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Michael Peltier: National hurricane plan dumped again
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TALLAHASSEE — Talk about taking the wind out of your sails.
Backers of a national catastrophic insurance program have got to be feeling such a lack of a strong tail wind.
Last week, the U.S. Senate defeated an amendment to include wind damage as part of the national flood insurance program.
By a 73-19 vote, the body rejected a proposal by Florida senior U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to expand the program that has offered flood-prone citizens property insurance for 40 years.
Coastal officials have been complaining for years that the best way to affordably protect residents from hurricanes is to set up a system in which all U.S. taxpayers shoulder the risk. They often point to the federal flood insurance program.
That program began in 1968 and was made mandatory for residents in flood-risk areas in 1973. The thought was that the insurance subsidy would be offset by a commitment from community leaders to raise building codes and make it more expensive to build in flood-prone areas.
During the state’s crazy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, flood insurance paid out $2.2 billion in claims.
That would be dwarfed by August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina wrought $16 billion in flood damage to New Orleans residents and other policyholders along the Gulf Coast.
Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Florida lawmakers have been pushing for a similar program for wind-borne disaster.
The devastating hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 culminating in the havoc of Hurricane Katrina has added more raised voices to the choir to establish some type of national safety net for coastal residents.
The problem is that the risk of flood damage pales in comparison to wind-borne destruction. So a national solution sounds great if you’re one of a number of coastal states that are hurricane prone. The suggestion plays a little differently in Des Moines or Rapid City, S.D.
Therein lies the rub.
Membership in the U.S. House of Representatives is based on population.
Given that more and more people seem to be flocking to the coasts, the idea of protecting home and business owners from coastal threats is increasingly appealing.
But the U.S. Senate is a whole different animal. In this august chamber, Wyoming and other landlocked, sparsely populated states have an equal say in what passes.
Though backers have called for an all-perils approach, the elephant in the room is not tornado damage but hurricane destruction.
And if you’re living hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from the coast, do your constituents want to help their distant neighbors?
Hmmm.
So the bottom line is don’t hold your breath for the federal cavalry to arrive.
And state lawmakers recently passed legislation to lower the state’s risk for hurricane damage. Coastal homeowners and the rest of us are increasingly on the line.
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Michael Peltier is the Daily News’ Tallahassee correspondent. He can be reached at mepltier1234@comcast.net.
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