{"id":790000,"date":"2026-02-10T17:28:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T17:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/?p=790000"},"modified":"2026-02-10T17:28:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T17:28:02","slug":"rising-flood-risk-outpaces-fema-maps-as-billiondollar-disaster-costs-surge-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/rising-flood-risk-outpaces-fema-maps-as-billiondollar-disaster-costs-surge-nationwide_790000.html","title":{"rendered":"Rising Flood Risk Outpaces FEMA Maps as Billion-Dollar Disaster Costs Surge Nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Salt Lake City, Utah – <\/strong>America’s flood maps are falling behind a rapidly growing reality: flood disasters are escalating nationwide, exposing millions of households to rising risk. New national data from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) shows a sharp escalation in the number of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters across the United States from 1980 to 2024. This includes the most common natural disaster, flooding.<\/p>\n

Yet many communities still rely on FEMA flood maps that have not been updated in years or decades, creating a widening gap between mapped risk and actual risk.<\/p>\n

“Flooding is evolving faster than FEMA’s mapping cycle,” said Brian Adamson, spokesperson for FloodPrice.com<\/a>. “Homeowners who believe they’re ‘low risk’ based solely on FEMA maps may be facing far greater exposure today than those maps suggest.”<\/p>\n

Flood Disasters Are Increasing — Even in Areas Considered “Low Risk”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The long-term national trend is unambiguous: the U.S. is experiencing more frequent and more costly flood-related disasters. NOAA’s Billion-Dollar Disasters analysis shows a dramatic increase in severe storm, tropical cyclone, and flooding events over the past several decades, with cumulative annual costs often surpassing $100 billion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The chart shows losses adjusted for inflation (CPI), meaning all costs are converted into today’s dollars so they can be accurately compared across decades. It represents direct losses from major weather events, including flooding, severe storms, tropical systems, and winter storms.<\/p>\n

*Chart Source: <\/em>NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025).<\/em> https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/access\/billions\/<\/a>, DOI:<\/em> 10.25921\/stkw-7w73<\/a><\/p>\n

Additional information can be found here: https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/access\/billions\/state-summary\/US<\/em><\/p>\n

A New Challenge: NOAA Will No Longer Update the Billion-Dollar Disasters Dataset<\/strong><\/p>\n

NOAA recently announced that its National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) will discontinue updates to the Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters dataset due to changing priorities, statutory requirements, and staffing limitations. All existing reports from 1980–2024 will remain fully archived and authoritative, but no new annual updates are planned. NOAA has invited public feedback through the NESDIS Notice of Changes website.<\/p>\n

This change has significant implications. For more than four decades, the dataset has been one of the clearest nationwide indicators of the financial toll of severe weather and flood-related events. Without future updates, homeowners, insurers, local governments, and researchers may have less visibility into emerging risk trends at a time when flood hazards continue to intensify.<\/p>\n

“This type of information gap affects preparedness,” added Adamson. “As major national datasets sunset and FEMA’s maps continue to lag behind reality, homeowners will need additional tools to understand their true flood exposure.”<\/p>\n

Outdated FEMA Maps Leave Millions Vulnerable<\/strong><\/p>\n

Federal and independent analyses continue to show that FEMA flood maps underrepresent real-world flood risk:<\/p>\n