Flood Insurance Manual: National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was established by the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The Act was in response to Congress finding that: • Flooding disasters required unforeseen disaster relief and placed an increased burden on the nation’s resources. • The installation of flood preventive and protective measures and other public programs designed to reduce losses caused by flood damage had not been sufficient to adequately protect against the growing exposure to flood losses as a matter of national policy. A reasonable method of slowing the risk of flood losses would be through a program of flood insurance that could complement and encourage preventive and protective measures. • Many factors made it uneconomical for private insurance industry carriers to make flood insurance available to those in need of such protection on reasonable terms and conditions. • A program of flood insurance with large-scale participation of the Federal Government and the maximum extent practicable by the private industry was feasible and could be initiated. Congress stated that the purpose in passing the Act was to: • Authorize a flood insurance program that, over time, could be made available across the country through the cooperative effort of the Federal Government and the private insurance industry. • Provide flexibility in the program so that such flood insurance would be based on workable methods of pooling risks, minimizing costs, and distributing burdens equitably among the general public and those who would be protected by flood insurance. • Encourage state and local governments to use wisely the lands under their jurisdiction by considering the hazards of flood when rendering decisions on the future use of such land in order to minimize damage. From 1968 until 1979, the NFIP was administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. When the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was established in 1979, administration of the NFIP was transferred to that agency. In March 2003, FEMA became part of the newly created U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The NFIP is a program in which communities formally agree, as evidenced by their adoption of codes and ordinances, to regulate the use of their floodprone lands. In return, FEMA makes flood insurance coverage available on buildings and their contents throughout the community. FEMA has traditionally identified these flood hazard areas on maps that are provided to communities for carrying out their responsibilities. The maps are also used by insurance agents/ producers to determine rates and by lenders to determine purchase requirements.