The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) launched the Interim Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate, which will be operational effective Dec. 22, 2014.

Acting Flood Insurance Advocate, David Stearrett, will lead the Interim Office, which specializes in assisting clients and policyholders on National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) issues and is an independent office within FEMA with direct alignment to the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) associate administrator and the FEMA administrator. This Interim Office will operate until a permanent Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate is established in accordance with Section 24 of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (subject to budget resources).

"Floods are the most common disaster affecting communities in America," says David Miller, associate administrator for FIMA.  "Through the National Flood Insurance Program, FEMA is working hard to ensure that families are able to protect themselves from flood damage and accelerate efforts to recover should something happen. As someone who has worked tirelessly on behalf of policyholders for many years, I know Mr. Stearrett will fight each day to ensure that policyholders have the information they need to navigate the flood insurance process and ensure any concerns are addressed."