The Washington Post on taxpayers subsidizing flood insurance – Hurricane Helene likely caused more than $30 billion worth of damage. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton inflicted almost $50 billion more.
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The Washington Post on taxpayers subsidizing flood insurance Hurricane Helene likely caused more than $30 billion worth of damage. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton inflicted almost $50 billion more.
With six weeks left in this hurricane season, the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program is already out of money. And more tropical storms are swirling over the Atlantic. Who pays for all of this?
Because private home insurers generally find this sector of the business unprofitable, the federal National Flood Insurance Program shoulders the burden of providing homeowners inundation coverage - and it has problems. The NFIP is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency - the same body fighting misinformation and dodging vigilantes as it tries to distribute much-needed aid to the victims of Helene and Milton. The program provides nearly $1.3 trillion in coverage to more than 5 million policyholders. It's funded by the premiums collected from policyholders but borrows from the U.S. treasury when claims it's obligated to pay outpace revenue, as is often the case. Congress canceled $16 billion in NFIP debt in 2017; since then, the program has borrowed billions more from taxpayers.