Number: RL34610
Title: Midwest Flooding Disaster: Rethinking Federal Flood Insurance?
Authors: Rawle O. King, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: This report examines the impact of the 2008 Midwest floods on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in the context of congressional efforts to reauthorize and modify the program before its authorization expires on September 30, 2008. The report begins with an assessment of the risk of flooding in the United States and why Congress might move to rethink the current multifaceted approach to federal flood insurance. Members might, for example, opt to assess possible insurance requirements for individuals living behind levees, eliminate premium subsidization of certain "grandfathered" properties, expand the NFIP to offer coverage against both flood and wind damages, and consider undertaking a nationwide flood insurance study (FIS) and remapping of the nation's floodplains, including areas behind levees and other flood control structures. The report concludes with lessons learned from the 1993 and 2008 Midwest floods, and an analysis of the NFIP's current financial conditions and major policy issues, as well as a summary of legislative proposals - H.R. 3121 and S. 2284 - pending before the 110th Congress.
Pages: 21
Date: August 25, 2008