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<br />Much of this has been paid for through hurricane programs funded by the Federal Emergency <br />Management Agency and the V.S, Army Corps of Engineers, There are tidal telemetry systems along <br />many coastal access roads and causeways crossing bays to get to islands, This allows for real-time <br />flood height data to be transmitted to emergency management personnel so that evacuations can be <br />directed or redirected, Since much of the population in many coastal areas is seasonal, in some states <br />efforts have been made to educate non-residents through brochures explaining flood and storm <br />hazards, evacuation routes, dos and don'ts, etc, Coastal realtors make these brochures available to <br />renters, In some areas, coastal roads are required to be elevated when they are built or rebuilt after <br />a disaster, using the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program administered by the Federal Emergency <br />Management Agency, making it more likely that they will be passable in a future evacuation, In spite <br />of this progress, the mass evacuations along the East Coast during the 1999 hurricanes demonstrated <br />that the transportation network as a whole is not as capable of handling a large evacuation as had <br />been previously believed, <br /> <br />. Approvals of future coastal development should be contingent on the demonstration of adequate <br />plans for and the ability to evacuate the at-risk population. <br /> <br />. Incentives should be targeted toward encouraging coastal localities to have evacuation plans in <br />place within a certain time frame, <br /> <br />. Federal, state, and local highway systems need to be planned and constructed with consideration <br />given to mass evacuation from coastal areas, <br /> <br />. Cooperative efforts should be undertaken among the professional groups for floodplain <br />management, emergency management, hurricane prediction, wind engineering, erosion <br />prevention, and others, for warning people and localities about the risk inherent to coastal areas, <br />and how to address those concerns, <br /> <br />COASTAL CONSTRUCTION <br /> <br />As noted above, there is a serious question about whether construction---{lspecially residential <br />construction-should be allowed in very near-shore areas. But existing policies allow and even foster <br />such development. <br /> <br />. The ASFPM recommends that, over the long term, coastal states and localities examine seriously <br />the possibility of gradually "retreating" from the shoreline, not only to reduce the potential loss <br />of life and catastrophic levels of damage from future storms, but also to preserve coastal <br />resources, ecosystems, and processes, <br /> <br />Improvements in construction techniques and the substantial improvement requirements of the <br />National Flood Insurance Program have resulted in much safer, storm-resistant homes being built. <br />The recently amended Coastal Construction Manual (due out in early 2000) should provide even <br />better guidance on all aspects of construction, including siting and design, There is still room for <br />improvement, however, and design and construction to cope with the high winds that accompany <br />coastal storms remain problematic, Further refinement of the regulatory and management approaches <br />most effective for coastal areas should be made. <br /> <br />Association of State Floodplain Managers <br /> <br />-17- <br /> <br />National Flood Programs in Review 2000 <br />