Many people have still not been able to reach an agreement with their insurers on flood claims… ever since Hurricane Sandy which happened about 5 years ago. In David Clutter’s case, the insurer happens to be the federal government. As the federal government resists Clutter’s claims, Mr. Clutter has been digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole, recently taking out a third mortgage so that him and his family have a home. For more than 5 million households, the National Flood Insurance Program is the only source of flood insurance and unfortunately, this program is broken and corrupt. “The program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been in the red since Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans in 2005. It still has more than a thousand disputed claims left over from Sandy. And in October, it exhausted its $30 billion borrowing capacity and had to get a bailout just to keep paying current claims (Mary Williams Walsh).” The decision to keep the program going has been put into question because it has done quite a lot more damage than good. The need for reform as it a high and if reform is not established, many families may go completely bankrupt. Not only does the program need a better financial advisement but it also needs to make permanent long term changes so that it doesn’t blow through billions of dollars without helping people. Additionally, the government is attempting to put high premiums on houses and replaces small house like Mr. Clutter’s with big ones. What happens to the forgotten?
