Flood risk continues to be one of the most difficult perils to price for the homeowners insurance industry, and until recently many have considered it to be uninsurable. As a result, flood insurance in the U.S. has traditionally been offered primarily through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), operated under the auspices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and a few private insurers. However, recent legislation -coupled with improved flood risk modeling, reinsurance and insurance market capacity, and consumer demand -is making the possibility of a private flood insurance market more viable.