Flooding has long been the nation’s most costly natural disaster. In the face of mounting flood losses and escalating disaster relief costs to the general taxpayers, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through the enactment of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968.
The NFIP is a federal program enabling property owners in participating communities to purchase flood insurance protection against losses from flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the NFIP, makes flood insurance available to residents in local communities that adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances designed to reduce future flood damage.
Today, the NFIP provides flood insurance protection to about 4.7 million policyholders across nearly 23,000 participating communities.