A key Republican said Hurricane Harvey will spur Congress to reach a deal to fund the nation's flood insurance program before it expires next month, even though divisions persist over how much the federal government should be on the hook for future disasters.

"I'm just hopeful this will provide the urgency and onus to get this bill on the floor," Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Financial Services said in a phone interview Monday. "We need to make sure we don't compound a physical tragedy today with a fiscal tragedy tomorrow."

The devastating storm in Texas has put a spotlight on the National Flood Insurance Program, which requires the government to foot the bill for most of the water damage done to residential properties. It's already running a deficit of more than $25 billion and Harvey's costs are expected to exceed tens of billions of dollars. While Congress has until Sept. 30 to reauthorize the program, lawmakers have been at loggerheads over how to make the program economically sustainable without increasing costs for homeowners.