Letters of Map Change on Flood Insurance Rate Maps in the United States National Flood Insurance Program
| dc.contributor.advisor | Fonstad, Mark | |
| dc.contributor.author | Lea, Devin | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-02-18T17:43:04Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-02-18T17:43:04Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-02-18 | |
| dc.description.abstract | In the United States of America, flooding has been the costliest environmental hazard in recent decades (NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2018) and is projected to increase in many areas in the near future due to impacts of climate change on sea level rise and hydrology (Wing et al., 2018; Ghanbari et al., 2021). At the same time, the National Flood Insurance Program flood maps depicting hazard are in many places being adjusted to move buildings from higher hazard to lower hazard flood zones via initiation by the people living in these places (Dedman, 2014; Pralle, 2019).This dissertation studies how, why, where, and who benefits from different types of these adjustments, collectively called Letters of Map Change, on Flood Insurance Rate Maps produced for the United States National Flood Insurance Program. To answer these questions, I first conduct a literature review and interviews to understand the how and why of Letters of Map Change. I then examine where buildings are altered by Letters of Map Change at county to individual property scales using Geographic Information Systems software. I finally combine these observations with United States Census Bureau American Community Survey data and tax lots in the state of Florida to assess who acquires and benefits from Letters of Map Change. Results find that the desire to reduce insurance premiums, FIRM flood zone data quality, and socio-economic wealth determine where Letters of Map Change occur. Places with lower elevation accuracy and precision often have higher rates of inadvertent inclusions, while places with higher precision and accuracy maps often use physical alterations like raising the elevation of their property to obtain a map change. Higher indicators of wealth often correlate with increased Letters of Map Change success, but use is less frequent among the wealthiest people. The least wealthy are the least frequent to obtain Letters of Map Change, indicating public policies could be implemented so FEMA can use funds to identify where communities or individuals should get financial aid to pursue Letters of Map Change. This dissertation includes previously published co-authored material. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/27066 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | |
| dc.rights | All Rights Reserved. | |
| dc.subject | flooding | en_US |
| dc.subject | NFIP | en_US |
| dc.subject | social equity | en_US |
| dc.title | Letters of Map Change on Flood Insurance Rate Maps in the United States National Flood Insurance Program | |
| dc.type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Department of Geography | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Oregon | |
| thesis.degree.level | doctoral | |
| thesis.degree.name | Ph.D. |
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