After a flood event, people are often uncertain about what types of federal assistance they are eligible for, and if their eligibility for federal disaster assistance is linked in any way to whether or not they have flood insurance. Because much of the other disaster assistance that is available to individuals comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), there may be confusion between possible claims provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP, which is also managed by FEMA) and other disaster assistance programs. This report provides an overview of the assistance available to individuals and households following a flood and provides links to more comprehensive guidance on both flood insurance and disaster assistance. The NFIP is described in detail in CRS Report R44593, Introduction to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) . The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the main program intended to provide federal assistance to homeowners and renters recovering from flood losses. The NFIP was established by the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA, 42 U.S.C. §4001 et seq.). The general purpose of the NFIP is both to offer primary flood insurance to properties with significant flood risk, and to reduce flood risk through the adoption of floodplain management standards. As of May 2018, the NFIP had over 5 million flood insurance policies providing over $1.28 trillion in coverage. Nationally, as of July 2018, about 22,322 communities in 56 states and jurisdictions participated in the NFIP. According to FEMA, the program saves the nation an estimated $1.87 billion annually in flood losses avoided because of the NFIP's building and floodplain management regulations. In addition to NFIP claims payments to policyholders, homeowners and renters may also access a number of other federal programs aimed at mitigating the impact on individuals and households. As described below, Congress established certain limits on the availability of federal disaster assistance dependent on whether individuals had flood insurance, as set out by the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (FDPA, P.L. 93-234 , 87 Stat 985). In addition to requiring property owners with federally backed mortgages to have flood insurance, the FDPA restricts access to federal financial assistance for acquisition or construction purposes for use in any area that has been identified as having special flood hazards (i.e., what is known as a Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA), and in which the sale of flood insurance has been made available under the NFIP, unless covered by flood insurance (i.e., the community participates in the NFIP). The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( P.L. 93-288 , as amended, Stafford Act) also sets restrictions to flood disaster assistance, stating that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no federal disaster relief assistance made available in a flood disaster area may be used to make a payment (including any loan assistance payment) to a person for repair, replacement, or flood disaster assistance that was conditional on the person first having obtained flood insurance under applicable federal law and subsequently having failed to obtain and maintain flood insurance as required under applicable federal law on such property. A core design feature of the NFIP is that communities are not required to participate in the program by any law or regulation. Rather, communities in the United States voluntarily participate in the NFIP generally as a means of securing access to the primary flood insurance offered by the NFIP. Essentially, the NFIP is structured so that the availability of primary flood insurance through the NFIP is tied to the adoption and enforcement of floodplain management standards by participating communities. FEMA is only allowed to provide flood insurance to "those States or areas (or subdivisions thereof)" where "adequate land use and control measures" have been adopted that "are consistent with the comprehensive criteria for land management and use developed" by the NFIP. Thus, communities that participate in the NFIP, and therefore whose residents may access the NFIP's primary flood insurance, also must adopt, through local or state laws, minimum floodplain management standards that are described in FEMA regulations. Communities are required to adopt these minimum floodplain management standards in order to participate in the NFIP. FEMA has set forth the minimum standards it requires for participation in the NFIP in federal regulations. Though the standards appear in federal regulations, the standards only have the force of law because they are adopted and enforced by a state or local government. A community that has been found failing to enforce the floodplain management standards may be placed on probation and ultimately suspended from the NFIP. However, a community cannot be removed from the NFIP because of increased or excess flood insurance claims and losses. Rather, probation and suspension only occur if the community fails to uphold its obligations related to floodplain management. Communities that have been suspended or those communities that do not participate in the NFIP can face significant consequences. Most importantly, residents of these communities are not able to purchase primary flood insurance through the NFIP, which may result in significant uninsured property risk in that community. In addition, if a community does not participate in, or has been suspended from, the NFIP but has been previously mapped by FEMA for flood hazards, it is difficult for the community and policyholders to access some other forms of federal assistance for areas in the floodplain. For example, by law, no federal assistance may be provided for acquisition or construction purposes in an area that has been identified as having special flood hazards unless the property is covered by flood insurance. Likewise, as federally backed mortgages require flood insurance for properties in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), these property owners would be required to obtain such insurance in the private market. A community is allowed to leave the NFIP at its will, but the potential consequences of that decision are similar to those if the community has been suspended. In some other special cases NFIP flood insurance may not be available; for example, no new NFIP flood insurance coverage may be provided for new construction or structures with substantial improvements which are located on any coastal barrier within the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). The CBRS contains two types of units: System units and Otherwise Protected Areas (OPAs). System units are generally comprised of private lands that were relatively undeveloped at the time of their designation within the CBRS. The boundaries of system units are generally intended to follow geomorphic, development, or cultural features. OPAs are generally comprised of lands held by a qualified organization primarily for wildlife refuge, sanctuary, recreational, or natural resource conservation purposes. The boundaries of OPAs are generally intended to coincide with the boundaries of conservation or recreation areas such as state parks and national wildlife refuges. FEMA develops, in coordination with participating communities, flood maps called Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) that depict the community's floodplain and flood risk. A key aspect of this flood mapping is the identification of the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The SFHA is intended to distinguish the flood risk zones that have a chance of flooding during a "1 in 100 year flood" or greater frequency. This means that properties have a risk of 1% or greater of flooding every year if located in a SFHA. In a community that participates or has participated in the NFIP, owners of properties in the mapped SFHA are required to purchase flood insurance as a condition of receiving a federally backed mortgage. By law and regulation, federal agencies, federally regulated lending institutions, and government-sponsored enterprises must require these property owners to purchase flood insurance as a condition of any mortgage that these entities make, guarantee, or purchase. Property owners falling under this mandate may purchase flood insurance through the NFIP or through a private company, so long as the private flood insurance "provides flood insurance coverage which is at least as broad as the coverage" of the NFIP, among other conditions. Not all mortgages in the SFHA are affected by this mandatory purchase requirement. For example, a personal mortgage loan between two private parties (such as between family members), or a mortgage issued by a private mortgage company that is not then sold on the secondary market to a bank or entity like Fannie Mae, may not require flood insurance. Even if they are not technically required to mandate flood insurance by federal law, the issuing party may still require it as a means of financially securing the property. Flood insurance is optional for properties outside the SFHA regardless of whether they have a federally backed mortgage. However, as there is still a risk of flooding outside the SFHA, residents of NFIP participating communities with property located outside the SFHA may voluntarily purchase a lower-cost Preferred Risk Policy (PRP). Rates for PRPs are lower than for properties in SFHAs in accordance with their lower risk profile; however, unlike properties in the SFHA, an individual may be denied a PRP if there is significant loss history for the property. FEMA encourages the purchase of PRPs both to reduce the financial flood risk of a broader group of individuals, and to expand the number of NFIP policyholders, thus improving the fiscal soundness of the NFIP portfolio. FEMA has considerable discretion under the law to craft the details of the flood insurance policies it sells through the NFIP. Currently, there are three policies that the NFIP uses to sell primary flood insurance—the Dwelling, the General Property, and the Residential Condominium Building Association policy (RCBAP) forms. Collectively, these Standard Flood Insurance Policies (SFIPs) appear in regulations, and coverage qualifications are generally equivalent. Within the SFIPs sold by the NFIP, there are numerous policy exclusions that are often not understood by policyholders. For example, SFIPs have limited coverage of basements or crawlspaces. Because SFIP coverage limits are often less than the value of a structure or the value of the property's contents, policyholders can obtain excess flood insurance to cover losses beyond the coverage limit.