Federal Bill Offers Break for Properties in Certain Flood Zones

Overseers of levees in southwestern Illinois welcomed the advance of a federal measure that could give thousands of property owners up to a five-year reprieve in having to buy costly flood insurance in areas with questioned defenses against rivers. The House voted 406-22 to add five years to the life of the debt-ridden National Flood Insurance Program. The measure includes a provision allowing communities required to buy flood insurance because of the findings of new mapping to seek a up to a half-decade suspension of that mandate while they fix their levees.