Came the Deluge

Early reports on the results of flood disasters always reckon the damage in terms of immediacy and emotion. The number of homeless and dead occupy the front pages of morning-after newspapers and find their way into radio bulletins. This initial reaction is natural, but when the waters recede, the real disaster will be primarily a financial one. Victims may escape with their lives, but, because they are uninsured, they will never recover from the economic effects of the floods.

No private insurance company is presently willing to take the risk of covering residents in potential flood areas, since these companies do not have the resources to cover short-term losses in return for possible longterm financial gains. Private agencies likewise are unable to provide adequate relief. Red Cross, Community Chest, and similar groups assist victims to meet the immediate impact of floods, but they can do little toward alleviating widespread economic loss.

The only real recourse for residents of flood-stricken towns, therefore, is to turn to the federal government for aid. While the federal disaster relief program helps considerably to finance rebuilding programs, most federal funds go to community treasuries and thence into public works projects; the individual householder receives very little direct benefit from disaster relief. Only a new form of federal aid, providing voluntary flood damage insurance, can assure individual sufferers of a clear road to economic recovery.

Such a program, along the lines of the highly successful crop insurance scheme, would not only fill the gap left by private companies but would also be a safe financial risk for the government. For a federal corporation could absorb the losses from local disasters by spreading its coverage over a wide area and could wait for many years for losses to be paid back in premiums. The federal government, moreover, has the experienced personnel to administer such a program, as indicated by the efficiency of the Armed Forces and crop insurance plans. Flood insurance is no final answer to the complex problem of flood control, but it can help to make nature on a rampage far less terrifying.