GAO has issued a 226 pp report on the efforts of DHS since its formation. No mention of the word "mitigation" or "Prevention" or "resilience"! Suggest all start by reading Footnote #13!
IN any event it is clear that the NFIP should be immediately removed from DHS and with the SENATE marking up an NFIP extension bill this AM now is the time. The insurance aspects should go to the Treasury Department. The mapping and mitigation activity should go to NOAA and in particular as climate change starts to dominate issues in the NFIP.
FEMA may have barely survived incorporation into DHS but MITIGATION and the NFIP were largely destroyed. Since those efforts are largely technically driven and not subject to being analyzed as a law enforcement, homeland security, or homeland defense function it is more and more crucial that the NFIP and MITIGATION team be extracted as soon as possible from DHS.
And sad to say the ignorance and lack of capability of
GAO on insurance and mitigation policies and issues looms larger and larger with each passing year.
The life and death of the NFIP despite recent extensive and dramatic riverine and inland flooding from Hurricane Irene and other storms will be driven by federal coastal policies. The riverine and inland flooding of the NFIP should cease completely after a 5-10 year transition program to STATES and their local governments.
THE TIME TO BEGIN IS NOW--SEPTEMBER 2011!
