Latest news with #naturaldisasters
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Hawaii increases price of paradise to pay for climate protection
No Pacific island has felt the effects of climate change more keenly than Hawaii in recent years after a series of wildfires broke out in early August 2023. The wind-driven fires killed more than 100 people and caused widespread devastation, predominantly on the island of Maui. Despite the damage, securing funding to protect against these events has become even harder under US president Donald Trump, whose skepticism for climate change is well known. But a new tourist tax, set to be imposed in 2026, will help circumvent that, with Hawaii's governor Josh Green saying the levy paid by visitors will allow his state to defend against natural disasters without federal support. FEATURED: Hawaii governor, Josh Green
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NZ weather events prompt rethink of housing protections
The New Zealand government is considering ending bailouts for homeowners affected by floods and landslides as it develops a framework to address the impact of climate change. The government has often stepped in after natural disasters to buy properties, spending billions of dollars in recent years as climate change-driven severe weather events increase in intensity and frequency. The government "won't be able to keep bailing out people in this way", New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Radio New Zealand this week. "We need to find a way to manage these events going forward and who takes responsibility and is there a shared responsibility." Policymakers, researchers and property experts both in New Zealand and Australia have for some time warned climate change is a risk that home buyers have not priced in. His comments come as parts of the South Island start cleaning up after floods this month, which affected roughly 800 homes, according to local authorities. The government on Wednesday announced $NZ600,000 ($A550,403) in compensation for flood-affected farmers, growers and forestry owners. By 2060 at least 14,500 homes worth approximately $NZ12.5 billion ($A11.42 billion) could suffer at least one damaging flood, around 300 to 400 homes annually, according to Climate Sigma research. Climate Minister Simon Watts said in an email that the government has been working to get bipartisan support on a national adaptation framework to give New Zealand certainty. "This is a complex and challenging work," he said. "It is important that any change is enduring." Any policy changes would likely be introduced slowly. A recent independent report released by the Ministry of Environment suggested a transition over 20 years to allow pricing to adjust as expectations of government bailouts are tempered. The independent report released by the Ministry of the Environment recommended including the need for more information about the potential impact of natural hazards so owners can make their own decisions about whether to move or stay and bear the costs of that decision. Property records in New Zealand increasingly note whether there is a flood or landslide risk or history of either and homeowners in vulnerable areas are worried their houses will become less valuable.
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
20 states sue FEMA for canceling grant program that guards against natural disasters
Twenty Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, challenging the elimination of a long-running grant program that helps communities guard against damage from natural disasters. The lawsuit contends that President Donald Trump's administration acted illegally when it announced in April that it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. FEMA canceled some projects already in the works and refused to approve new ones despite funding from Congress. 'In the wake of devastating flooding in Texas and other states, it's clear just how critical federal resources are in helping states prepare for and respond to natural disasters,' said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts, where the federal lawsuit was filed. 'By abruptly and unlawfully shutting down the BRIC program, this administration is abandoning states and local communities that rely on federal funding to protect their residents and, in the event of disaster, save lives.' FEMA did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment. It said in April that the program was 'wasteful and ineffective' and 'more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.' The program provides grants for a variety of disaster mitigation efforts, including levees to protect against floods, safe rooms to provide shelter from tornadoes, vegetation management to reduce damage from fires and seismic retrofitting to fortify buildings for earthquakes. During his first term, Trump signed a law shoring up funding for disaster risk reduction efforts. The program then got a $1 billion boost from an infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden. That law requires FEMA to make available at least $200 million annually for disaster mitigation grants for the 2022-2026 fiscal years, the lawsuit says. The suit claims the Trump administration violated the constitutional separation of powers because Congress had not authorized the program's demise. It also alleges the program's termination was illegal because the decision was made while FEMA was under the leadership of an acting administrator who had not met the requirements to be in charge of the agency. The lawsuit says communities in every state have benefited from federal disaster mitigation grants, which saved lives and spared homes, businesses, hospitals and schools from costly damage. Some communities have already been affected by the decision to end the program. Hillsborough, North Carolina, had been awarded nearly $7 million to relocate a wastewater pumping station out of a flood plain and make other water and sewer system improvements. But that hadn't happened yet when the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal damaged the pumping station and forced it offline last week. In rural Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, town officials had hoped to use more than $4 million from the BRIC program to improve stormwater drainage and safeguard a vulnerable electric system, thus protecting investments in a historic theater and other businesses. While the community largely supports Trump, assistant town manager Erin Burris said people were blindsided by the lost funding they had spent years pursuing. 'I've had downtown property owners saying, 'What do we do?'' Burris said. 'I've got engineering plans ready to go and I don't have the money to do it.'
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
20 states sue FEMA for canceling grant program that guards against natural disasters
Twenty Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, challenging the elimination of a long-running grant program that helps communities guard against damage from natural disasters. The lawsuit contends that President Donald Trump's administration acted illegally when it announced in April that it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. FEMA canceled some projects already in the works and refused to approve new ones despite funding from Congress. 'In the wake of devastating flooding in Texas and other states, it's clear just how critical federal resources are in helping states prepare for and respond to natural disasters,' said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts, where the federal lawsuit was filed. 'By abruptly and unlawfully shutting down the BRIC program, this administration is abandoning states and local communities that rely on federal funding to protect their residents and, in the event of disaster, save lives.' FEMA did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment. It said in April that the program was 'wasteful and ineffective' and 'more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.' The program provides grants for a variety of disaster mitigation efforts, including levees to protect against floods, safe rooms to provide shelter from tornadoes, vegetation management to reduce damage from fires and seismic retrofitting to fortify buildings for earthquakes. During his first term, Trump signed a law shoring up funding for disaster risk reduction efforts. The program then got a $1 billion boost from an infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden. That law requires FEMA to make available at least $200 million annually for disaster mitigation grants for the 2022-2026 fiscal years, the lawsuit says. The suit claims the Trump administration violated the constitutional separation of powers because Congress had not authorized the program's demise. It also alleges the program's termination was illegal because the decision was made while FEMA was under the leadership of an acting administrator who had not met the requirements to be in charge of the agency. The lawsuit says communities in every state have benefited from federal disaster mitigation grants, which saved lives and spared homes, businesses, hospitals and schools from costly damage. Some communities have already been affected by the decision to end the program. Hillsborough, North Carolina, had been awarded nearly $7 million to relocate a wastewater pumping station out of a flood plain and make other water and sewer system improvements. But that hadn't happened yet when the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal damaged the pumping station and forced it offline last week. In rural Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, town officials had hoped to use more than $4 million from the BRIC program to improve stormwater drainage and safeguard a vulnerable electric system, thus protecting investments in a historic theater and other businesses. While the community largely supports Trump, assistant town manager Erin Burris said people were blindsided by the lost funding they had spent years pursuing. 'I've had downtown property owners saying, 'What do we do?'' Burris said. 'I've got engineering plans ready to go and I don't have the money to do it.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump administration sued by 20 states for cutting disaster prevention grants
A group of 20 mostly Democratic-led US states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to block the Trump administration from terminating a multibillion-dollar grant program that funds infrastructure upgrades to protect against natural disasters. The lawsuit filed in Boston federal court claims that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) lacked the power to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program in April after it was approved and funded by Congress. Fema, part of the US Department of Homeland Security, has come under scrutiny for its response to deadly floods in Texas earlier this month, which has put renewed focus on the administration's moves to shrink or abolish the agency. 'By unilaterally shutting down Fema's flagship pre-disaster mitigation program, Defendants have acted unlawfully and violated core separation of powers principles,' said the states, led by Washington and Massachusetts. Fema and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Bric program, created in 2018 as an upgrade of existing grant programs, covers up to 75% of the costs of infrastructure projects, or 90% in rural areas, meant to protect communities from natural disasters. The funding has been used for evacuation shelters, flood walls and improvements to roads and bridges, among other projects. Over the past four years Fema has approved roughly $4.5bn in grants for nearly 2,000 projects, much of which went to coastal states, according to Tuesday's lawsuit. When Fema announced the termination of the program in April, the agency said it had been wasteful, ineffective and politicized. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in May urged Fema to reinstate the grants, saying they were particularly crucial for rural and tribal communities, and to work with Congress to make the program more efficient. The states in their lawsuit say that Congress made mitigating future disasters a core function of Fema, and the US constitution and federal law bar the Trump administration from altering the agency's mission without working with lawmakers. They also claim that Cameron Hamilton, who was the acting director of Fema when the program was terminated, and his successor, David Richardson, were not properly appointed and lacked the authority to cancel it. The states said they would seek a preliminary injunction requiring the program to be reinstated while the case proceeds. The lawsuit is the latest attempt by states to rebuke the Trump administration's approach to disaster funding. Many of the same states sued the administration in May over a policy tying grant funding for emergency preparedness to states' cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Massachusetts' attorney general, Andrea Campbell, in a statement said the recent flooding in Texas, which caused more than 130 deaths, has made clear how critical federal funding is to helping states prepare for natural disasters. 'By abruptly and unlawfully shutting down the Bric program, this administration is abandoning states and local communities that rely on federal funding to protect their residents and, in the event of disaster, save lives,' said Campbell, a Democrat.
