The flooding maps that determine flood insurance rates aren’t in tune with the latest climate projections. These new maps are more accurate. As climate change makes it more likely that many houses in the U.S. will flood—because of rising sea levels, extreme rainfall, or both—federal flood maps, which are used to determine rates for flood insurance, are out of date. A new report maps out where homes now are most at risk, looking at the chances of properties flooding now and 30 years in the future. By the middle of the century, the damage could cost $32 billion a year. Read Full Story

Five prominent landscape architecture firms reimagine the Mall’s Tidal Basin. One proposal? Let the monuments flood to show the consequences of inaction. The roots of Washington, D.C.’s iconic cherry trees are rotting. At the National Mall Tidal Basin, where cherry trees line the water’s edge amid some of the country’s most famous monuments, sea-level rise and riverine flooding threaten not just tree roots but a landscape inextricably tied to the history of the United States. If the situation is left unaddressed, rising waters could inundate the trunks of those cherry trees along with monuments to figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Jefferson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in several feet of water every day during the river’s twice-daily high tides. Read Full Story

Housing in New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, and California is most at risk. Affordable housing is scarce in the United States. There’s already a national shortage of more than 7 million affordable units . As climate change continues to cause sea level rise and increase the risk of floods, there may be even less: By 2050, as many as 24,500 affordable housing units could be at risk of flooding, and 10,000 of those units could see four or more floods a year. Read Full Story

How mutual aid groups are working to help their communities where the government has failed. Three and a half years ago, as Hurricane Harvey dumped as much as 60 inches of rain in parts of Houston and flooded more than 200,000 homes, two local software developers sitting in a flooded office quickly hacked together a website. Anyone who needed help could post a request, and then anyone who was able to volunteer could quickly connect with someone in need. Read Full Story

As climate change makes some places unlivable, how can we help the people who live there? In a Louisiana neighborhood that residents call Flood City, homes have flooded 17 times over the last 30 years. Officially named Pecan Acres, the majority Black subdivision in New Roads, Louisiana—a city of 4,000 outside of Baton Rouge—was built in the 1970s on low-lying swampland, with the houses sold to buyers who moved from sharecropping land. Most of the residents can’t afford flood insurance. They also can’t afford to move and lose money on homes that no one else wants to buy. But in a government-funded program, the entire neighborhood will be relocated to a new development now under construction nearby on higher ground. The old neighborhood will become a restored wetland. Read Full Story

Better Shelter starts as a simple tent to help house people after they lose their homes. But it’s designed to be upgraded with local materials into a home that can last 10 years. After an earthquake or flood, the emergency relief tents that are often sent by aid organizations to people who lost their homes don’t last long—after six months or a year, the tents will probably become trash or, at best, be used for scraps. But nonprofits are now testing a new type of emergency shelter: a simple structure that could be built within hours, but that could later be adapted with local materials to become a more permanent house. Read Full Story

More frequent flooding will make coastal areas uninhabitable. How can the government help residents manage that risk—and prepare for those floods? A house sitting on low-lying land on the coast in Southern California can cost millions of dollars—but over the course of a 30-year mortgage, as the sea level rises, it could also become uninhabitable. Read Full Story

Extreme heat kills more Americans each year than other disasters, but the public isn’t as wary of it. More publicity could help. As a prolonged heat wave bakes states like Florida and Texas, it’s happening at the same time as coronavirus cases spike, which means people are stuck at home. If they don’t have air-conditioning, it’s likely to lead to early deaths: Extreme heat kills more Americans each year than disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods, and as climate change progresses, the problem is getting worse. But heat waves rarely get as much attention as something like an approaching tropical storm. Read Full Story

Consumers’ retail spending for Father’s Day is expected to increase by about $1 billion this year, climbing from $16 billion last year to an estimated $17 billion. This is per a new forecast from the NRF, which shows spending on this special day reaching a new high. The expected growth comes despite another slight dip… Read More » The post Father’s Day Spending Expected to Rise This Year appeared first on Marketing Charts .

For many years, traditional marketing offered brands the choice of print, TV, or radio advertising if they wanted to get the word out about a new product or initiative. By the 1980s and 1990s, as advertisements flooded all media channels, companies began to realize standing out would require offering something different. Consumers started seeing brand interactions unlike anything they’d ever seen before, and the term guerrilla marketing was coined. With the start of the internet and social media, marketing to customers became a whole new undertaking. Let’s explore what guerrilla marketing is and how you can use these tactics when building your paid social ad strategy. What is Guerrilla Marketing? Guerrilla marketing is a marketing strategy in which a brand or company uses the element of surprise to promote a new product. These tactics may include creative interactions with the public to make an impact. Guerrilla marketing tactics demand more …