Over recent months, a new storm has roiled the storm-battered communities of New York and New Jersey.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's "advisory base flood elevation" (ABFE) maps—delivered to guide the start of the post-Sandy rebuilding of homes, businesses and public facilities until more comprehensive "flood insurance rate maps" (FIRMs) can be completed—have been assailed by local residents and leaders. Many complain the ABFEs overstate the vulnerability of areas to flooding and thereby drive up insurance costs, while numerous scientists, on the other hand, complain the maps underestimate the potential effects of climate change. (For more information on the maps, see FEMA's Web page.)