Copyright newsweek
Nearly 30,000 people have left America’s high-flood-risk areas over the past year, according to a new study by Redfin, with Miami and Houston facing the largest outflows. These are areas where between 23.7 percent and 99.1 percent of homes are at risk of being impacted by devastating flooding—a threat that is expected to grow in the coming years, as climate change fuels more frequent, more severe natural disasters. What High-Flood-Risk Areas Are Seeing an Exodus of Residents? A Redfin analysis of 2024 domestic migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau and climate risk scores from First Street found that the nation’s 132 high-risk counties lost 184,249 residents last year, while gaining 155,222. The result is a net loss of 29,037 residents, marking the first time that flood-prone areas are bleeding out more people than they are gaining since 2019. The period covered by the analysis ranged between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024. By comparison, low-flood-risk counties reported a gain of 35,941 residents, the largest since 2019. Miami-Dade County alone, where over one third of homes face high flood risk, saw 67,418 more people move out than in. It was the largest net loss of any high-flood-risk areas in the country. Harris County, Texas, which is home to Houston, followed with a net loss of 31,165 residents. Kings County, New York, which is home to Brooklyn, was third with a net outflow of 28,158 residents. Orleans Parish, Louisiana, followed with a net loss of 4,950 residents. Here, 99.1 percent of homes face high flood risk—the highest share in the country. Why Are Residents Leaving? Many people are leaving these counties because of the high flood risk, but high housing costs—in part linked to the growing threat of flooding and other extreme weather events—are also playing a role in their decision to move out. “A lot of people moved to Miami during the pandemic, thinking life would be a vacation,” local Redfin real estate agent Ozzie Linares said in the Redfin report. “Many of those people are now leaving because they’ve realized living here isn’t a piece of cake—the city has become increasingly expensive and extreme weather events are on the rise. We were just under a flash flood warning due to higher-than-normal king tides.” In June 2024, 8 million South Florida residents were affected by flooding after Hurricane Darren struck the region, causing estimated losses totaling $100 million, according to flood forecasting and warning company Previsico. The growing frequency of disastrous extreme weather events is leading to higher home insurance premiums as carriers try to prevent losses. According to Insurify, the average cost of homeowners insurance in Miami is $16,823 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage and a $1,000 deductible—much higher than the overall U.S. average of $2,377 and the Florida state average of $10,996. Recently implemented building safety laws aimed at avoiding another tragedy like the one in Surfside, where a condo collapsed in 2021 killing 98 people, have also brought up homeowners association (HOA) fees for many living in South Florida, adding to their financial burden. Jack Reyna and his son work to drain floodwater in their neighborhood after Hurricane Beryl swept through the area on July 8, 2024, in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Similarly, more frequent and damaging flooding has been driving people out of Houston. After years of domestic migration to the Texas city, Houston and Harris County started seeing more people moving out than in after Hurricane Harvey struck in 2017. The area is also particularly exposed to dangerously hot temperatures, with 100 percent of homes in Harris County facing high heat risk, according to Redfin. “People are always nervous about flooding in Houston, but it’s no longer the top concern like it was after Hurricane Harvey,” said local Redfin Premier real estate agent Roze Swartz. “I’m working with a lot of home sellers who moved to Texas from the West Coast during the pandemic and now want to leave because Houston isn’t what they expected—they don’t like the extreme heat or the politics. They want to go hiking or kayaking on a whim, but Houstonians pretty much stay indoors from May to September due to the heat. A lot of out-of-towners are cashing out their equity and moving back home.” Affordability and the labor market are also playing a role in the recent exodus of residents from Houston, as the city is suffering as a result of headwinds in the oil market. Despite the losses in population reported by cities like Miami and Houston, many flood-prone areas are still reporting population growth thanks to immigration, according to Redfin, with the Miami-Dade population jumping 2.3 percent to 2.8 million last year—outpacing national growth. “Many of the Americans who left flood-prone areas last year were replaced by immigrants, who i...
