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National Flood Insurance Program
The Mitigation Division , a component
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), manages the National
Flood Insurance Program. The three components of the National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP) are:
Nearly 20,000 communities across the United States and its territories
participate in the NFIP by adopting and enforcing floodplain management
ordinances to reduce future flood damage. In exchange, the NFIP makes
Federally backed flood insurance available to homeowners, renters, and
business owners in these communities. Community participation in the NFIP
is voluntary.
Flood insurance is designed to provide an alternative to disaster assistance
to reduce the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their
contents caused by floods. Flood damage is reduced by nearly $1 billion
a year through communities implementing sound floodplain management requirements
and property owners purchasing of flood insurance. Additionally, buildings
constructed in compliance with NFIP building standards suffer approximately
80 percent less damage annually than those not built in compliance. And,
every $3 paid in flood insurance claims saves $1 in disaster assistance
payments.
In addition to providing flood insurance and reducing flood damages through
floodplain management regulations, the NFIP identifies and maps the Nation's
floodplains. Mapping flood hazards creates broad-based awareness of the
flood hazards and provides the data needed for floodplain management programs
and to actuarially rate new construction for flood insurance.
The  National Flood Insurance Program, Program Description (619 KB) offers a more detailed overview and history of the program.
• Buying flood insurance is the best thing you can do to protect your home, your business, family, and financial security.
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