"A Call To Cull Homes Threatened By the Sea"

"As flood losses grow, so does sentiment to pay homeowners to move on"

"SCITUATE — The owner of 48 Oceanside Drive had just repaired her $1 million vacation home from a devastating 2013 storm when the Atlantic came crashing through a giant picture window last month. The Jan. 26 blizzard marked at least the 10th time the house has been damaged in four decades — and probably the 10th time it will be rebuilt, in part with taxpayer dollars.

Scituate is the front line in New England’s expensive, losing battle against the sea. The coastal town, with few offshore barriers to curb a storm’s fury, accounts for nearly 40 percent of Massachusetts homes and businesses that are so flood-prone the federal government calls them “severe repetitive loss” properties.

Nearly all of these estimated 150 properties in the town of 18,000 have received at least four payments from the federal flood insurance program over the years, meaning federal taxpayers have helped foot some of the reconstruction bills. Though property owners pay for flood insurance, the program is in the red and relies on billions from the federal government to stay afloat."

Beth Daley and Shan Wang report for the New England Center for Investigative Reporting via the Boston Globe February 8, 2015.