August 1, 2018
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has secured a reinsurance placement for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that for the first time is directly backed by capital markets investors. FEMA has entered into a three-year reinsurance agreement, effective August …
July 30, 2018
There is not a lot time left to avoid a lapse in the federal government’s flood insurance program. The Senate is expected to follow the House, which voted last week to temporarily reauthorize the program. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell …
June 26, 2018
The clock is ticking: The National Flood Insurance Program expires on July 31, 2018; so what happens next? It is well documented that the NFIP is broken and has been in disarray for a long time. The NFIP’s primary deficiency …
April 24, 2018
When Hurricane Irma reached Florida’s Big Pine Key in September, it caused the floor of Terry and Sharon Baron’s cream-colored mobile home to collapse. On Marathon Key, twenty miles north, the winds lifted Diane Gaffield’s mobile home off its concrete …
April 20, 2018
Congress is headed for a “major showdown” over the flood insurance program, according to an insurance broker lobbyist who notes that the program expires July 31, right in the middle of hurricane season. That also happens to be the very …
April 2, 2018
A typical premium charged by the National Flood Insurance Program is slated to rise about eight percent in the coming year, with the estimated average premium going from $866 to $935. When various surcharges are added, the total average amount …
March 25, 2018
Advocates who have been pushing for renewal of the U.S. federal flood insurance programs in the wake of last year’s devastating hurricanes and floods praised Congress for extending the program through July 31. But advocates remained concerned that Congress has …
January 25, 2018
With the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) currently set to expire on February 8, and many communities still recovering from this summer’s hurricanes, it’s no surprise that the 21st Century Flood Reform Act has passed the House and moved to …
January 3, 2018
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supported 59 major disaster declarations and 16 emergency declarations in 2017, a year during which unprecedented disasters affected more than 25 million Americans, almost eight percent of the U.S. population. In its year-end review, …
December 12, 2017
When Hurricane Harvey sent two feet of water rolling into this small community about 35 miles north of Houston, Alfredo Becerra had to flee his modest 1,500-square-foot house. Muddy floodwater submerged the furniture and ruined carpet inside the construction worker’s …