Hurricane Michael, How Many Have Flood Insurance for Home/Property?

R

rgp

Well-known Member
Location
Milford,OH
How many here have flood insurance ? I have heard twice now, how folks in [non-flood-prone] areas , that were indeed flooded by this hurricane. Are being denied coverage by their insurance companies because....they do not have specific flood insurance.

Now looking around where I live here , I can't imagine ever being in a flood. But !..I'm not a geologist / hydrologist . So perhaps there is a small chance of it happening?

Might look around for cost.

Loosing everything a person owns is bad enough, replacing it all? or most of it all, out of pocket? WoW!
 

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This is the second time we've been flooded out this year.
I ride my bike on the green way that goes by the hospital (this was taken from a top floor), and the bridge below is part of the bike path that goes over the Roanoke river below.

This flood was almost as bad as the infamous Flood of '85, which I remember vividly.
I hope that this is the last hurricane this year, but who can say?

I may have to find a new green way that is not close to a river, but I would still like to find one close to a hospital for personal reasons.
 
Flood insurance is not a part of regular home owner's insurance. Those who live in flood-prone areas AND have a mortgage must have it but for others, it is an individual's choice to buy a policy. Many don't. FEMA is the government's answer for those who suffer damage and are uninsured.
 

Personal lines insurance companies do not offer flood insurance but it can be bought from the federal government. Your homeowner's insurance carriers usually sell and administrate the policy for the government.
 
I just got word that the RV park where we spent the summer in Flat Rock NC was completely flooded when Michael passed over. Water was waist deep in areas and the park was evacuated. We just left there on oct. 1st. During Florence, we didn't get anything but heavy rain. Michael sure tore a swath through the south.
 
Typically, when one of these Hurricanes hits, less than half the people involved have Flood Insurance. That leaves them with trying to recover some of their losses from FEMA....which is probably a long drawn out process, since FEMA is substantially underfunded. Anyone living near a shoreline...or river....and only a few feet above normal stages, is putting themselves at risk for losing everything, and taking years to recover...if ever.
 
After "Sandy" in New Jersey....We didn't get flooded....We have 4 Lakes 2 blocks from us....They drained the Lakes when Sandy was on it's way....We are over
a Highway.. Crossing it is maybe less than a mile to the Bay...Our neighborhood didn't get flooded....But Electric was out for a week...We have an all House
Generator....Son and Family stayed with us....They were only to go home to get clothes and they also had water...So they would take a shower there....

Hubby is thinking of getting Flood Insurance....
 
Although not in a flood plain, we generally purchase flood insurance when a strong El Nino winter is forecast. We do carry earthquake insurance, which paid us roughly $125K in 1994.
 
I live far from there but there seems to be a lot of destruction. If you live nearby, can you tell how badly the area is affected?
 
We aren't in a "flood zone", so don't have it. During a heavy rainstorm, our 2-way drive in the apartment complex, can look like a small creek, but the drainage here is darn good. Been here almost 10 years and never flooded. We aren't in an Evacuation Zone either. Stayed during the outter bands of Mathew and when Irma came thru.
 
We don`t live in a flood zone (although much of our county is) so we don`t have it. Our worry is fire insurance. I belong to a facebook group whose members are,for the most part,former AAA employees. Lots of old friends there from our body shop,days so we connect with them there. Anyway,one posted yesterday that he received a letter from AAA yesterday regarding "changes" to his "hazard insurance" policy. Due to where he lives,AAA will no longer cover fire damage to his home. Say what?!? Isn`t that the main hazard your insurance is meant to cover? I do know that most companies won`t even write policies in our area right now.
 
When we first purchased our house 8 years ago the house was not in a mandatory flood zone, and flood ins was not required. Fast forward about 14 months and we got a letter from FEMA claiming that the flood zones in our area had been changed and we were now in a class "A" mandatory flood zone. Originally it was going to cost us over $1500 a year for the flood insurance, but President Obama and congress signed into law the "Flood Insurance Affordability Act" and the annual cost for us has been approx $450.

My opinion on flood insurance has changed over the years after seeing storms that have hit in places where floods are not commonplace and do a lot of water damage to homes that are not required to have flood insurance and don't carry any. I now think every home owner should be required to carry a minimum level of flood insurance on their house, (as well as earthquake insurance). All too often we hear of storms flooding out areas where half of the people aren't covered because they're not required to be. In New Hampshire a few years back they had some bad storms which caused major flooding in parts of the state no where near any bodies of water and most everyone affected had no flood coverage. Flooding can happen anywhere at anytime.
 
Well, living in the high desert of New Mexico, flooding is about the last thing we worry about. When I was a kiddo we did have a bit of flash flooding, but the drainage systems installed years ago manage that problem.

I think requiring EVERYONE to have flood insurance is overkill, especially for an area like where I live; I do think it should be required for those in areas prone to flooding. I also think states should rethink allowing construction or trailer parks in areas that flood over and over.
 
We live about 1/2 mile from areas that get flooded when there's too much rain. I've lived here all my life and in this apartment for 47 years. Never got flooded. I looked into flood insurance once (can't remember if it was a federal site) and my address is not in a flood zone though a river is about a mile from where we live and streets in close proximity get flooded out when rain causes the river to rise. My sister doesn't live nearly as close as I do to the river but due to sewerage problems, her basement gets flooded almost every time there's heavy downpours. Even though I don't have flood insurance, shortly after I moved here, a pipe burst in my apartment and also flooded the three other apartments on my floor. Some items (mostly clothes) in my apartment got damaged. Since most of my furniture had legs at the time, my furniture was okay. Allstate paid my claim. One of my neighbors told me her insurance did not pay.
 
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I bought flood insurance from Allstate $499/year (Staten Island). I have sump pump and did not get flood but my neighbors were. I do not want to worry.
 

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