Tell Congress to Reauthorize National Flood Insurance

On Sept. 30, 2011, the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides flood insurance to 5.6 million homes and businesses, will expire. If Congress doesn’t renew this program before then, 21,000 communities in the United States won’t have an affordable option to protect themselves from flooding.

And that’s not just hurricane-prone regions. Ninety-seven percent of the U.S. population lives in a county that has declared a major flood disaster since 1990.

If NFIP had lapsed before Hurricane Irene … well, you get the point.

HouseLogic blogger Matt Dornic, who covers housing policy issues, urges Americans to contact their senators to reauthorize the program in a blog post picked up today by The Huffington Post. (The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a five-year extension, but Senate has yet to act.)

The housing market can’t afford another blow: A lapse would cancel or delay home sales. That’s because home buyers in FEMA-designated areas must purchase flood insurance to get a federally backed mortgage. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® economists estimate about 1,300 home sales would stall nationally each day of a lapse.

To send a letter asking your senator to reauthorize the NFIP for five years, click here.