Unlike a private insurance company, the NFIP does not just provide insurance. There are a number of things that separate the NFIP from the private insurance industry. It provides nearly $1.3 trillion in coverage to over 4.7 million homes and businesses in over 22,000 communities. We need to help our families and communities to adapt and become more resilient both to the flooding we face now, and to the increases we know are coming in the next several decades.Īnd whenever possible, we want to help communities avoid extreme flooding altogether, through pre-disaster flood mitigation. We will hear from one of our witnesses about the particular challenges faced by rural communities. These disasters also often fall hardest on low-income families and communities that have fewer resources to prepare for and respond to them. In California, unusually wet weather has resurrected a lake that’s been dry since the 1980s, inundating productive cropland and threatening downstream communities.Īn extreme rainstorm overwhelmed Fort Lauderdale with over 2 feet of rainfall.Īccording to NOAA, nearly half of the United States is at risk of flooding this spring.Īll of this, and Hurricane Season hasn’t even started yet.įlooding is devastating to families, homes, businesses, and communities. In recent weeks we have witnessed the highest river flooding in over 20 years in parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley. It’s causing more frequent extreme weather events, and it’s making rainfall and snowfall less predictable. Outdated flood maps, population growth in at-risk areas, land use patterns, and over-stretched infrastructure in many areas play a role.Īnd climate change is only making it worse. Multiple factors are involved in the increase in flooding. They all delivered the same basic message: a long-term reauthorization of the NFIP is essential because flooding is the most common and most costly natural disaster facing families, businesses, and communities across the country. We have heard from multiple groups representing the broad scope of stakeholders: realtors, public works officials, the business community, floodplain managers, mortgage lenders, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials across two presidential administrations. ![]() The latest extension will expire on September 30 th of this year. The program has been extended 25 times since September of 2017. This hearing is a continuation of our efforts to enact a long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program: Improving Community Resilience.” Brown: Flooding is Devastating Families, Homes, Businesses, and Communities
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