EDITORIAL: Extensions are not enough; fixes to federal flood insurance program long overdue
On Thursday,
Earlier, the
But on Thursday, with the flood-insurance program on the brink,
That's ridiculous -- but no less ridiculous than the ways in which this program rewards terrible behavior. By making flood insurance unrealistically cheap, it encourages property owners to build in areas where flooding can be expected -- and then to rebuild in exactly the same place after disaster has struck.
As we've pointed out before, more than 30,000 properties have flooded an average of five times each and been rebuilt each time through the NFIP. Some of these properties have been flooded more than 30 times.
This, at a time when climate change is making hurricanes stronger, and coastal development nevertheless continues apace. Almost 7 million homes are at risk from storm surge along the
And because of rising sea levels, high-risk coastal plains may expand by 55 percent by 2100, exposing much more property to damage, a
Put it all together, and the NFIP is in mind-boggling debt:
The situation is the very definition of "unsustainable."
Last month, four former directors of
Lawmakers should listen, and follow their advice.
The troubles with the insurance program go back to the basics. In a sensible program, the rates would be commensurate with the actual risk of flooding. A sensible program would incentivize flooded-out property owners to retreat to safer land, rather than encourage rebuilding in the same risky spot. A sensible program wouldn't insure second homes or investment properties, lest all American taxpayers get saddled with paying for other people's luxuries.
But the NFIP breaks every rule of what a sensible program ought to do.
Fixing it won't be easy. Too abrupt a change could shatter the economies of many beachside communities as insurance that now costs a few hundred dollars soars into the thousands. But gradual reforms are long overdue, along with steps to soften the blows for people with smaller incomes.
Waters promises to seek long-term reforms before September. Unlikely as it seems in this bitter era of hyper-partisanship, she has allies across the aisle from other coastline states, such as
So for now, the National Flood Insurance Program survives. Yet without real reform, extending the NFIP past September is not only the definition of "unsustainable," it's the definition of "insanity."
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