The article to review is in the attachment. I also have a sample of the memorandum. Please follow these formatting guidelines: -provide direct answers to the problems at hand or decisions that you need to make in the very beginning of the memorandum. -Next, provide detailed explanation and justification of your answers or decisions that you are asked to make. This is not a research paper, be as specific and as brief as possible. Keep the discussions to the point so that the memorandum is convincing and clear as to why you provide these specific answers or make these specific decisions. This is the type of executive summary which you will be most likely required to prepare for your boss once you start work.<\/p>\n
A $20 Billion Debt Hole Gets Deeper on Flood-Insurance Gridlock
\n2018-09-11 08:00:00.1 GMT<\/p>\n
By Ari Natter
\n(Bloomberg) — U.S. taxpayers who spent billions of dollars
\nafter a trifecta of hurricanes last year are poised to do so
\nagain after a fix to the nation\u2019s troubled flood insurance
\nprogram remains stalled in Congress — and as a dangerous new
\nstorm barrels toward the southern Atlantic coast.
\nThe program, administered through the Federal Emergency
\nManagement Agency, is the primary source of flood insurance in
\nthe U.S., with about 5 million policy holders across the
\ncountry. But it remains more than $20 billion in debt and some
\nexperts say it must be reformed in an era of very powerful
\nstorms like Harvey and Irma.
\n\u201cThey have not dealt with the gorilla in the room which is
\nproactively addressing these types of disasters for the future,\u201d
\nsaid Rob Moore, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources
\nDefense Council. \u201cToo much of the U.S.\u2019s response to natural
\ndisaster is completely reactionary, we throw a bunch of money
\nafter it happens.\u201d
\nThe debate has taken on greater urgency in the 2018 storm
\nseason as Hurricane Florence gathers strength in the Atlantic
\nOcean. Florence, which was declared a Category 4 hurricane on
\nMonday, has taken aim at a vast stretch of the southeast U.S.
\ncoast from South Carolina to Maryland. It is poised to become
\nthe strongest hurricane in almost 30 years to threaten the
\nCarolinas and has already prompted widespread evacuations.
\nInstead of paying to rebuild, Moore said, Congress should
\ndirect FEMA to provide more assistance to relocate residents
\nfrom areas that are vulnerable to flooding; fortify and elevate
\nless exposed properties from wind and water; and other
\nmitigation efforts.
\nCongress spent $120 billion on disaster relief in the wake
\nof last year\u2019s hurricanes and wildfires, while forgiving $16
\nbillion in debt accrued by the National Flood Insurance Program.
\nUntil the 50-year-old program stops paying to rebuild homes
\nthat have flooded an average of five times — so-called Severe
\nRepetitive Loss Properties — and make other changes, the losses
\nwill keep mounting, Moore said.
\nRelated: \u2018Crazy Time\u2019 for Carolinas Hotels as Hurricane
\nFlorence Nears
\nLegislation that passed in the House last November would
\nbegin to make some of those revisions, requiring FEMA to tell
\nhomebuyers if their properties have flooded before and require
\ncommunities to come up with plans for minimizing flood risk.
\nThe bill, the 21st Century Flood Reform Act (H.R. 2874),
\nwould limit future coverage and discounts for high-risk
\nproperties, modify premiums and surcharges paid by
\npolicyholders, expand opportunities for private insurers to sell
\npolicies, offer assistance to low-income households, and
\nauthorize financing for flood mitigation assistance.
\nBut the Senate has yet to act on the measure. Congress has
\nextended the flood insurance setup without change seven times
\nover the past year, with the latest extension set to expire on
\nNov. 30.
\nBy then, the severity of Hurricane Florence will be known.
\nThe duration of the rainfall and the trajectory that the storm
\neventually takes will be key to the flooding risk, according to
\nJames Belanger, a senior meteorological scientist at the Weather
\nCompany, a unit of IBM. The current trajectory \u201cis really worst
\ncase scenario for rainfall and flooding impact of the central
\npart of North Carolina as well as Virginia,\u201d Belanger said in an
\ninterview.
\nAlthough there are more than 444,000 NFIP policies in force
\nin North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, the vast
\nmajority of those policies are for properties located in the
\nSpecial Flood Hazard Areas on the NFIP Flood Insurance Rate
\nMaps, with very little flood insurance being obtained in flood-
\nprone areas outside the mapped flood plains, Samantha Medlock,
\nhead of North America capital, science and policy for Willis
\nTowers Watson, said in an email.
\nThis means that many families will suffer uninsured losses,
\nsince standard homeowners insurance policies do not cover flood
\ndamage, she said.
\nFEMA\u2019s public affairs office did not respond to emails
\nseeking comment.
\nCurrently, the National Flood Insurance Program has about
\n$10 billion in borrowing authority remaining, and Hurricane
\nFlorence isn\u2019t likely to consume all of the funding, said R.J.
\nLehmann, director of finance, insurance and trade policy, for
\nthe R Street Institute, a Washington think tank.
\n\u201cThey are prepared to handle this storm,\u201d Lehmann said.
\n\u201cBut if we multiple storms — there are others out there in the
\nAtlantic Basin — things could get a little more dicey.\u201d<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Michael Smallberg and Ivan Levingston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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