DS News

» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 7 A look at facts you didn't know you couldn't live without. Compiled by the DS News Staff According to the annual Menino Survey of Mayors released in January 2017 by the Boston University Initiative on Cities, rising housing costs were cited by a majority of the surveyed American mayors as one of the top factors that would drive people to move away from their cities. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information, "in 2017, there were 16 weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each across the United States." The total cost of these disasters was $306.2 billion, easily surpassing the previous annual record of $214.8 billion set in 2005. THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF HAZARD MITIGATION INSIDE THE JOURNAL // MOVERS & SHAKERS // ON THE WEB // THE APP SPECTRUM TAKE A LOOK INSIDE THE NUMBERS D ATA B I T S * Comparison of all 50 states using 42 relevant metrics, each graded on a 100-point scale. Each state was then assigned a weighted average to determine overall rank. Source: WalletHub report "2018's Best & Worst States to Raise a Family" 10 WORST STATES TO RAISE A FAMILY 10 BEST STATES TO RAISE A FAMILY 50 NEW MEXICO 32.68 49 MISSISSIPPI 33.93 48 ALABAMA 35.75 47 WEST VIRGINIA 36.35 46 LOUISIANA 36.93 45 OKLAHOMA 38.86 44 SOUTH CAROLINA 40.4 43 ARKANSAS 40.55 42 GEORGIA 40.87 41 NEVADA 41.33 1 MASSACHUSETTS 63.37 2 MINNESOTA 62.46 3 NEW HAMPSHIRE 60.9 4 NORTH DAKOTA 59.8 5 VERMONT 58.97 6 WISCONSIN 57.76 7 NEW YORK 56.73 8 IOWA 56.6 9 NEBRASKA 56.52 10 CALIFORNIA 56.18 RANK STATE TOTAL "FAMILY-FRIENDLINESS" SCORE* RANK STATE TOTAL "FAMILY-FRIENDLINESS" SCORE* Benjamin Franklin once said that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." As regions such as Texas, Florida, California, and Puerto Rico struggle to recover from damaging natural disasters, the implications of those words for the mortgage, housing, and servicing industries are becoming very clear. A recent report has thrown a spotlight on just how much that ounce of prevention can be worth in real-world terms. e National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) has issued a report entitled "Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2017 Interim Report," following up on a similar report published more than a decade ago. With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) having singled out 2017 as the costliest year on record when it came to weather- and climate- related disasters, NIBS' report takes a look at various hazard mitigation strategies that can be implemented to help cushion the impacts of such natural disasters. According to the report, federal mitigation funding through grant programs "can save the nation $6 in future disaster costs, for every $1 spent on hazard mitigation." at's quite a return on investment and something worth considering as NOAA reports there were 16 weather- and climate-related U.S. disasters that each exceeded $1 billion in damages in 2017. e total cost of these disasters was $306.2 billion, according to NOAA, which easily surpassed the previous annual record of $214.8 billion set in 2005. e NIBS study drew its conclusions based on 23 years' worth of federally funded mitigation grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It also found that designing buildings to exceed the International Code Council's (ICC) model building codes could save the U.S. $4 for every $1 spent. at level of federal investment and building design upgrades could collectively "prevent 600 deaths, 1 million nonfatal injuries and 4,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the long term," the report concludes. Moreover, upgrading building standards would also generate 87,000 new long-term jobs, according to the NIBS report. e report recommends various different long-term mitigation strategies, including demolishing flood-prone buildings, adding hurricane or tornado shelters in affected areas, and replacing roofs and managing surrounding vegetation in order to minimize fire dangers. According to the report, federal mitigation funding through grant programs "can save the nation $6 in future disaster costs, for every $1 spent on hazard mitigation." PAGE 20 VP of Research, National Association of Realtors ASK THE ECONOMIST WITH Paul Bishop

• Cover