More lawmakers push for flood insurance

?Insurers, environmentalists and others have joined U.S. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and David Vitter (R-La.) in pressuring Senate leaders to consider a five-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is slated to expire on May 31.

Given the wide support for the NFIP?s extension, Tester says, ?There?s no reason for a lot of brinksmanship.?

The legislation not only would extend the program but also reform it, calling for higher flood insurance premiums, a premium rate increase of 15 percent per year on nonresidential homes and businesses, and a new requirement to mandate coverage for people near levees and dams if their mortgages are federally regulated.

The measure also would create a natural catastrophe commission to study how the United States can reduce its risk from disasters, just as new research warns that climate change could increase damages from a storm surge.

?Unfortunately, flooding is becoming more frequent and more severe,? says American Rivers President Bob Irvin. ?People need reliable information about where floods are likely to occur in order to protect themselves and their property from flood damage.?

Experts also say that premium rate hikes could send a message to developers and homeowners and convince them to reduce development along coastlines at the expense of wetlands that can absorb and reduce flood damage.

A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that sea surges near New York City could be higher and more frequent over the next 100 years, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues to study climate change and its effect on flood insurance.

Although it is unclear when the Senate will consider the measure, Vitter and Tester say that it will attract the 60 votes necessary for passage.

Source: INFORMATION, INC.

Source: http://www.trulia.com/blog/jose_e_humaran/2012/02/more_lawmakers_push_for_flood_insurance

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