Improving FEMA's Coastal Risk Assessment through the National Flood Insurance Program: An Historical Overview

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Crowell ◽  
Emily Hirsch ◽  
Tom L. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Coastal Hazards ◽  
Hazard Mapping ◽  
Flood Insurance ◽  
Land Use Management ◽  
National Flood Insurance Program ◽  
Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through its Mitigation Division. The NFIP is an insurance, mapping, and land use management program that provides the availability of federally backed flood insurance to home and business owners located in communities that participate in the NFIP. FEMA is currently in the middle of a five-year, billion dollar effort to modernize the Nation's Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). FIRMs are an integral part of the NFIP as they provide information used for setting insurance rates and for land use management purposes. As part of the “Map Modernization” effort, FEMA is revamping the Guidelines and Specifications for Flood Hazard Mapping Partners, including guidelines specific to coastal hazards. This major revision to the coastal Guidelines follows nearly 40 years (beginning with the inception of the NFIP in 1968) of improving the assessment and mapping of coastal hazards as new technologies evolve, coastal processes become better understood, and methods for assessing and mapping the risk become more reliable.

Floodplain creep and beyond: An assessment of next-generation floodplain problems

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Leora S. Waldner, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Flood Insurance ◽  
Impervious Surfaces ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
National Flood Insurance Program ◽  
Small Dams ◽  
Insurance Program ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Cut And Fill

Since the 1970s, local jurisdictions have made great strides in protecting their floodplains through land use ordinances. Jurisdictions that joined the National Flood Insurance Program have prohibited structures in the regulatory floodway, and several jurisdictions have gone a step further, prohibiting structures in the 100-year floodplain. What next? If local governments are successfully keeping structures away from floodplains, have they adequately addressed floodplain issues—or do other problems remain unaddressed? This research examines Atlanta-region counties, and uncovers four potential next-generation problems, including the following: (1) floodplain creep (expansion of the floodplain) resulting from increased impervious surfaces and development; (2) the unrestricted development of homes in the 100-year floodplain of small dams; (3) cumulative riparian effects of cut and fill practices; and (4) lack of information for prospective homeowners of floodplain-burdened property.

scholarly journals Flood Insurance as a Component of Land Use Management

1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-180
Author(s):  
Ronald D. Lacewell ◽  
John G. McNeely
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Flood Plain ◽  
Flood Insurance ◽  
Land Use Management ◽  
Flood Plains ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Relief Operations ◽  
Rescue And Relief

Floods will continue to cause damage as long as development continues upon flood-prone lands. Inevitably, flooding occurs, damage ensues and there is personal suffering and loss. A burden of rescue and relief operations falls on all taxpayers.Flood control projects cannot protect against all damage, and not all flood hazard areas are amenable to flood control projects. An alternative to continued construction of engineering works for flood protection is flood plain management. To be effective, this must be brought about through political and legal means. Its purposes are to minimize the consequences of flooding and to achieve, in the long run, an optimum use of the flood plains.

scholarly journals How the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Works

EDIS ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 2003 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Fegan ◽  
Michael T. Olexa
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Flood Insurance ◽  
Floodplain Management ◽  
National Flood Insurance Program ◽  
Insurance Program ◽  
Public Body ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Flood Prone Areas

The Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) makes flood insurance available in areas where the appropriate public body has adopted adequate floodplain management regulations for its flood-prone areas. Community participation is voluntary, although some states require NFIP participation as part of their floodplain management program. Communities who wish to participate in the NFIP must fulfill two phases: phase 1, Emergency Program of the NFIP and phase 2, Regular Program of the NFIP. This document, IFAS publication DH0436, was published June 1998, revised May 2003. It is part of The Disaster Handbook, a component of the Comprehensive Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Education Module. DH204/DH204: How the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Works (ufl.edu)

Does the National Flood Insurance Program Have Redistributional Effects?

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Okmyung Bin ◽  
John Bishop ◽  
Carolyn Kousky
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Capita Income ◽  
Federal Emergency Management Agency ◽  
Flood Insurance ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
National Flood Insurance Program ◽  
Insurance Policies ◽  
Insurance Program ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Zip Code

AbstractThis study examines possible redistributional effects of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), using a nationwide database of flood insurance policies and claims between 2001 and 2013 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Applying methods from the tax and transfer progressivity literature, we use the departure from per capita income proportionality at the zip code level as our measure of progressivity. Our findings indicate that premiums as a percentage of coverage purchased are regressive: premium shares are larger than income shares for lower-income zip codes. Payouts, however, also as a percentage of coverage purchased, are progressive, meaning lower-income zip codes receive a larger portion of claims paid. Overall net premiums (premiums – payouts) divided by coverage are also regressive. Our findings are driven by certain aspects of the current rate structure of the NFIP, as well as how income is related to risk. We discuss potential policies to provide assistance to lower-income households in purchasing flood insurance.

scholarly journals COASTAL STORM INDUCED EROSION PREDICTIONS FOR FEMA FIS COASTAL HAZARD RISK MAPPING

2018 ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Christina Lindemer ◽  
Jeffrey Gangai ◽  
Christopher Mack ◽  
Elena Drei-Horgan ◽  
Darryl Hatheway
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Flood Insurance ◽  
Coastal Hazard ◽  
National Flood Insurance Program ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hazard Risk ◽  
Insurance Program ◽  
Erosion Hazards ◽  
Regulations And Guidelines

Flood Insurance Studies (FISs) produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) per the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations and guidelines adopt storm-induced erosion criteria often called the “540 rule”. The methods used in the erosion analysis have been in place since the 1980s. The method requires dunes to be classified as fully eroded, or “removed”, when their cross-sectional reservoir is smaller than 540 square feet. Since the rule’s first application, additional data and recent evidence have become available leading FEMA to identify this approach as an area of the program in need of updating and improvement. Experts involved in conducting coastal hazard analyses for FEMA studies recommend exploring opportunities to improve FEMA guidelines for erosion criterion and revise NFIP regulations and guidance, as needed, to ensure that storm-related erosion hazards are appropriately evaluated and mapped along US coastlines.

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