ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE POLICY ON NYC NEIGHBORHOOD REDEVELOPMENT FOLLOWING HURRICANE SANDY

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) of 1968 requires homes with federally-backed mortgages and located on land with the greatest risk of flooding to purchase flood insurance. When Hurricane Sandy struck New York in 2012, only 55% of one- to four- family homes in special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) had flood insurance, and many damaged homes in areas considered to be at low risk of flooding were uninsured. Recognizing that policymakers must address the increasing risk of climate change in coastal communities, especially those with high social vulnerability risks, the Capstone team explored the relationship between SFHA designation and neighborhood redevelopment in NYC census tracts impacted by flooding from Hurricane Sandy. Using a publicly available dataset, the team employed multiple regression models to test whether damage from Hurricane Sandy resulted in different development trends in SFHAs compared to non-SFHAs.