The flood insurance measure was included in a package of bills that also set federal transportation policy and prevent a doubling of interest rates for millions of college students.

It includes a provision by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., that enlists the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to assess the nature of hurricane damage. After Katrina, private insurers tried to avoid paying claims for wind damage, saying that homes were destroyed by federally covered water damage.

It also moves to improve the floodplain mapping of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the flood insurance program, and streamlines FEMA efforts to raise or move homes that are sources of repetitive claims to the insurance fund.