As Harvey batters southern parts of Texas and Louisiana,the country is renewing its focus on flood insurance and prevention efforts.
The indebted National Flood Insurance Program was founded in 1968 and has not been updated much to fit the reality of flood insurance nowadays. Jay Feinman is a professor of contract law and a flood insurance specialist at Rutgers University in Camden. He says congress has a bipartisan interest in improving flood insurance and providing opportunities to mitigate flood damage before the next one strikes.
One example is a NFLIP reauthorization act co-sponsored by fresh Jersey Senator Robert Menendez."It's important to note that this is a bipartisan issue. The Menendez bill is co-sponsored by Senator Kennedy, Republican from Louisiana. Other co-sponsors are Elizabeth Warren and Marco Rubio. What they have in common is they represent oceanfront states, or " Feinman tells WNYC's Jami Floyd.
NFLIP is set to lapse at the end of September unless congress votes for an extension. The Wall Street Journal reports that NFLIP is approximately $25 billion in debt to the U.
S. Department of the Treasury and will be tough-pressed to pay out the wave of impending claims from Harvey damage.
Source: thetakeaway.org