Swamped Flood Insurance Program Has the Tide Against It (Corrected)

Nearly everyone on Capitol Hill acknowledges two facts about the federal flood insurance program: The status quo is totally unsustainable, and it probably won’t change any time soon.

From a financial standpoint, it’s hard to argue that the National Flood Insurance Program is anything other than insolvent.

Since Hurricane Katrina, the program has had to “borrow” more than $30 billion of taxpayer money, even though it was designed to cover its own costs when Congress created it 50 years ago. Last year, Congress canceled more than half of the $30 billion debt because if it didn’t, the program might ...