This paper examines the history of St. Louis, Missouri in coping with flood risk over the past 15 years, with a focus on flood insurance. Six challenges to the continued management of riverine flood risk are identified and discussed. They are (1) many property owners don’t buy flood insurance,...

Modern geographic information system (GIS) tools have allowed a more careful examination of how the physical characteristics of a property’s neighborhood and surrounding land uses are capitalized into property values. The ArcGIS Viewshed tool is a case in point: it identifies the cells in an...

There has been growing interest among local governments in floodplain conservation as a flood damage reduction strategy. We evaluate one such investment—a greenway along the Meramec River in St. Louis County, Missouri. We estimate the opportunity costs of the conservation investment less the...

Adapting to climate change will not only require responding to the physical effects of global warming, but will also require adapting the way we conceptualize, measure, and manage risks. Climate change is creating new risks, altering the risks we already face, and also, importantly, impacting...

This paper examines whether a severe flood causes homeowners to update their assessment of flood risk as seen in a change in the price of floodplain property. I use data on all single-family, residential property sales in St. Louis County, Missouri, between 1979 and 2006 in a repeat-sales model...

This paper surveys state-mandated programs designed to provide natural catastrophe insurance to property owners and businesses unable to find a policy in the private market. The paper provides an overview of the 10 state programs offering wind or earthquake coverage and outlines the motivation...