WASHINGTON - The first warning sign was a house in Humble.

Between 1977 and 1995, the National Flood Insurance Program paid out $806,591 for repeated storm damage to a suburban Houston home that was valued at $114,480. If you think the math doesn't add up, you're not the only one.

The federal government's program to protect coastal residents from nature's devastationhas coughed up more than $8 billion over the past 15 yearsfor more than 150,000 troubled properties that have filed multiple claims for storm damage. From The Houston Chronicle.