[clearlight]

" I would be happy to have the Federal Government to get out of the flood insurance business, and leave it to the free market."

So would many taxpayers. Federal flood insurance is basically an entitlement program.
The free market won't insure buildings on flood plain, because eventually the area will be inundated, the buildings ruined, and the companies will lose big. Enter the feds with our money.

[Sthitch]

The free market would insure a building in a flood zone, they would just be charged market prices for the insurance. This could be off-set by the purchase of flood insurance by people not normally at risk, and currently not eligible for flood insurance.

I once had dinner with an Nationwide executive and we talked about this issue. There is little chance that his house would be subjected to flood waters, but if it were, there is nothing that he could do to protect it. The actuaries on his $2 million home would say that flood insurance should add $10 a month to the cost of his insurance bill. That is nothing compared to what he pays his own company for all other forms of insurance on the house.