Climate Disasters & the State (Editorial)

The Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock (Shutterstock)

Severe weather — tornadoes, high winds, hailstorms, snowstorms, ice storms, torrential rail, floods and droughts — is a fact of life in Arkansas, as it is in the rest of the U.S. And extreme weather events are increasing, driving up the cost of property insurance.

The Arkansas Legislature this year recognized this reality when it passed a bill seeking to address rising premiums faced by the state’s public schools, colleges and universities and other state-owned properties. The measure creates a state-managed special purpose insurance company, called a “captive,” which should allow the state to better control increasing rates.

Now it may be time to confront another reality: At some point, Arkansas may no longer be able to count on aid from the federal government, in the form of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, when weather disasters strike. That was brought home earlier this month when Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appealed FEMA’s denial of two major disaster declarations sought by Arkansas in the wake of severe storms in mid-March. And President Donald Trump has expressed concerns about FEMA, saying the states might better handle disaster recovery on their own.

Arkansas should consider what disaster aid would look like without FEMA.