US homeowners can manage flooding risks through participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), established in 1968. The NFIP was envisioned as a revenue neutral program, where claims paid out equaled premiums collected on active policies, allowing owners of at-risk homes to safely migrate from floodplains following floods. Over the past three decades, claims paid have exceeded premiums, causing a program deficit. In parallel, floodplain housing density is likely increasing. These policy failures occurred in part because human behaviors and social inequities in the US have deviated from assumptions on which the NFIP was designed. This seminar study will explore how socio-economic demographics and perceptions of environmental hazards shape how homeowners perceive flooding risks, challenges in socio-environmental modeling of flood-insurance markets, and potential avenues to increase the predictive capability of current generation models.
