As many property owners continue to recover from hurricane and tropical storms Irene and Lee and new storms form offshore, the U.S. Senate is taking steps to renew the federal flood insurance program. Today, the Senate Committee on Banking and Urban Affairs passed its version of a bill to reauthorize and reform the financing of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP — which is $18 billion in debt largely as a result of claims from Hurricane Katrina — is set to expire at the end of the month unless Congress acts.