Navigating Flood Regulation

Between 1996 and 2019, a flooding event affected 99 percent of U.S. counties. Nonetheless, insurance companies have severely limited flood insurance coverage absent government incentives since 1927. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) arose out of a public need for flood insurance coverage. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which submerged 23,000 square miles of land and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Mississippi River valley, resulted in private insurers cutting back on their flood coverage. The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 established the NFIP to promote state and local governments reducing development on land exposed to flood risks, and establish a “cooperative public-private program” providing flood insurance to the American market. Despite the NFIP continuing to provide coverage today, flood coverage in the United States leaves much to be desired. Despite the heavy damage that flooding can cause, only 11 percent of American homeowners possess flood coverage. Even in two major metropolitan areas prone to flooding, Houston and Miami, only 36 percent and 34 percent of homeowners, respectively, secured this protection. These low coverage rates alongside the number of NFIP policies in force decreasing over the past decade, and the program possessing more than $20 billion in debt. Local flood insurance issues have also drawn public criticism. For instance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) redrew flood maps of New Orleans, Louisiana which establish where homeowners are required to purchase flood policies. The changes drew criticism when the agency moved “more than half the population” out of the “high-risk zone” which mandates the purchase of flood insurance. The map adjustments occurred despite the city sitting “roughly 50 percent” below sea level and “experiencing one of the highest rates of sea level rise in the world.” This seminar highlights scholarship on how flood management could adapt to new waves of regulation, as well as the changing environmental landscape