Flood premiums will rise if government cuts go ahead – consumer group

Slashing funds for new flood maps could lead to more homebuilding in risky locations

Flood premiums will rise if government cuts go ahead – consumer group

Catastrophe & Flood

By Allie Sanchez

Homeowners already saddled with unabated increases in flood insurance may have to shoulder more costs as the Trump administration proposed cutting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood mapping budget by $190 million.

Robert Hunter, director of the advocacy group Consumer Federation of America said that FEMA flood maps are important in determining the cost of premiums and identifying low-risk areas for development.

Media outlet US News quoted Hunter as saying that slashing the budget for flood mapping, which is undertaken through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), could lead to a rise in premiums because homeowners will be made to shoulder the cost of the activity. 

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The alternative, he said, would be to rely on old maps, which could lead to more homebuilding in risky locations.

According to the report, the White House 2018 proposed budget cuts out $190 million from the NFIP’s “discretionary appropriation” for its flood map updates and said it has to “explore other more effective and fair means of funding flood mapping efforts.”

Mapping costs have been historically shared by insurance policyholders and FEMA, which manages the NFIP.

Consumer and insurance industry advocates believe that updating flood maps across the country is a “necessary step toward modernizing the US flood insurance market,” US News said. 


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