By the Numbers 014
NFIP Helps Texas Rebuild After Hurricane Ike
Release Date: December 4, 2008
Release Number: 1791-303
» More Information on Texas Hurricane Ike
AUSTIN, Texas -- Thousands of Texans who are rebuilding their homes and their lives after Hurricane Ike are being helped by flood insurance payouts.
Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968 with two goals: to protect communities from potential flood damage through floodplain management and to provide people with flood insurance. Flood insurance, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is the best protection that residents and businesses have against the devastating financial losses that floods can cause.
"By the numbers" information for the National Flood Insurance Program includes the following:
- 5.6 million was the number of policies in force nationwide as of September 2008.
- $1.2 trillion was the amount of NFIP coverage provided by those policies.
- 504,409 was the number of policies in force in September 2008 in the 34 Texas counties eligible for federal disaster assistance to individuals, families and businesses in connection with Hurricane Ike.
- $58.1 billion was the amount of coverage provided by the NFIP policies in those 34 counties.
- $1.8 million was the amount of insured flood losses in Texas in the 10 years from 1998 through 2007.
- $7,800 is the estimated cost of a flood that is 2 inches deep in a single home.
- 30 is the number of days in the waiting period for a flood insurance policy to take effect.
For decades, the National Flood Insurance Program has offered flood insurance to homeowners, renters and business owners, with the one condition that their communities adopt and enforce measures to help reduce the consequences of flooding.
Additional information is available through local insurance agents, by going online to www.floodsmart.gov or by calling 1-800-638-6620.
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: Friday, 05-Dec-2008 08:40:28