Top 10 states for National Flood Insurance Program payouts in 2014

Floods, big or small, can have devastating effects on communities, homes and families. In 2014, major flooding resulted in more than $351 million in claim payouts through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The average 2014 NFIP claim was $29,033, according to Insurance Information Insitute (I.I.I.) data gathered from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Congress created the NFIP in 1968 in response to the rising cost of taxpayer-funded disaster relief for flood victims and the increasing amount of damage caused by floods. The NFIP makes federally backed flood insurance available in communities that agree to adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage.