The U.S. Senate agreed Tuesday to write off more than $17 billion in debt that a FEMA flood insurance program accumulated after being devastated by Katrina and other 2005 hurricanes.

The bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program for five years also includes measures, such as increasing premiums and reducing subsidies, aimed at putting the 40-year-old program on a better financial footing.

The 92-6 vote sends the bill to negotiations with the House, which passed similar legislation last September.

The flood program was created to help homeowners and businesses situated in flood-prone regions get affordable insurance not usually available from the private insurance market.

The House bill differs from the Senate legislation in extending the program to cover wind damage.

There were widespread complaints after Katrina that private insurers with wind coverage were judging damage from the hurricanes to be the result of flood, rather than wind, so as to shift the burden of compensation to the federal program.