U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) shared a link to a press release from online real estate giant Zillow, recommending the company’s new data offering on climate risk for home buyers.
Whitehouse wrote that Zillow’s new “comprehensive climate risk data” — provided by First Street, a leader in climate risk financial modeling — is especially valuable because “FEMA’s flood maps are flawed.”
An important partnership. FEMA flood maps are flawed, so it’s good to make this data available to homebuyers.https://t.co/z9atRV8bLY
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) October 2, 2024
Whitehouse’s reference to FEMA’s map problems refers to flood insurance rate maps (AKA 100-year floodplain maps) that FEMA publishes.
The situation was explored in depth in Grist (with WBUR), focusing on the floods that slammed Vermont in 2023, where few of the devastated homes were in established flood zone areas, according to FEMA.
Grist quotes Chad Berginnis, executive director of the nonprofit Association of State Floodplain Managers and a FEMA advisor, who said FEMA maps “are a good place to start but should never be the end point in knowing flood risk.”
The same article reported that nearly 6 million homes not currently included in FEMA’s flood zones are in areas assessed as flood risks according to First Street’s data. Zillow and Whitehouse believe it’s information consumers and citizens need.
Beyond floods, First Street also calculates the risk of other hazards amplified by climate change in five key categories: flood, wildfire, wind, heat and air quality.
Zillow is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ. First Street is a privately held company whose clients include many government-related enterprises, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
[NOTE: First Street’s Chief Science Officer is U.S. Federal Government veteran Dr. Ed Kearns, whose 15 years in government included being named first Chief Data Officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and serving as Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce.]