WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress on Friday approved a 5-year extension to the National Flood Insurance Program, which covers 5.6 million people.

Failure to renew the program would have been a blow to the fragile housing market because potential homeowners in flood-susceptible areas would be unable to close on mortgages or refinance loans. A two-month lapse in the program in 2010 resulted in some 1,400 home sales a day being cancelled.