What Drives the Costs of Flood Disasters?
BOULDER — Politics, more than climate, influences the federal costs of flood disasters, according to a new study. States are far more likely to receive federal funds through a presidential disaster declaration in years when the president is running for reelection, say researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The team identified a 46% increase in disaster declarations during presidential reelection years, independent of the amount of precipitation or flood damage and whether the president is Republican or Democrat. NCAR associate scientist Mary Downton and University of Colorado professor Roger Pielke Jr. report their findings in the November issue of the journal Natural Hazards Review. “The declaration rates depend on the individual president — there’s no general distinction along party lines,” says Downton. Ronald Reagan stands out dramatically, sh
