"A new Government Accountability Office report shows homeowners and the federal government are vulnerable to a deluge of losses from “rain bombs” and tropical storms."
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been collecting a lot of information about flood risks across America, including the increased risk of flooding linked to climate change. But the agency has not effectively used that new knowledge to persuade more Americans to buy flood insurance, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
As a result, homeowners are at increasing risk of costly damage from floods, and the government is facing rising costs for disaster relief assistance, the report found. The report called on Congress to consider requiring FEMA to evaluate how the agency can use the “comprehensive and up-to-date flood risk information” it has been collecting to determine which properties should be required to have flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program.
Under that program, managed by FEMA, insurance is available to anyone living in one of the 23,000 participating communities. Homes and businesses in areas with a high risk of flooding and mortgages from government-backed lenders are required to have flood insurance."
James Bruggers reports for Inside Climate News August 4, 2021.
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