Debate over the National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is set to expire on September 30, 2011. Congress returns from its break on September 6, 2011, and lawmakers will hold a vote on legislation that would provide FEMA, the government agency responsible for administering disaster relief including flood assistance, with additional funding to extend and support the program until they can come up with a reform bill that meets the approval of both the House and Senate. No one expects that Congress will leave Americans without flood assistance.
Hurricane Irene as Case in Point for Flood Insurance
Hurricane Irene, which caused approximately $13 billion dollars in damage this past week, is a perfect example of why we need national reform regarding flood and disaster relief. We need to make flood insurance mandatory for people living in one-in-100 year flood plain zones. While technically people living in these zones must buy insurance, many times they do not. Making matters worse, some of the flood maps are not current and people did no realize they were in potential flood plains. As a result, an estimated 10% to 25% of people impacted by Hurricane Irene did not have flood insurance. This puts serious strains on FEMA.
The situation is serious because FEMA is already short in their disaster relief fund. They had to put a freeze on funds intended for tornado and flood victims in certain parts of the South and Missouri that experienced loss this spring from flooding, in order to assist Hurricane Irene victims. Public leaders in coastal cities must put pressure on Congress to put the needs of all storm victims over politics relating to the budget and cutting expenses. Leaders in Southern states and Missouri expressed their views that the freeze of funds for flood victims in these areas was unacceptable.
Congress Needs to Act
We will have to wait until Congress returns to Washington after the Labor Day holiday to find out what measure they will take to keep the National Flood Insurance Program going. With global warming and climate changes, natural disasters are not going away and some climate predictions estimate that storms may increase in strength. The stakes are too high for Congress to fail to reach a decision. It is anticipated that they will continue to extend the program temporarily and fund it with enough emergency funds so victims of natural disasters do not have to suffer further.