InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Selecting Strategies > Non-structural strategies > Flood Insurance
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: December 8, 2016

Flood Insurance

Flood insurance is one of the best-known non-structural strategies. Flood insurance protects homeowners and businesses from catastrophic financial losses in the case of a disaster such as sea level rise-enhanced storm surge. Encouraging or requiring homeowners or businesses that are exposed to flooding to purchase insurance can make recovery easier by ensuring that these stakeholders will be at least partially reimbursed for their losses. Because flood insurance premiums are usually highest in the places that are most exposed to flooding, insurance requirements can also be used in combination with very high premiums to provide a financial incentive for existing residents to move their homes and businesses away from the most dangerous areas, as well as a disincentive for new residents to move into the area. Insurance companies and governments may also design policies to offer discounts on premiums for customers who adopt site-specific structural protections, such as elevating their home or business on stilts or pilings.

In the United States, residents with homes in Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated Special Flood Hazard Areas are required to purchase insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In addition to incentivizing protection for individual homeowners and businesses in the ways discussed above, NFIP also offers community-wide premium reductions if local officials implement specific floodplain management strategies to improve their score in the community rating system.

Figure 12.10: The above animation shows the three main coastal flood zones for the FEMA NFIP. As mentioned in the video, communities that participate in the community rating program can reduce residents' flood insurance premiums by issuing regulations that prohibit new construction or require structural protections for buildings in high-risk coastal zones (including zones VE and AE).

Credit: FEMA: Library

View in FEMA Multimedia Library

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »