National Flood Insurance Program

Statement

As Hurricane Alex bore down on the South Texas coastline recently, at the eleventh hour Senate Democrats stopped playing politics and allowed the Senate to pass an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. While long overdue, this is welcome news for Texas homeowners and renters living along our coast and in floodplains. Texans own 688,000 flood insurance policies. Many of these policies are up for renewal, while others want to purchase new policies in anticipation of the hurricane season. Texans depend on flood insurance to help protect their homes. The storm surge from Hurricane Ike resulted in 44,000 flood insurance claims, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley suffered $500 million in insured losses following Hurricane Dolly just two years ago. There is no excuse for this program lapsing four times in the past year, especially as a major storm set its sights on our coast. With forecasters predicting a busy hurricane season before us, I'm pleased the flood insurance program has been extended to assist Texans in safeguarding against flood damage and losses.

Source