FEMA has proposed a major revision of the NFIP, including increasing the subsidy for low and middle-income insureds. This poses a wicked problem – without the increased subsidy, these insured will either have to go bare or move. With the…
Tag: National Flood Insurance Program
Louisiana Sues the National Flood Insurance Program
Complaint – Louisiana State et al v. Department of Homeland Security et al, Docket No. 2:23-cv-01839 (E.D. La. Jun 01, 2023) Defendants’ Memorandum In Opposition To Plaintiffs’ Motion For Preliminary Injunction – Louisiana State et al v. Department of Homeland…
CRS: Options for Making the National Flood Insurance Program More Affordable
Introduction Many Members and stakeholders have expressed concern about the perceived affordability of flood insurance premiums, concerns which have come to the fore as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) introduces a new pricing system known as Risk Rating 2.0.…
Coastal home buyers are ignoring rising flood risks, despite clear warnings and rising insurance premiums
Apollo Beach, Fla., averages 3 feet above sea level, with many homes directly on the water. Google Earth Risa Palm, Georgia State University and Toby W. Bolsen, Georgia State University
Petition Requesting That The Federal Emergency Management Agency Amend Its Regulations Implementing the National Flood Insurance Program
Petition Requesting That The Federal Emergency Management Agency Amend Its Regulations Implementing the National Flood Insurance Program I. Introduction Flooding poses a significant threat to life and property and is the most common natural hazard in the United States. Since…
Floodplain Buyouts – History
Conrad, David R. Higher Ground: A Report on Voluntary Property Buyouts in the Nation’s Floodplains: A Common Ground Solution Serving People At Risk, Taxpayers and the Environment. National Wildlife Federation, 1998.
FloodFactor – Find your home’s Flood Factor – Tool for Determining Present and Future Flood Risk
https://floodfactor.com/ Flood Factor™ Defining American’s past, present, and future flood risk. Flood Factor is a free online tool created by the nonprofit First Street Foundation that makes it easy for Americans to finally find their property’s current and future risk of flooding,…
The Private Flood Insurance Market
Kousky, Carolyn, et al. “The emerging private residential flood insurance market in the United States.” Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center (2018). Bakkensen, Laura A., and Lint Barrage. Flood Risk Belief Heterogeneity and Coastal Home Price Dynamics: Going Under…
Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate (2018)
This is a report from the Union of Concerned Scientists on the potential impact of various rates of sea level rise on residential and coastal real estate, using data on the coastal real estate from Zillow.
Category 6 Blog – Why Is It So Hard to Fix the National Flood Insurance Program?
A tangle of politics and problems may force yet another delay in long-sought updates to the broke, beleaguered U.S. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Congress has the unenviable task of putting NFIP back in the black without raising rates too quickly on…
NRDC Report: How To Break The Cycle Of Repeated Flooding With Climate-Smart Flood Insurance Reforms
Seeking Higher Ground: How To Break The Cycle Of Repeated Flooding With Climate-Smart Flood Insurance Reforms (2017) The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was designed to help Americans recover from flood disasters, but it can also unintentionally trap homeowners who…
GAO – FLOOD INSURANCE Comprehensive Reform Could Improve Solvency and Enhance Resilience 2017
GAO – FLOOD INSURANCE Comprehensive Reform Could Improve Solvency and Enhance Resilience 2017 What GAO Found Based on discussions with stakeholders and GAO’s past work, reducing federal exposure and improving resilience to flooding will require comprehensive reform of the National…
Actuaries Evaluate the National Flood Insurance Program
THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS. American Academy of Actuaries Flood Insurance Work Group (2017) The NFIP affects many constituencies, including property owners, local governments, builders, realtors, mortgage lenders, insurers, and taxpayers. The program differs from traditional private insurance…
Flood Map Zones
Glossary of NFIP terms – flood zones are on D-11 ZONE A The flood insurance rate zone that corresponds to the 100-year floodplains that is determined in the Flood Insurance Study by approximate methods. Because detailed hydraulic analyses are not…
Underwater – A Report on the Threat of Sea Level Rise in the New York City Metro Area
Under Water How Sea Level Rise Threatens the Tri-State Region, A Report of The Fourth Regional Plan, December 2016. Coastal regions around the world are struggling to adjust to the gradual but relentless encroachment of ocean waters caused by climate…
FEMA Standards for Substantial Improvement / Substantial Damage Determinations
FEMA, 2010. Substantial Improvement / Substantial Damage Desk Reference, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC When buildings undergo repair or improvement, it is an opportunity for local floodplain management programs to reduce flood damage to existing structures. More than 21,000…
Thousands of Homes Keep Flooding, Yet They Keep Being Rebuilt Again
Katherine Bagley has written an excellent discussion of the repetitive loss problem in the National Flood Insurance Program, highlighting a Louisiana property that has flooded 40 times over the past four decades: Thousands of Homes Keep Flooding, Yet They Keep…
Introduction to FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (August 2016)
CRS – Congressional Research Service Paper: Introduction to FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (August 2016) Summary The NFIP was established by the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA, 42 U.S.C. §4001 et seq.), and was most recently reauthorized by…
Suburban sprawl and poor preparation worsened flood damage in Louisiana
Suburban sprawl and poor preparation worsened flood damage in Louisiana An excellent post by Professor Craig Colten on the events leading to the August 2016 flood: Reports of flooding in Louisiana may conjure up images of Hurricane Katrina, but these…
Louisiana Flood August 2016 – Updates
This post that contains updates and links to new posts and information relevant to the Louisiana flood of August 2016.
FEMA Proposes New Rules On Elevation for Rebuilding After Flooding
44 CFR Part 9 – Updates to Floodplain Management and Protection of Wetlands Regulations To Implement Executive Order 13690 and the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard; Proposed Rule Executive Summary The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is proposing to amend…
FEMA Resources for Flood Resilient Construction
(original link) Flood Resistant Provisions of the 2015 International Codes® (May 2015) This document is a compilation of flood resistant provisions, prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), of the 2015 I-Codes (IBC, IRC, IEBC, IMC, IPC, IFGC, IFC,…
What is a 100/500/1000-Year Flood Event?
General References on the 1% (100-year) flood standard: Reducing Flood Losses: Is the 1% Chance (100-year) Flood Standard Sufficient?
What is a 100/500/1000 year rain event?
See Also: What is a 100/500/1000-Year Flood Event? References Hershfield, D.M., 1961. Rainfall Frequency Atlas of the United States, Technical Paper No. 40. Weather Bureau, US Department of Commerce, Washington, DC. This started the 100 year rain event system. Although it…
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) – Resource Documents
Click on this aggregator post to see all the posts in this blog that deal with the National Flood Insurance Program.
Cost of Hurricane Katrina Relief and Rebuilding
Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan, Mortgages and Disasters A Ticking Bomb? (2014) Hurricane Katrina Fact File – Insurance Information Institute (2010) Towers Watson, Hurricane Katrina: Analysis of the Impact on the Insurance Industry (2005) After Hurricane Katrina: How federal aid helped the…
Corps of Engineers systematically underestimates river flood risk
Robert E Criss, Statistics of evolving populations and their relevance to flood risk, Journal of Earth Science 1–7 (2016). ABSTRACT: Statistical methods are commonly used to evaluate natural populations and environmental variables, yet these must recognize temporal trends in population…
Assessing and Improving Flood Insurance Management and Accountability in the Wake of Superstorm Sandy
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Majority Staff Report Assessing and Improving Flood Insurance Management and Accountability in the Wake of Superstorm Sandy (2015) Despite widespread concerns, it does not appear that systematic incentives exist for any…
National Flood Insurance Program: Evaluation
National Flood Insurance Program: Evaluation (FEMA – 2006) Original Link The NFIP Evaluation Capstone Study summarizes what was done, what was learned, and recommendations made. It synthesizes the sub-study findings into a coherent report evaluating the aspects of the Program…
Tying Flood Insurance to Flood Risk for Low-Lying Structures in the Floodplains
Tying Flood Insurance to Flood Risk for Low-Lying Structures in the Floodplains Authors Committee on Risk-Based Methods for Insurance Premiums of Negatively Elevated Structures in the National Flood Insurance Program; Water Science and Technology Board; Division on Earth and Life…