Insurance tops issues tackled by floodplain managers at conference

La Crosse’s floodplain manager likes private insurance model.

A meeting of flood plain managers in Kansas City, Mo., this week had a common theme: Something needs to be done about flood insurance.  

La Crosse floodplain manager Doug Kerns is attending the national floodplain manager conference. By far, he says, the biggest problem for which managers are seeking solutions is the cost of flood insurance.  

Kerns says he supports a plan introduced by La Crosse Congressman Ron Kind to get private insurers more involved in the flood insurance market as a way to keep a lid on costs.  

“It’s not perfect and it’s not all inclusive but it’s a step in the right direction,” Kerns said. “To remove a federal blanket of policy guidelines and put more control at the state level to say, ‘Yes this flood policy will work in Wisconsin,’ I believe is going to lower premiums.”

Kerns added that beyond the cost issues, there’s inequities in the current system.

“The costs of these events are nationwide,” he said. “They affect a relatively small pool of people paying that insurance nationwide.”

He knows solutions are hard to come by, especially when not every community has the same flood issues.

“La Crosse is unique in comparison to other communities that are here, in the sense that we haven’t had a significant event in 50 years,” Kerns said.