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The 14th Annual NFDA Conference was another great success - great speakers, engaging panels, incredible sponsors and even some Alabama humor. This year welcomed organizations from many different flood stakeholders including FEMA, flood determination companies, flood vendors, lenders, insurers, agents, and attorneys. There was plenty of networking during the early round of golf, opening reception - sponsored by LandSafe - and group dinner.
The real work began on Monday following the welcome by NFDA's President Cheryl Small and reading of the anti-trust statement by Tom List. FEMA's Dr. Sandra Knight where she shared several valuable statistics regarding NFIP and the state of the program. FEMA's Roy Wright discussed the updates to Risk MAP, including the transition from a county-wide approach to a watershed approach. Through collaboration with local, state and tribal entities, Risk MAP will deliver quality data that increases public awareness that leads to action and changes in behavior. His presentation included specific information regarding coastal risk and levees.
The National Committee on Levee Safety's Karin Jacoby gave an overview of levees and research that is being conducted to better understand the risks involved with levees. John Dorman of North Carolina Geospatial and Technology Management gave an impressive update about the progress of mapping the 15 hazards across the state, including not just identifying risk but the development of a mitigation plan and the associated cost of the risk, in addition to being completely paperless with everything being available electronically. A "test county" will be available for review through the digital display environment in May 2011. (**A link to this presentation will be available on the NFDA website shortly. We will send a link when it is.)
Following a break sponsored by Pitney Bowes, Bruce Bender moderated an interactive panel to discuss mapping interests and zone discrepancies. The panel included Roy Wright of FEMA's Risk Analysis Division, Kathleen Schaefer of FEMA Region 9, Tim Murphy of Maricopa County, Patty Templeton-Jones of Fidelity P&C Insurance, Pally Latshaw of American Bankers Insurance, Kathy Trahan of Flagstar Bank and Michael Bremer of CoreLogic Flood Services. Many important issues were discussed and great information was shared between all stakeholders. The first raffle, a Kindle sponsored by RAMPP, was drawn and given to Phil Wills of Torrent Technologies.
Megan Wells, a gifted storyteller, discussed the value of "listening" through a series of powerful  and humorous stories over lunch. NFDA's Merrie Inderfurth followed with a legislative update which set up the next panel very smoothly. Bruce Bender hosted an interactive panel discussion about potential flood insurance reforms in Washington, DC, with panelists comprised of NFIP's Dr. Sandra Knight, PCIAA's Don Griffin, FIPNC's Linda Mackey, MBA's Vicki Vidal, ASFPM's Chad Berginnis and NAFSMA's Tim Murphy. Many options were discussed and stakeholder positions were shared. The second raffle, an iPad sponsored by Pitney Bowes, was drawn and given to Patty Templeton-Jones of Fidelity National Property & Casualty.
 The final day of the conference began with a continental breakfast sponsored by ThoughtFocus and a legislative perspective on NFIP by Jerry Nielsen from a litigation perspective. He urged stakeholders to carefully consider litigation and potential outcomes that could cause unintended consequences. Chuck Burkhart of Balch & Bingham LLP shared a humorous take on litigation in Alabama against flood companies. Chuck Burkhart also participated in a mock trial as Defendant's Attorney with Defendant Scott Giberson of NFDA/CoreLogic Flood Services, Plaintiff's Attorney Lauren McKenna of Fox Rothschild LLP, Plaintiff Bruce Bender, Judge Tom List, NFDA's General Counsel.
We look forward to seeing you in 2012! If you have any questions about the conference, membership with NFDA or general questions about flood risk information, please contact info@nfdaflood.com.
   
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