Prepare for Hurricane Season: Buy Flood Insurance Now 

Release Date: May 1, 2008
Release Number: 1603-784

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NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Take steps now to protect your financial well-being before a hurricane strikes, advise officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP).

"Buying flood insurance is the best way to protect yourself financially from flood damage," said Jim Stark, the acting associate deputy administrator for FEMA's Gulf Coast Recovery Office. "Call your agent now so that you are covered by the start of hurricane season, because when you purchase a flood insurance policy there is a 30-day waiting period before it takes effect."

Anyone - property owners, renters and business owners – can purchase flood insurance if your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).  FEMA administers the NFIP, which Congress established in 1968 with the goals to reduce future flood damage through floodplain management and to provide people with flood insurance.

Currently, 296 communities in Louisiana participate in the NFIP. To buy a flood insurance policy, contact your local insurance agent or find an agent online at www.floodsmart.gov or by calling 1-800-427-2419.

"Even if you live away from the coast, you are still vulnerable to flooding," said Mark Cooper, the director of GOHSEP. "Having flood insurance is a proven way you can help yourself recover faster after a damaging flood, especially since homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage."

After hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the NFIP paid $13.2 billion to Louisiana flood insurance policyholders. The average claim paid for flood damage was $70,000.

If you are a homeowner, you can insure your home for up to $250,000 and its contents for up to $100,000. Renters can cover belongings for up to $100,000. Nonresidential property owners can insure a building and its contents for up to $500,000 each.
The cost of a policy depends on a number of variables, most important of which is whether you live in a low-, moderate- or high-risk flood area.  Those flood risk areas are identified on Flood Insurance Rate Maps, which show flood hazard areas and are used to determine the flood insurance rate for a given property.  

If you live in a high-risk area (Special Flood Hazard Area) and you have a mortgage from a federally regulated lender, you are required to purchase flood insurance.  You must carry the insurance for the life of the mortgage. If you live outside a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), you still are at risk for flooding. In fact, 20 to 25 percent of all flood claims are filed in low to moderate flood-risk areas.

Contact your local floodplain management officials to view current local flood maps, or go to FEMA's Map Service Center online at www.msc.fema.gov to see the latest flood map for your community.

Other helpful measures that will better prepare you for a flood or other disaster include:

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Last Modified: Thursday, 01-May-2008 15:57:19