Seminar: Dr. Leonard Shabman, Resources for the Future

A small fraction of those who live in flood prone areas have flood insurance. Congress could advance national flood resiliency with reforms that will increase the number of flood-insured homeowners. However, widespread misunderstandings about the National Flood Insurance Program, Federal disaster aid and the capacity of the private sector to offer flood coverage stand in the way of designing a program to close the covered gap. I will comment on the key misunderstandings, describe why and how the federal government came to dominate flood insurance, and argue that closing the insurance coverage gap will require a continuing federal funding commitment.