[20080919]RS22394_国家洪水保险计划：卡特里娜飓风后的财政借款.pdf

Order Code RS22394Updated September 19, 2008National Flood Insurance Program: Treasury Borrowing in the Aftermath ofHurricane KatrinaRawle O. KingAnalyst in Industry EconomicsGovernment and Finance DivisionSummaryIn 2008, Hurricanes Ike, Gustav and Dolly made landfall in the United States,causing widespread flood damages. Estimates of federal flood losses from these threestorms are not yet known. Exactly three years earlier, claims and expenses related to themassive flooding caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma (KRW) had financiallyoverwhelmed the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The program was self-supporting from 1986 until 2005, covering all expenses and claim payments out of cashflow of policy premiums and fees. The Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA), the agency that administers the NFIP, paid $19.28 billion in KRW-relatedclaims as a result of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. This amount exceeds the $2.2billion in premiums earned annually and its $1.5 billion borrowing authority from theU.S. Treasury. As a result of the catastrophic property losses under the NFIP fromKRW, in September 2005, the Congress passed and the President signed into lawlegislation