1 in 10 Tri-State Properties at High Flood Risk: New York Fed

Research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that nearly one million houses and multifamily buildings in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut—one in 10 properties in the tri-state area—are at high risk of flooding.

These properties rank among the top 25% of riskiest properties nationally, the same flood risk category as some homes in coastal Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, according to the report, “Flood Risk and the Tristate Housing Market.”

The report also says that nearly 40% of the tri-state properties at risk of flooding, or more than 400,000 properties, are in low- to moderate-income census tracts. These properties, including single-family homes and multifamily buildings, such as rental apartments, condominiums, and co-ops, are home to more than 1.5 million people.

The report notes that low-and moderate-income households are often least prepared to shoulder the expenses that follow a flood. These include direct costs, such as property damage, and indirect costs, including falling property values and rising insurance premiums.

The report also finds:

• The one million properties in the tri-state area that are at high risk of flooding house more than 4 million people. This includes more than 2.5 million people in the state of New York, nearly 1.2 million people in New Jersey, and almost 350,000 people in Connecticut.
• In some communities in the three states, nearly every property is at high risk of flooding. For example, 90% or more of properties in Long Beach, N.Y. and Keansburg, N.J. are at risk.

“The threat of floods in the tristate area isn’t confined to the coasts,” said Jake Scott, a community development analyst at the New York Fed and an author of the report. “Extreme rainfall, flash floods, and overflowing rivers threaten homes and businesses in inland cities including Buffalo, Syracuse, and Newark.”

The report features case studies examining community planning and action in the face of flood risk for four communities: Keansburg and Hoboken in New Jersey and Syracuse and Brooklyn in New York.

The report builds on earlier New York Fed research on flood risk, including papers on the impact of flooding on New Yorkers’ household finances and flood risk to New York City’s basement apartments.

Source: New York Federal Reserve