The Hill News

The debt ceiling deal, the Budget Control Act of 2011, should please taxpayers in at least one respect â€" ending the practice of the federal government writing what amounted to blank checks to cover damages in major natural disasters.

The new approach makes financial sense to taxpayers, but it also leaves huge potential liabilities blowing in the wind for those who will be statistically and inevitably in harm’s way of catastrophe. And, with Hurricane Irene bearing down the East Coast and an unpredicted earthquake shaking our nation’s capital on August 23, we are reminded that anyone can be in harm's way.

Over the next 10 years, the Office of Management and Budget projects that future disaster recovery costs requiring federal assistance for relief and reconstruction will total $225 billion. However, the recently enacted cap will limit federal disaster relief expenditures to roughly one-fourth of that amount.

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