It’s “what?” you might ask. NAFSMA, the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies, was formed 46 years ago as a place where public agencies in the flood and stormwater space could come together, learn from each other, and partner with the Federal government to make life better and safer. I have had the privilege of attending the NAFSMA annual conference on and off for 10 years, and I always come away with helpful information and perspectives. So today, I thought I would share some of what I heard.
This morning, we were fortunate to hear from Jeffrey Jackson, the Assistant Administrator for Federal Insurance within FEMA. Basically, Mr. Jackson is the top FEMA official who runs the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Mr. Jackson started by promoting the new “Direct to Customer” flood insurance program. Traditionally, if you wanted to purchase flood insurance under the NFIP, you had to find an agent to start. Well, now you can go to FloodSmart.gov at any time of the day or night, and FEMA will refer you to a local agent, perhaps reducing or eliminating an obstacle for some. Mr. Jackson also shared that FEMA is engaged in rulemaking to be able to offer policy holders the ability to pay for their policies on a monthly basis. Paying monthly is common in the insurance marketplace, but now FEMA will be able to offer this as well.
We were also fortunate to hear from Luis Rodriguez, Chief of the Engineering Management Branch at FEMA. Basically, Mr. Rodriguez oversees all of the mapping and hazard assessment efforts associated with the NFIP. Mr. Rodriguez started by asking the community for help on a common vocabulary. Only with a common vocabulary can we eliminate confusion in the public and advance our common interest. Mr. Rodriguez talked about, as an example, how a ladder is a hazard. Sitting by itself it is not a risk, but it is a hazard that you could trip over or fall off of. If you are worried about falling off a ladder, then you are worried about risk and want to take action to mitigate that risk. He then applied the same vocabulary to flooding. Flood water in a river is a hazard, but the way in which that flood water impacts your person and your property is the risk, and it is that risk that many of us are working to mitigate.
Mr. Rodriguez also explained FEMA’s current shift from focusing on the 100-year regulatory requirements of the NFIP to its new approach of understanding hazards. As you may know, the NFIP is like a light switch: If your property is subject to a 100-year flood event, then you are required to buy flood insurance (if you have a Federally backed mortgage), and you are limited in your ability to build new structures or substantially expand existing ones. But if your property is not subject to a 100-year event, you are home-free from regulatory requirements. The problem is that being home-free also suggests that you don’t have risk. And that is the problem. Mr. Rodriguez likens this to driving a car on a 60 mph road and having a speedometer that consists of a single light bulb that lights up once you hit 60 mph. In that case, you don’t know if you are going 10, 20, or 50 mph. And once the light comes on, you don’t know whether you are going 60, 80, or 120 mph. So this odd speedometer does tell you something very important, but it also fails to share a lot of very important information. Therefore, we can all agree that an actual speedometer gives us really helpful information, both above and below 60 mph, and this is what FEMA is trying to do for flood risk with a program called the Future of Flood Risk Data. This new program will help people understand the actual hazard (remember the ladder above) and what the risk of flooding is at different storm frequencies and in different locations. FEMA says that this information is essential for communicating risk but is not going to be used for the regulatory program today. Having said that, FEMA is hopeful that future regulatory or statutory changes will allow it to incorporate this information into its future regulatory programs.
Stay tuned for more updates from NAFSMA.