Blaine Luetkemeyer: “I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois for her leadership on this important issue. I rise today in support…”

“I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois for her leadership on this important issue. I rise today in support of House Resolution 1309 and in support of my en bloc amendment that aims to provide more certainty to the National Flood Insurance Program. My amendment calls on FEMA to take into account the effects and implications of weather conditions when making a flood-in-progress determination. Currently, FEMA's flood determinations are made independently by a FEMA adjustor, allowing a significant amount of room for subjectivity. I appreciate the need for FEMA's flexibility, but taking a more formulaic approach to flood events will provide increased certainty to our river communities. My amendment would also require FEMA to review the process for providing public notification of a flood event. When the Missouri River started flooding earlier this summer, FEMA was delinquent in reporting their flood-in-progress determination to the public. That determination was made June 1 but was not announced until June 6. For 5 days, we had no way of knowing that FEMA had made this determination, impacting policyholders and new homebuyers. We believe that FEMA must look at the policies in place and make recommendations for a more objective and precise determination process, along with public notification standards that will keep policyholders better informed. It is critical that FEMA develop enhanced procedures for flood determinations and communications with the public.…”