That’s according to a new study by the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit risk mitigation research group.
It projected that more than 400,000 neighborhoods will lose population in the next 30 years — mostly in the Northeast and Great Lakes states.
Jeremy Porter is the head of climate implications research for First Street Foundation. He said states like Indiana are sometimes thought of as “climate havens” — mostly free from things like hurricanes and wildfires.
But frequent flooding can cause people to move out of neighborhoods in these states — especially if there are better opportunities elsewhere, like higher-paying jobs or more affordable housing.
“So it ends up being amplified as just another factor that pushes people out of these communities,” Porter said.
Neighborhoods that lose population often lose tax revenue for things like schools and fire stations.
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But Hoosiers might not move too far. The study found that most people in the U.S. move within their own county to escape flooding, rather than to a new county or state.
Source: indianapublicradio.org
Photo Credit: gettyimages-jj-gouin
Categories: Indiana, Weather