Photo: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg NewsWASHINGTON—Tropical Storm Harvey leaves Congress with a pair of unexpected financial challenges: further shoring up a heavily indebted federal flood insurance program and providing emergency funding for uncovered damage. The insurance program, created about 50 years ago because private insurers were unwilling to risk catastrophic flood losses, is scheduled to expire Sept. 30. The contentious flood program went through 17 temporary extensions and four lapses during legislative disputes from 2008 to 2012. “With the National Flood Insurance Program expiring at the end of September, House Republicans must also move swiftly to ensure that affordable flood insurance continues to be available,” she said. The limited time frame is expected to complicate lawmakers’ ability to find consensus on broad changes to the flood program, congressional aides said.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 28, 2017 22:05 UTC