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MILES O'BRIEN: It will
take years to rebuild
from Harvey, of course.

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It's too early to know the
full extent of the damage,
but, as we just heard, a vast

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majority, about 80 percent,
of homeowners in the areas
underwater in the Houston area

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do not have flood insurance.

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How to help them is sure
to be a big political fight
back here in Washington.

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Lisa Desjardins is here
to explain that and a
little bit about the
flood insurance program,

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which is, shall we say,
troubled, to say the least.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

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Talk about sort of biblical
and strange timing here.

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Let's look at a few key points
about this important National
Flood Insurance program.

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First of all, this
program expires soon.

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It expires September 30.

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It is right now, Miles,
$24 billion in debt.

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This is the largest
flood insurer by a
lot in this country.

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Five million Americans get their
flood insurance through this
federal flood insurance program.

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And now Congress has to decide
how to renew it in just 30
days after this disaster.

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MILES O'BRIEN: So, what is the
role for Congress right now?

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They obviously were
under a deadline anyway.

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It seems more urgent
now, doesn't it?

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LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

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I think that is exactly right.

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I think that there's also a
tricky issue here, in that some
Republicans want to massively

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reform this program because of
the debt and deficit it's in,
while some other Republicans

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are more concerned about
bringing down premiums
for those in flood
areas, and some Democrats

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with them.

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Listen to sound bites from a
hearing in June of this year.

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REP.

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JEB HENSARLING (R), Texas: We
know this is a program that
is 455 billion underwater and

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runs an actuarial annual
deficit of $1.4 billion.

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It is unsustainable.

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REP.

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MAXINE WATERS (D),
California: I truly believe
that this reauthorization
can be bipartisan,

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but I'm concerned that if you
do not heed my call to work
together on the details of

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this package, it will
cause irreparable harm.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Hensarling,
the committee chairman, wants
to limit the scope and in

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fact have more private insurers,
but others say that's going
to make it unaffordable.

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MILES O'BRIEN: I think
we can all agree this
is a broken program.

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And we hear these stories
time and again about people
having severe damage,
building, rebuilding,

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multiple claims time and
again on the same location.

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It sort of sounds like the
definition of insanity.

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LISA DESJARDINS: I think
that's the really important
point about this story.

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Right now, we know that
flood areas are increasing
on our coastlines.

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Also, cities are
becoming more flood-prone
because of development.

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Let's look at this map, Miles,
about where the most flood
insurance is; 80 percent of

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the National Flood Insurance
Program is in those
states you see in gray.

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Those are also the
states with the largest
congressional delegations.

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The coastal states and, as you
say, Miles, a key point, we
now know that repetitive losses

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from flood damage, that's only
1 percent of those who have
flood insurance, but, Miles,

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is 25 to 30 percent of the cost.

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We're seeing homes that are
now seeing two, three, times of
flood damage within a 10-year

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period.

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We just heard from that woman
in P.J.'s piece tonight who
said she's been flooded twice

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in two years.

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So it's a real problem.

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MILES O'BRIEN: So, this is
really a program that encourages
bad practices, building in

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the wrong place, doesn't it?

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LISA DESJARDINS:
That's the question.

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And, of course, there's
some people who say
communities should be here.

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How do we support
those communities?

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Someone has to pay for it.

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But others say, well, the
federal government is taking
this risk and encouraging them,

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and that's a problem long-term.

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There hasn't been a serious
debate yet about those issues.

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MILES O'BRIEN: It is going to
be an awfully busy September
here in Washington, when you

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consider all the things on
the plate, including this one.

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LISA DESJARDINS: I
think that's right.

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And here's the trick, is that
there may not be time to have
the really difficult debates,

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as we're saying.

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Another issue with this flood
insurance program that lawmakers
haven't tackled yet, the maps

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are out of date.

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And we also know that the
maps are changing because the
weather patterns are changing.

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This is something
they haven't tackled.

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They have to deal with this
flood insurance program, along
with, oh, government funding,

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which also runs
out September 30.

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And they have to try and pass
a budget, and they're going to
try and deal with tax reform.

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It's quite a lot.

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MILES O'BRIEN: It seems
that the climate and the
weather is changing faster
than the bureaucracy.

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I guess that shouldn't come as
too much of a surprise, right?

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LISA DESJARDINS: No.

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Gridlock seems to have more
power these days than almost
anything in Washington.

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MILES O'BRIEN: All right,
Lisa Desjardins, thank you
very much for that update.

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We will be tracking
this one very closely.

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And you can track all
our coverage of Harvey,
including ways you can help.

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That's on our Web
site, PBS.org/NewsHour.