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Flood Safety Week Begins March 15 - Are You Aware of Flood Risks?

Flood Awareness Week comes at a time when flood risks are heightened due to a number of contributing factors: spring snowmelt, ice jam, heavy rains or flash flooding. Whether you live in Washington or Florida; Iowa or North Carolina - the results of each risk are the same - severe flooding and financial hardship.

Flooding is always a major concern; especially in the spring. This is the time to reach out to customers and talk to them about their risks and why it is important to purchase flood insurance.

It takes 30 days after purchase for a flood policy to take effect, so it's important that you buy flood insurance before the floodwaters start to rise.

Here are some frequently asked questions and facts about flood insurance.

Why should I purchase flood insurance?

  • Floods are the most common natural disaster. In fact, 90 percent of all natural disasters in the United States involve flooding.
  • Most homeowners, condominium, manufactured home, renters and business insurance policies exclude losses due to flood.
  • Flooding is the most costly natural disaster in the U.S., causing more than $2 billion of property damage each year.
  • Just an inch of water can cause costly damage to your property.
  • A car can easily be carried away by just two feet of floodwater.
  • Your home has a 26 percent chance of being damaged by a flood during the course of a 30-year mortgage, compared to a 9 percent chance of being damaged by fire.
  • Depending on where you live, the average cost of a $50,000 flood insurance policy is slightly more than $200 annually, about 56 cents per day, while a $100,000 policy is about $500 annually, or $1.37 per day.

What if my flood risk appears to be low?

  • Everyone lives in a flood zone - anywhere it rains, it can flood.
  • Flooding is not limited to coastal areas. Floods and flash floods happen in all 50 states.
  • Between 20 and 25 percent of all flooding events occur outside Standard Flood Hazard Areas.
  • If you live in a low-to-moderate risk area and are eligible for the Preferred Risk Policy, your flood insurance premium may be as low as $119 a year, including coverage you’re your property's contents.
  • Just because you haven't experienced a flood in the past, doesn't mean they won't in the future. Flood risk isn't just based on history, it's also based on a number of factors: rainfall, river-flow and tidal-surge data, topography, flood-control measures, and changes due to building and development.

What are the Causes of Flooding?

  • Many conditions can result in a flood: hurricanes, broken levees, outdated or clogged drainage systems and rapid accumulation of rainfall.
  • New land development can also increase flood risk; especially if the construction changes natural run-off paths.
  • Floods often happen when bodies of water overflow or tides rise due to heavy rainfall or thawing snow. Flash floods may occur without warning when a large volume of water falls in a short time.

About Flood Insurance

  • In 1968, Congress issued the National Flood Insurance Act and created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to make affordable flood insurance available to the general public and to encourage communities to adopt sound land use regulations to reduce losses caused by floods.
  • Under the NFIP, customers can purchase flood insurance for up to $250,000 for their dwelling and $100,000 for its contents. A non-residential building and its contents can be insured for a maximum of $500,000 each.
  • Federal disaster assistance is usually a loan that must be paid back with interest. For a $50,000 loan at 4 percent interest, your monthly payment would be around $240 a month ($2,880 a year) for 30 years. Compare that to a $100,000 flood insurance premium, which is about $400 a year ($33 a month).
  • It takes 30 days after purchase for a policy to take effect, so it's important to buy insurance before the floodwaters start to rise
  • Anyone is eligible to purchase flood insurance as long as their community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program.
  • As of March 2009, more than 5 million people currently hold flood insurance policies in more than 20,200 communities across the U.S.

Where can I find out more information about flood insurance?

  • Federally backed flood insurance policies are widely available through insurance agents in the nearly 20,000 NFIP participating communities across the country.
  • For more information about flood insurance and a detailed definition of the phenomenon, check out www.floodsmart.gov.

Call our office for a quote on flood insurance...
...You can't put a price on peace of mind.

The Hallsted Agency