Florida Residents At High Risk For Flooding
Release Date: February 22, 2005
Release Number: 1539-384
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Eighty percent of Florida's 15 million residents live or work near the coast. Many others live near the state's rivers or other inland floodplains. That means most Florida residents face the dangers of flooding, according to recovery officials from the Florida State Emergency Response Team (SERT) and the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
"Despite the high risks of flood-related losses, more than half of Florida property owners in high-risk areas don't carry flood insurance," said Craig Fugate, state coordinating officer. "We know floods are going to occur. Homeowners insurance does not cover floods; buying flood insurance is the best way to protect against flood losses."
Flood insurance is sold and serviced through private insurance companies and agents, and is backed by the federal government under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Flood insurance is available to homeowners, renters and business owners in communities that participate in the NFIP. These communities adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood losses by regulating new construction in high flood-risk areas.
"Florida has more than 1.1 million uninsured homes located within floodplains," said Bill Carwile, federal coordinating officer. "Considering all the heartache and financial burden that disasters caused last fall, we hope more people will help themselves in preventing future losses by buying flood insurance."
Currently the NFIP insures more than 1.87 million Florida policyholders. More than 32,000 NFIP claims have been filed for damages occurring during the 2004 hurricane season and the NFIP has paid more than $677 million to Florida residents for losses occurring between June 1 and Nov. 30, 2004.
Consumers can visit www.FloodSmart.gov or call 1-800-427-2419 to learn how to prepare for floods, how to purchase a National Flood Insurance Policy, and the benefits of protecting their homes and property against flooding.
The State Emergency Response Team (SERT) is a collaboration of Florida's state agencies led by the state coordinating officer. SERT's mission is to ensure that Florida is prepared to respond to emergencies, recover from them, and mitigate their impacts. Visit www.floridadisaster.org for the latest information on the hurricane relief efforts.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Thursday, 24-Feb-2005 15:41:30