As the Northeast recovers from the third Nor'easter in threeweeks and other sections of the U.S. prepare for swollen riversfrom the spring snowmelt, thoughts turn to flood and insurance.Combined with the debates in Congress around renewing thefinancially strapped National Flood Insurance Program and floodinsurance reforms, the issue is definitely top of mind for insurersand policyholders alike.

As many discovered during the hurricanes, mudslides and othernatural catastrophes in 2017, most U.S. property owners arewoefully underinsured and surprisingly unaware of the flood risksthey face. According to a new study led by the University ofBristol, more than 41 million Americans are at risk —significantly higher than the current estimate of 13 million.

Key issues

To heighten awareness of some key issues around flood insuranceand find out what insurance industry experts are thinking,PropertyCasualty360.com and RMS, a catastrophe modeling firm, arehosting a live Twitter chat Wednesday, March 14, from 1–2 p.m. ETusing the hashtags #PC360Flood and #RMSFlood.

A few of the topics we'll be addressing include thefollowing:

• How did the 2017 season impact the flood insurance market?
• What will change in the coming year to help the private marketfor flood insurance grow?
• What will be in the final flood reform/NFIP reauthorizationbill?
• What work have CAT model vendors been doing on flood?
• How can agents and property owners respond to individual riskand lifestyle needs?

We have a great line-up of Industry experts participating:

• Christine G. Barlow, CPCU, managing editor, FC&S and authorof the forthcoming Commercial Flood Insurance Coverage Guidefrom The National Underwriter Company
• Michael D. Brown, CPCU, vice president andproperty department manager, Golden Bear Insurance Company
• John Dickson, CEO, NFS Edge Insurance AgencyInc., a subsidiary of Aon National Flood Services
• Matthew Nielsen, senior director, governmentaland regulatory affairs, RMS
• Craig Poulton, CATcoverage.com, a major provider of flood,earthquake and landslide insurance online
• Cliff Roberti, co-founder and managingprincipal of Federal Hall Policy Advisers
• Dr. Holly Widen, severe weather/climateresearcher, RMS
• Dr. Joshua Woodbury, flood specialist, SwissRe
• Loretta L. Worters, Loretta WortersCommunications, insurance industry expert and communicationsstrategist

I hope you'll join @PC_360 to share your questions, thoughts andcomments.

See you on Twitter tomorrow!