Florida homeowners purchasing their flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) may find their insurance rates increasing next year. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, around 2 millions households with NFIP policies could see a rate increase of around 5 percent in the fall. The National Flood Insurance Program, the national flood [...]
The issue of extending and reforming the National Flood Insurance Program continues to stall in Congress. While the U.S. House version of a reauthorization bill passed in July 2011 by a significant margin, the bill has yet to get a floor vote in the U.S. Senate. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sponsor of a five-year extension [...]
In other flood insurance news, Sen. David Vitter’s bill to extend the flood program through Dec. 31 may get a vote in the Senate the first week of May.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jimmy Patronis, argues that FEMA’s concerns have already been satisfied. Others are not so sure.
The measure would offer a bit more time to finish work on long-term reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program before the end of the 112th Congress.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is asking Congress to extend the National Flood Insurance Program for two years, without any changes, even though the White House supports reforms that have passed the U.S. House and a key Senate committee.
Around Puget Sound, experts agree that subsidized federal flood insurance gives developers an incentive to destroy floodplains and damage key wildlife habitat.
While the National Flood Insurance Program remains a flawed entity plagued by debt and mismanagement, simply eliminating it altogether would be disastrous for consumers and the real estate market. New reforms that alleviate some of the NFIP’s problems while giving the government insurer more financial flexibility is a sound intermediate step in fixing the nation’s [...]
Also, a recap of our comments on ways states can prepare for natural disasters, and the problem with Florida’s part-time, term-limited Legislature.
C-FIRE Deputy Director R.J. Lehmann talks with Dan Siemann of the National Wildlife Federation about NWF’s suit seeking to halt new flood insurance policies in certain areas of the Puget Sound.
