Boston officials grapple with impact of new FEMA flood maps

New federal maps for Boston significantly expand the number of homes and businesses in areas considered at high risk of flooding, a change that could force thousands of property owners to purchase expensive insurance and complicate redevelopment along the city’s waterfront.

The number of businesses affected would also balloon from 250 located primarily along the city’s wharfs to nearly 4,000 stretching inland to downtown and encompassing new development along the South Boston Waterfront.

The city will hire a consultant to review FEMA’s data and ensure its accuracy, said Brian Swett, the city’s chief of environment and energy. But, he added, “I don’t anticipate any slowdown in construction.”

(http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/11/16/fema-new-flood-map-reaches-deep-into-city/gl4gJqCKtBcCFXprN8P7nL/story.html?s_campaign=email_BG_TodaysHeadline)

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.