Lost in all the noise about the Government Shutdown is the fact that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) expired over the weekend. Until it is reauthorized by Congress the NFIP will not be accepting any new policies or changes to existing policies. As I understand it the Continuing Resolution passed by the House contained a provision to reauthorize the NFIP through February 16th. So it sounds like the NFIP will be out of action until the Shutdown is resolved.
In the meantime people hoping to buy houses in flood zones who have not already secured a flood policy may have their closings delayed until the NFIP is reauthorized. Another option is to look to the private flood market. As I mentioned in previous postings the private flood market is a viable alternative to the NFIP but it does not have to offer coverage to everyone and it's prices and coverage may differ from the NFIP. In some cases the premium is higher.