Rising Tide
The number of households in the self-funded National Flood Insurance Program has more than tripled in the past 30 years-from 1.4 million in 1978 to 4.7 million in 2004- but the premiums aren't enough to sustain the impact of Katrina and Rita, which resulted in $22 billion in claims-more than 20 times the amount paid into the program in 2004.
| Claims Paid | Total Premiums | |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | $148 million | $111 million |
| 1979 | $483 | $142 |
| 1980 | $230 | $159 |
| 1981 | $127 | $257 |
| 1982 | $198 | $355 |
| 1983 | $439 | $384 |
| 1984 | $255 | $421 |
| 1985 | $368 | $452 |
| 1986 | $126 | $518 |
| 1987 | $105 | $566 |
| 1988 | $51 | $589 |
| 1989 | $662 | $632 |
| 1990 | $168 | $673 |
| 1991 | $354 | $737 |
| 1992 | $710 | $801 |
| 1993 | $659 | $890 |
| 1994 | $411 | $1 billion |
| 1995 | $1.3 billion | $1.10 billion |
| 1996 | $828 | $1.30 billion |
| 1997 | $520 | $1.50 billion |
| 1998 | $886 | $1.70 billion |
| 1999 | $755 | $1.70 billion |
| 2000 | $252 | $1.70 billion |
| 2001 | $1.3 billion | $1.70 billion |
| 2002 | $433 | $1.80 billion |
| 2003 | $760 | $1.90 billion |
| 2004 | $1.2 billion | $2.00 billion |
Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency
NEXT STORY: Buy American, Or Maybe Not