Troubled waters: flood insurance washes out.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Citings - National Flood Insurance Program - Brief article

THE FEDERAL National Flood Insurance Program, like a private insurance company, charges premiums and pays out when disaster strikes clients. Unlike a private insurance company--or at least one that hopes to stay in business--it has been paying out far more than it collects. This leaves, as an October report from the Government Accountability Office put it, "much of the financial risk of flooding ... transferred to the federal government and ultimately the taxpayer."

The program is, after Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, $24 billion in

hock to the federal government. It currently has more than 5.5 million policies, with an insured value of...