Which Towns Are Worth Saving?

An enormous infusion of money and effort will be needed to prepare the United States for the changes wrought by the climate crisis.

We visited towns in North Carolina that have been regularly hit by floods to confront a heartbreaking question: How does a community decide whether its homes are worth saving?

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• For the first time, there is bipartisan acknowledgement — through actions, if not words — that the United States is unprepared for global warming and will need huge amounts of cash to cope.
• Homeowners in the Outer Banks of North Carolina are facing a tax increase of almost 50 percent to protect their homes. Is this the future of coastal towns?

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.