U.S.- Italy Research Workshop on the

Hydrometeorology, Impacts, and Management of Extreme Floods

Perugia (Italy), November 1995

THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM AS A NONSTRUCTURAL MITIGATION MEASURE

Mary Fran Myers

Natural Hazards Res. and Appl. Information Center

University of Colorado, Campus Box 482

Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA

In 1968, the United States Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Act which created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Nearly 30 years later the NFIP has became entrenched in the United States as the major institutional vehicle through which nonstructural floodplain management is accomplished in the country. This paper reviews the rationale behind creation of the NFIP, describes the purposes of the program and how it operates in some 18,000 communities, highlights issues of concern about the program that impact its effectiveness, and recommends research that would result in information that could improve the NFIP’s ability to reduce vulnerability to flood damages.