At last night’s Storm Surge meeting at Newburyport City Hall on the effects of erosion on Plum Island, there was talk about state legislation authorizing $20 million for buyouts of flood-prone properties. That measure has stalled on Beacon Hill.

States have been buying and demolishing private homes near flood-prone rivers to save money on flood insurance claims for years. Now coastal communities facing costly storms are also weighing the buyouts as a way to create natural buffers that might protect communities from flooding and other effects of extreme weather.

Tim Henderson reports for Pew Trusts and Stateline on the federal government’s experience with buyouts and how coastal states are considering their own buyout programs in Rising Tide of State Buyouts Fights Flooding.