Battered by floods, again and again

Taxpayers stuck with multiple bills

The number of US properties that have flooded numerous times continues to rise, according to newly released federal data, in the latest sign of the nation’s mounting flood risk.

Figures show that the National Flood Insurance Program, which covers millions of homeowners across the nation, now has on its books at least 44,000 structures where damage has been covered again and again by taxpayers, in some cases with cumulative payouts that exceed a property’s worth.

One property in Virginia Beach has flooded 52 times — including four floods in 2020 and another two in 2021 — with total payments amounting to $784,967. Another property on the Outer Banks of North Carolina has flooded 44 times, with payments totaling more than $2.2 million. There are 30 properties that have flooded at least 30 times, the data show.

Properties that have repeatedly flooded account for only a small fraction — about 1 percent — of the flood insurance program’s nearly 5 million active policies across more than 22,000 communities. But they are responsible for more than 10 percent of the agency’s claims, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group that sought the updated records from the federal government and maintains an online dashboard that tracks the issue.

“Essentially, what we are seeing is flooding is increasing faster than we are mitigating our risk,” said Anna Weber, a senior policy analyst at the council.

Because a relatively low proportion of the country's floodprone homes actually have federal flood insurance, the numbers offer only a glimpse of what is likely to be a far broader problem.

“These are basically the tip of iceberg when it comes to repeatedly flooded properties in the United States,” Weber said.

The updated data, which are current through Dec. 11, 2022, highlight how coastal Louisiana and Texas are high-risk areas for devastating and frequent flooding. Houses in some places along the Mississippi River also have repeatedly been deluged, as have parts of the Atlantic coast from Florida to New England. While some of the properties in the Federal Emergency Management Agency database have been mitigated through actions such as buyouts or elevating homes, many remain as vulnerable as ever.

David Maurstad, an assistant administrator at FEMA and the flood insurance program’s senior executive, said in an interview that over the past year, the number of repeatedly flooded properties has eclipsed 46,000, a figure that underscores the need for Congress to implement long-awaited reforms.