Here is why the government could be paying the bill if Hurricane Dorian damages Mar-a-Lago

With Hurricane Dorian bearing down on South Florida and posing a severe risk to locals, one thing that has been noted is that President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club is among the many properties at risk from the storm. A few anti-Trump commentators have even taken this as the silver lining of the whole disaster, with former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell saying that she's "rooting for a direct hit."

But if you are consumed with schadenfreude at the idea of Mar-a-Lago underwater, there is something you should know: The federal government will be stuck with the bill if it does.

That's because, according to a 2017 investigation by the Huffington Post in the run-up to Hurricane Irma, Mar-a-Lago is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides federally subsidized flood insurance at steep discounts to properties at risk of flooding.

The NFIP's main purpose is to mitigate disaster relief aid costs for the federal government. But it has frequently been criticized for its financially unsound structure and its lack of means testing.