EDITORIAL: Too many of us are flirting with disaster

Sept. 18--People across south Louisiana have been paying attention to the ongoing effort in Washington, D.C., to reform and strengthen the National Flood Insurance Program.

A recent extension makes the insurance program -- a requirement of many loans -- viable through the end of the year while members of Congress try to hammer out a deal that, many of us hope, will lead to longer-term improvements.

Unfortunately, even as this debate unfolds, troubling word has hit.

Recent numbers show that participation in the NFIP has actually decreased in our local area.

In Terrebonne, it has gone down by 17 percent. And in Lafourche, the decrease is 10 percent.

Following last year's devastating floods and this year's costly hurricanes, we might expect to see more people seeking flood insurance to protect their largest investments.

"If you live in south Louisiana, you need flood insurance," Terrebonne Emergency Preparedness Director Earl Eues said. "In August of last year, we had 33 inches of rain fall in Denham Springs. That could have easily been over Terrebonne Parish. If we would have had 33 inches of rain here, we would have had substantial flooding, even in areas that aren't required to have flood insurance."

Unfortunately, the opposite is true.

Perhaps, with hurricanes Harvey and Irma making such terrifying hits in the U.S., more local people will decide to take what for us should be a common sense step.

Buying flood insurance is easy and, thanks to the heavy federal subsidies, it is extremely affordable.

As Congress ponders the future of the program, there could be changes that drive the price up. But any approach that makes it more difficult for people to carry it will exacerbate the problems caused by so few people and businesses carrying it now.

Because so few people take advantage of the program, it has far less revenue pouring into it than it should. Under any long-term fix of the program, there should be a way to get more people and businesses signed up for it to help increase that revenue.

But the recent drop in the local numbers -- a trend that stretched across 43 of the nation's 50 states -- suggests that more must be done to educate people about the advantages of participating and the low cost of doing so.

As far too many people learn every time a storm hits, flood insurance can be the difference between financial ruin and being able to rebuild.

That is a message that more of our friends and neighbors need to hear.

Editorials represent the opinion of the newspaper, not of any individual.

___

(c)2017 The Houma Courier, La.

Visit The Houma Courier, La. at www.houmatoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.