October 17, 2025

FEMA buyouts vs. risky real estate: New maps reveal post-flood migration patterns across the US

Prof. James R. Elliott and Research Analyst Debolina Banerjee study flood resilience and have been mapping the results of government buyout programs across the U.S. that purchase damaged homes after disasters to turn them into open space. Their new national maps of who relocates and where they go after a flood shows that most Americans who move from buyout areas stay local. However, they also found that the majority of them give up their home to someone else, either selling it or leaving a rental home, rather than taking a government buyout offer. That transfers the risk to a new resident, leaving the community still facing future costly risks.

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Legal Research

Federal shutdown deals blow to already hobbled cybersecurity agency

Prof. Richard Forno, Associate Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute, elucidates why the current Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) situation is grim, as the agency was already experiencing deep cuts to its staff and resources before the ongoing shutdown. And now, coinciding with the shutdown, a key law that enabled the agency to facilitate information-sharing with the private sector has expired.

United States experiences its latest government shutdown, most of the daily operations of the federal government have ground to a halt. This includes much of the day-to-day work done by federal information technology and cybersecurity employees, including those at the nation’s leading civilian cybersecurity agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Government Resources, Legal Research, Privacy