Should it be mandatory regardless of risk (with risk appropriate premiums of course)?

As of late, it sure does seem like a lot of people needed it who weren't required to carry it and therefore thought they were safe. The NFIP is in a world of hurt as it is, and FEMA's budget is beyond stretched (which we all pay for anyway).

I wonder if lending institutions will start requiring it regardless of flood zone. I'm just rambling on the keyboard here - interested in y'all's thoughts.

have better results. That includes the feds, lenders, enforcement (me) & homeowners. As a municipal employee in a small town one of the many hats I wear is I am our flood plain administrator. We have a flood ordinance (provided by fema) adopted but I am not required to have any special skills or training to be able to enforce it. Ergo I have had only minimal training as I spend my education dollars on                 re-certification hours to keep all of my building code certifications current. Small town = tight budget = no extra funds for non-mandatory education typically. Thats my end of it.

Lender underwriters look at a map on a computer screen if they even look at all. Real estate salespeople either are unaware of flood zones or the worst of the bunch won't disclose on a chance it might kill a sale. (Native & Mud I am not talking about you guys) Homeowners often buy unaware if they are in a flood zone or not or if the area is prone to drainage issues which can cause localized flooding without being in a flood zone.

I don't know about making it mandatory as you will be punishing people who were smart enough or lucky enough to not buy in a flood prone area. I think just cracking down in all of the above areas feds, lenders, enforcement will take care of a lot of it. Let the cost be borne by those who choose to live in  those areas. I don't think we need to jump in with both feet and start hammering people with it but it needs to be made more of priority across the country and quit allowing people to build back in flood prone areas unless they bear the full expense in the next catastrophe.