EDITORIAL: Flood program needs reform
The
It's past time for reform.
Start with the reality that many Americans don't even know what flood insurance is -- or understand that their homeowners' policies don't protect them against many kinds of water damage, particularly in flood zones. As a result, a significant chunk of the losses from a rain-heavy event like a hurricane are not covered by any insurance at all; in
Those Floridians understand what a good deal flood insurance is. In fact, it's too good. Rates have been kept artificially low for decades, suppressed by Americans' insatiable desire to live in coastal areas without assuming all the risk that comes with it. Flood insurance costs about half of what it should, to cover the more than
"The NFIP is simply not fiscally sustainable in its present form," said
In that letter, Mulvaney sketched out a road map for reforms. They include phasing out the availability of cheap, subsidized insurance for new construction, starting in 2020; bolstering the availability of private flood insurance, which is prohibitively expensive; cutting off policies for properties that flood again and again and writing off up to
One smart solution would be to reward property owners who take measures to mitigate flood damage, such as elevating their buildings' foundations, with lower rates. At the same time, local leaders must acknowledge that it's not fair to ask taxpayers who live in non-flood zones to pick up the bill --or, in the case of some properties, bill after bill after bill -- for those who want to live where the waters are likely to rise again.
This editorial first appeared in the
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