Lawmakers consider an only-in-Alaska flood insurance program

As the Trump administration shrinks and even considers eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Alaska Legislature is considering a substitute for one of the agency's key functions.

Alaskans work to analyze and reduce risks of glacial outburst flooding

A bill introduced by Sen. Bert Stedman, a Republican from the Southeast city of Sitka, would establish an Alaska flood authority and an Alaska flood insurance fund. As far as he knows, it would make Alaska the only state with its own flood insurance, Stedman said.

The veteran state lawmaker said his measure, Senate Bill 11, stems from his dissatisfaction with FEMA and its flood policies, feelings that predated the agency's possible demise in the Trump era.

The federal agency is, for now, the only source of flood insurance in Alaska, as private carriers that offer policies elsewhere in the country do not operate in the state's small market, Stedman said.

But Alaskans overall pay much more into the FEMA insurance pool that they receive, he said.

"There's a cost factor involved here, with Alaska residents subsidizing the Mississippi Delta and the Gulf Coast and East Coast and all that compared to our losses," Stedman said.

FEMA's rules about insurance and assistance, which are aimed at flood-prone flat Lower 48 areas, are another source of irritation for Stedman. In Lower 48 areas, FEMA encourages communities to avoid building along coastlines, but in Southeast Alaska, where steep mountains rise from the water's edge, there are few options for moving inland, he said. An only-in-Alaska flood program could consider local conditions and local governments' zoning rules rather than FEMA national guidelines, he said.

The Trump administration's antipathy toward FEMA and its mission has given his bill more urgency, he said.

"It's reasonably likely that there'll be significant changes to FEMA coming out of Washington, from restructuring to possibly elimination, so the timing of this bill might be, by happenstance, timely," he said.

The bill moved through committees this year and is due for more work next year's session, including an examination of funding options. If a system is established, Stedman said, it could potentially be expanded to another type of disaster that is occurring with increasing frequency in warming Alaska: landslides. There is no specific landslide insurance available in Alaska, Stedman noted.

That may be of interest to Jason Amundson and Eran Hood, University of Alaska Southeast scientists who are focused on glacial outburst flood risks. Though immersed in their project at Mendenhall Glacier, they do not live in the path of the meltwater. Rather, both live in the city's downtown area, which clings to the lower slopes of steep mountains. There, avalanches and landslides pose the most serious risks.

"There's hazards everywhere in Juneau," Hood said.