That love of the limelight largely explains why the National Flood Insurance Program continues to be a honeypot for some property owners in the most flood-prone areas of the country. It may seem heartless to criticize the federally run NFIP even as the Mississippi River rolls out of its banks. But as environmental and taxpayer groups have argued for years, the greatest impact of this program has been to encourage construction of vacation homes and other buildings in high-risk flood plains and coastal areas. Many of these flood-prone areas should be cleared of buildings and returned to their natural states. Much of that money has gone for what's called repetitive losses - usually older buildings that haven't been moved, elevated or remodeled to minimize future damage.
Some cases are egregious.
The NFIP is one part of a broader disaster relief system that needs to be recrafted by the feds. As is, flood insurance protects against certain watery catastrophes, while people who suffer damage from tornadoes and other disasters can receive low-interest federal loans. Those loans come courtesy of disaster designations that governors ask the White House to declare. Helping victims of random disasters makes sense. But in both cases the rules have been too loosey-goosey.