Expected FY 2017 spending bill in lame-duck session could be vehicle for disaster-recovery funds.

The U.S. House of Representatives edged U.S. flood insurance policy—and with it, risk financing needed to rebuild after losses from flooding—closer to rationality with a unanimous vote April 28.

Rebuilding after the Feb. 2011 magnitude-6.3 earthquake in Christchurch, a city of 382,000 people, offers a cautionary tale for future disaster recovery.