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Bob Graham is executive editor at Insurance & Financial Advisor and IFAwebnews.com.

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The U.S. Senate allowed the National Flood Insurance Program to expire Feb. 28, and while the expiration is most likely temporary, the need for the program couldn’t have been more clear over the weekend.

Property owners along the Pacific Coast from Oregon to California were warned Feb. 27 that a tsunami, caused by the huge earthquake in Chile earlier that day, could hit the coastline, causing flooding. The damage to the Pacific Coast would have paled in comparison to forecasts for damage for Hawaii; those forecasts and the tsunami warnings they spawned were later withdrawn. Yet, the sudden possibility of a tsunami hitting the Pacific Coast of the U.S. shows how quickly the NFIP could become necessary.

No one last week would have predicted a tsunami to hit the U.S. Until then, everyone was talking about the crazy weather this winter, with snow falling in every states but Hawaii, record warm stretches and some intense cold. Flooding caused by melting snows is all but guaranteed in the Northeast in the coming weeks.

The unpredictability of nature, evident so clearly in the last week, explains why Congress needs to extend the NFIP, and not just to March 28, the date the U.S. House of Representatives’ bill before the Senate sets for its next expiration. Short-term fixes included in spending bills aren’t good enough.

Congress must resolve its uncertainty about the NFIP. Its expiration was extended four times alone in 2009. An editor here joked that every staff member at IFAwebnews.com has written an NFIP extension story. He is right and that is wrong.

Property owners need to know where they stand with the NFIP. If legislators don’t like the program, end it – and accept the consequences. Otherwise, extend it for three years. Anything less is silly.