should the flood insurance program continue?

Yifei Yang

30631184

Floods are the most expensive and common natural disaster in United States.

The most well-known one was the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, with 27,000 square

miles inundated up to a depth of 30 feet. 13 million acres of land were flooded and the

property damage of the Great Mississippi Flood is over 236 million dollars. This shows

that the Flood disaster not only lead to a destructive blow on industry but also have a

great negatively impact on economics.

As the huge financial loss recognized by the congress, the national flood

insurance program was created by the national flood insurance act in 1968. The

primary purposes of this program is to better indemnify the individuals for flood losses

through insurance, reduce future flood damages through state and community

floodplain management regulations, as well as reduce federal expenditures for disaster

assistance and flood control. However, since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the NFIP has

been deeply in debt. Even though the congress legislated changes to the program in

2012 and 2014, the debate over the program continues. So one question comes up

from people’s mind, is the NFIP program worth supporting?

As a person who stands for the congress, I believe the NFIP program is worth

supporting, below are the statements:

● NFIP program increases the intention of the publicity, since the NFIP program is

supported by the FEMA, which develop the flood insurance rate maps that

identify the flood risk and floodplain, people can do a lot of precautions by

checking the FEMA map.

Commented [s1]: This looks like a fine start. As you write out your next draft, support as many of your arguments with statistics/studies as possible. Explore any avenues you consider interesting or important.

Commented [s2]: You could write this as a general discussion of the program in terms of the overall responsibility of the Federal government – sort of a nationwide perspective. Or you could choose a specific district (any one that interests you) and analyze the program in terms of how it affects your constituents. For example, you could represent a low-lying coastal district or an in-land district that rarely floods. Be clear which perspective you are taking.

Commented [s3]: One question is whether individuals have the information they need to make careful decisions. Would you look at requiring information to be made available (for example, when selling properties)?

● The insurance fee collected by the program can reduce the government

expenditures, which fulfills the purpose of the program in 1968.

● The program builds new constructions to reduce the loss by flood.

Commented [s4]: Be sure to address the question of whether the current premium structure is appropriate. Are risks priced accurately? Are the premiums fair? There is also the argument that communities are encouraged to take steps to mitigate flood risk in the Community Rating System, with the aim of getting subsidized premiums. You could also pursue the idea that the floodplain management activities have reduced federal liabilities. The Flood Mitigation Assistance grants help communities prepare.

Commented [s5]: Remember that local governments control the actual decisions about construction. The NFIP sets standards but local communities must enforce them. How has that been working? It is an important point to note that the NFIP is more than just insurance.