The folly of the government's flood insurance program has been evident for decades, and some Midwestern communities have been in on the action. We've written about how federal flood insurance has serially benefited many of those who refuse to move from river flood plains, sometimes to a fault. After the Mississippi River flood of 1993, one Grafton, Ill., resident explained to a reporter that he had collected $24,000 in federal insurance for damage to his small house from floods in 1979, 1982, 1986 and 1992. For '93, he expected an additional $32,000. His total insurance premiums since buying the house in 1975: $6,000.