Kim Hornung-Marcy

October 01, 2022

Summer 2022 saw drought, high temperatures, floods, and fires ravage many parts of our country and world. 
 
Now it is hurricane season. 
 
Puerto Rico has been hit almost exactly five years after category 5 storm Maria with category 1 storm Fiona. Fiona proved that even a category 1 storm can do significant damage with excessive rain fall.  Fiona missed the East Coast of the USA only to deliver record breaking winds and damage to Nova Scotia. 
 
Right now (Sept. 25) I am praying that storm Ian does not do as much damage as it is forecast to bring to parts of the Caribbean and all of Florida.
    
You can figure out your risk for major climate-change-induced challenges over the next 30 years. While the United States is doing better at fighting climate change, we have a long way to go to truly slow it down. 
 
First Street Foundation has produced a free website to help you look at the risks to your property. The risk factor website (riskfactor.com) looks at flooding, fire and heat temperature risks for the addresses of yourself, your church, friends and family over the next 30 years.  
 
Once you enter your zip code, you will find more detailed and specific information; for example, how higher temperatures could have a large impact on your energy bills. Many parts of our country will see 50% to 100% increases in the number of days at their hottest temperatures.
 
The information was put together by over 100 climate scientists. On the About Us page, you will learn more about how to understand and compare this data with that on other sites such as FEMA and others.
 
From the site:
 
“Risk Factor is most powerful when used in conjunction with the FEMA flood maps, WildFire.org, and other available state and local risk resources. Risk Factor should be viewed as complementary to the federally adopted risk maps for a community, which need to be used for building and permitting purposes. Risk Factor allows individuals to easily view risk information at the property level. It provides useful information on potential actions to mitigate risk. More information on each community’s risk maps and mitigation plans, however, can be best obtained by contacting the community’s floodplain manager or local fire department.”