Witness testimony from the federal, state, private and academic sectors is accessible from the October 18, 2005 hearing concerning "The Future of the National Flood Insurance Program," U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In addition to statements by Senators Shelby, Bunning and Sarbanes, witness presentations accessible at that site include those from
For years, United States taxpayers, through the NFIP, have provided flood insurance to the minority of property owners most at risk for coastal and inland flooding, at prices below actuarially sound rates. Even so, many of those refused to buy the coverage because they regarded it as "too expensive." The fundamental weaknesses in the NFIP were exposed repeatedly by catastrophic flooding over recent years, and documented in widely published federal studies. See Unintended Consequences: 2003 GAO Report on Financial Challenges to NFIP (September 16, 2005).
Risk-management remedies mandated by Congress for implementation by FEMA were not implemented, and many have yet to be implemented even after the super-catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina. See Unintended Consequences: GAO re Katrina: 1993 Andrew Advice Still Holds; NFIP "essentially bankrupt" (March 8, 2006)
Will the financial and human devastation of Katrina make a difference? Or will the failure of initiative contine once another political issue pushes the issue off the agenda? Unintended Consequences: Hurricane Katrina Final Report by Bipartisan Committee (April 10, 2006).
Posted by dougsimpson at April 13, 2006 09:32 AM