What timing. The National Flood Insurance Program received temporary re-authorization on June 30th by the U.S. Senate. The vote puts the NFIP back in business until September 30.

This is good timing for those along the coast as the storm season has kicked into gear with hurricane Alex now battering the coast of Mexico and south Texas. As the Insurance Journal states:

“It is alarming that the NFIP was allowed to remain expired for so long, causing so much confusion and potentially leaving desperate homeowners and small businesses unprotected for almost a month,” said Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president and CEO. “While the Big ‘I’ is appreciative of Congress extending the program on a temporary basis, we are also greatly concerned that these short expiration periods and patchwork of temporary extensions will negatively impact the market.”

The program lapsed June 1 for the fourth time. Now, the measure sits on President Obama’s desk, awaiting his signature. If signed, it would allow any new policy application or renewals that were signed and submitted during the hiatus to become effective from the date of application.

The official end to the 2010 hurricane season is November 30 — two months after the program’s new expiration date. Not good news, considering this hurricane season is predicted to be much more active than average — Weather Services International is calling for 20 named storms, with five being a category 3 or higher. Without more support from Congress, this hurricane season could prove not only historical in terms of storms, but also in uninsured property damage.

The above article is reprinted from the Risk Management Monitor - the official blog of Risk Management magazine .