over the 48-year period, led by Collier County, Fla., which grew by 1,900 percent (from 15,753 to 315,258).
• At the same time, the region contained six of the 11 coastline counties most frequently hit by hurricanes during that time, with Monroe County, Fla., leading the list with 15, and Lafourche Parish, La., tied for second with 14.
• Coastline counties along the Atlantic and Gulf, as well as the Hawaiian Islands, account for nearly two-thirds of the nation’s coastline population and are home to four of the nation’s 10 most populous counties.
• All in all, 87 million people, or 29 percent of the U.S. population, live in coastline counties, including more than 41 million in Atlantic and 32 million in Pacific counties. In 1960, only 47 million lived in coastline counties.
• The number of housing units along the Gulf of Mexico’s coastline increased by 246 percent from 1960 to 2008, compared with 130 percent in the Pacific and 98 percent in the Atlantic coastline regions and 121 percent for the U.S. as a whole. The number of housing units along the U.S. coastline grew from 16 million to 36 million during this time.
• On average, the 11 coastline counties that were hit by 11 or more hurricanes from 1960 to 2008 increased in population by nearly 179 percent and had a housing unit increase of 255 percent. Among these counties, only Hyde, N.C., lost population (-10.1 percent) and only St. Bernard Parish, La., lost housing units (-2.6 percent).
• Most coastline counties (223 of 254) experienced population gains from 1960 to 2008, including all counties from the southern coast of North Carolina through Mississippi, and all counties from California through Washington.

The communities that have been built — and, in some cases, overbuilt — along the U.S. shores are vital to our nation’s economy, security, culture and psyche. By denying these citizens access to flood insurance at a time when they are most vulnerable, Republicans and Democrats both have let petty partisanship get in the way of common sense and decency. Those responsible should be rowed out to a rickety raft stationed off the coast of Florida and left there until they resolve their differences and flood insurance is restored.