US extends flood programme NFIP until July

The US congress has passed a short-term extension to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until July 31.

The programme which provides 5.2 million property owners with flood coverage and is billions of dollars in debt would have expired on March 23, 2018.

“This is the fourth time Congress has punted on much-needed reforms to the nation’s ailing flood insurance system—but we are hopeful that it will be the last,” advocate group SmarterSafer said in a statement.

“By decoupling the NFIP from the federal government’s overall spending measure, lawmakers now have a golden opportunity to focus on passing comprehensive reforms to the antiquated NFIP that shore up its mounting debt and improve its long-term viability. This will require the Senate to advance legislation similar to the House-passed NFIP reform bill, which allows for more consumer choice in the marketplace, updates property level mapping, invests in mitigation and moves toward risk-based rates coupled with means-tested assistance for low-income families.

“In addition to extending the NFIP to July 31, we are pleased to see Congress significantly increase funding for mapping and mitigation efforts, which builds on the $12 billion Congress allocated to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in January to help make communities more resilient from future disasters. With the NFIP now set to expire in four months, we look forward to working with lawmakers to expand these efforts and advance comprehensive reforms that save taxpayer dollars and better protect people and property in harm’s way.”

SmarterSafer is a coalition of taxpayer advocates, environmental groups, insurance interests, housing organisations and mitigation advocates.

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