How Helpful Are New Flood Zones?

"Hampton will become one of "roughly 20,000 communities that will have its sorely out-of-date flood maps upgraded. These maps allow the US to insure some $800 billion worth of low-lying property.

The zoning requires builders to adhere to stricter codes, but critics say the expansion of flood plain zones isn't enough to change what they call an inadequate national flood mitigation policy. Putting new regions into flood zones may actually encourage construction in them, they say, because flood insurance eases the risk for lenders and speculators.

...The paradox that we're dealing with is that, in some sense, establishing good mitigation policies does make it easier to develop in a flood plain..."