Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Good news for Florida
U.S. Government Plans Biggest Expansion Ever of Federal Flood Insurance Program
12/13/2005
The explosion in the amount of development taking place on or near our shorelines since the late 1960s is a direct result of the introduction and subsequent great expansion of the National Flood Insurance Program run by our Federal Government. The National Flood Insurance Program was started in 1968 and offers government backed flood insurance for buildings located in high-risk flood areas that the private sector logically has refused to insure. The National Flood Insurance Program is anathema to free market proponents, but is a dream-come-true for real estate developers at the expense of taxpayers. Now, after Hurricane Katrina, which is expected to cost taxpayers a whopping $23 billion in flood insurance claims, our Federal government is proposing, not a cancellation or reduction in the flood insurance program, but the largest increase in the history of the program. What we need instead of government flood insurance guarantees (at taxpayers expense) is to stop building (and stop rebuilding) in the dynamic, low-lying, shoreline areas that are subject to flooding during major storms.
12/13/2005
The explosion in the amount of development taking place on or near our shorelines since the late 1960s is a direct result of the introduction and subsequent great expansion of the National Flood Insurance Program run by our Federal Government. The National Flood Insurance Program was started in 1968 and offers government backed flood insurance for buildings located in high-risk flood areas that the private sector logically has refused to insure. The National Flood Insurance Program is anathema to free market proponents, but is a dream-come-true for real estate developers at the expense of taxpayers. Now, after Hurricane Katrina, which is expected to cost taxpayers a whopping $23 billion in flood insurance claims, our Federal government is proposing, not a cancellation or reduction in the flood insurance program, but the largest increase in the history of the program. What we need instead of government flood insurance guarantees (at taxpayers expense) is to stop building (and stop rebuilding) in the dynamic, low-lying, shoreline areas that are subject to flooding during major storms.
