Flood Insurance Changes

The House of Representatives has recently passed an act to reform FEMA's implementation of increased flood insurance rates to those who have been in compliance with the National Flood Insurance Program in the past.  Why  is this important to agriculture?  Many insured structures in the program are agricultural buildings.  Any building is insurable in counties that participate in the flood insurance program.  It is not limited to residential property. 

Some years ago FEMA embarked on map modernization program to make all maps electronic and to improve the science that went into making the maps.  It turned into a good idea gone awry.  As areas were remapped, home-owners who in the  past were in compliance, suddenly were out of compliance and placed into a high risk, high rate group.  The new bill places limits on flood insurance rate increases.  It also increases public review requirements for remapping projects.

When I was a FEMA floodplain management specialist, I would sometime hear people say that they were told that they were not eligible for flood insurance because they were not in a floodplain.  One of the reasons that  re-mapping was done to start with was that 25% of flood damages were not in floodplains.  Keep in mind that everyone in a community that has floodplain ordinance is eligible for flood insurance whether they live in a floodplain or not.  Here is more information on the reform recently passed.  Also keep in mind that flooding of cropland is only covered by crop insurance, not by flood insurance.