Despite the risk of flood zones, Florida developers, as well as developers across the country, are pushing forward on new housing projects in disaster-prone areas.

Since 2019, “Florida built 77,000 new properties in high-risk flood areas,” according to an analysis commissioned by The Wall Street Journal from the climate-modeling firm First Street Foundation. “Nationally, 290,000 new properties were built in high-risk flood areas from 2019 through 2023, almost one in five of the 1.6 million built in total in that period.”

Nonetheless, developers insist that these projects are crucial for meeting the demands of a growing population, with more people flocking to the South and West. From 2010 to 2020, the South’s population surged by 10.2%, with the West growing by 9.2%, significantly outpacing the national average of 7.4%. But while developers push forward, insurers are pulling back.

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