Hurricanes can cause a tremendous amount of death and destruction. Longtime residents of coastal Florida, the Carolinas, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are familiar with the drill - but there are always procrastinators. 

Hurricane preparedness takes time. Don't leave it to the last minute. Here are some things to keep in mind when a storm is coming:

• Maintain situational awareness. Keep an eye on national and local media and monitor developing weather systems.
• Track the projected path of storms, using websites like National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov) and follow news reports.
• Do a risk assessment for your home. Assess vulnerability to storm surge, wind damage, and flooding. 
• Plan on at least a three-day wait before substantial government assistance is in place after a hurricane. FEMA can't put its trucks and trailers in the direct path of the storm. It takes at least time for state and FEMA resources to be put in place.
• Cut down any large trees overhanging your house and garage. The tree could fall, taking out part of your house.
• Expect a run on hurricane supplies in the last 48 hours before the storm. Buy your batteries, bottled water, fuel cans, generators and other supplies before you need them.
• Invest in hardened windows, shutters and doors.
• Failing that, buy your plywood well ahead of time, along with a drill and screws to board up your windows.
• Obey evacuation orders. If you receive an evacuation order, you are getting it because the authorities know they will not be able to reach you in an emergency. Leave early if you can to avoid gridlock on the roads leaving town. Remember: Many people in coastal communities are killed by hurricanes when they ignore orders to evacuate.
• Keep your homeowner's or renter's coverage updated with the current replacement value of your home and belongings.
• Inventory your belongings. You can apps like: Sortly (available for iOS and Android phones), Memento Database (available for iOS and Android phones) and Nest Egg (for iOS only). These resources are free or very low cost and will facilitate compensation from your insurance company if your home is damaged or destroyed by a weather event.
• Keep fuel in your car. Many times, gas stations run out of fuel in the day or so before a storm. If you can't fuel your vehicle, you can't evacuate. And you may not be able to function.
• Get a functional battery-operated radio. Don't count on cell phones working for a number of days after a storm.
• You may be without power for as long as two weeks and sometimes longer. Keep nonperishables, batteries and flashlights.
• Keep your generator outdoors. Every year, people die from carbon monoxide poisoning because they moved their generator indoors to keep it from being stolen.
• Understand your generator's capacity. Generators have a limited load. This is especially important to know when you start up electrical items connected to the generator, because startups cause a spike in electrical demand.
• Know your neighbors. Your neighbors may have a harder time preparing or evacuating from storms than you do, because of frailty, disability, young children, poverty or lack of reliable transportation.
• Know your community emergency management contacts.
• Don't underestimate tropical storms. Just because it's not a hurricane doesn't mean it can't do a lot of damage locally. Tropical storms can dump as much rain as a hurricane.

 
By understanding these guidelines, you can protect your home as well as you can and keep your family safe. 

You will also have an easier time getting reimbursed by your insurance company for any damage.

For 2017, private flood insurance statements had to be reported. This was the first time that such information was required to be reported. The Insurance Information Institute released a list of the market's biggest insurance companies offering the coverage based on previously gathered data and they said that over 80 percent of the market share was held by these leading companies. The top company alone held nearly 55 percent. Total premiums written by all companies totaled over $375 million.

What is Private Flood Insurance?

This type of coverage is available for both residential and commercial properties. The policies cover excess flood and flood peril, and they do not include damages from sewer backups or crop flooding. In the past, only the government offered flood insurance. However, private insurers are becoming more comfortable offering this coverage today because of the following reasons:
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• Improved flood modeling
• Improved flood mapping
• Flood-resistant building technology
• Congressional approval

Why Private Insurance is a Good Solution

After several catastrophic hurricanes over the past decade, the National Flood Insurance Program offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency took a major financial hit. It is currently billions of dollars in debt. This has also helped open the market for private insurance companies to offer flood protection. Lawmakers like the solution since it will help get the NFIP out of debt faster.

In early 2017, the NFIP transferred financial risks totaling $1 billion to private insurers. This was done through reinsurance, which FEMA gained approval for, thanks to the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 and the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. More options and competitive pricing are two benefits that an improved private flood insurance market would create.

A Peek At Potential Savings

KatRisk and Milliman partnered to collect and analyze data from three states that have been affected by catastrophic hurricanes and face higher risks of future damages. The organizations looked at data from Louisiana, Texas and Florida. These three states represent over 55 percent of the NFIP's active policies in the USA. The researchers compared NFIP premiums to several private insurance premium models. 

Research showed that more than 75 percent of Florida homeowners would see lower premiums with private insurers. More than 90 percent of Texas homeowners would save money, and nearly 70 percent of Louisiana homeowners would see a premium drop. About 70 percent of the Texas homes included in the model would qualify for a premium that is one-fifth of the NFIP's equivalent policy. The ratio dropped to about 45 percent in Florida and a little over 40 percent in Louisiana. However, researchers also found that about five percent of the modeled homes in Texas would see premiums that were higher than the NFIP's, and the ratio increased to about 15 percent in Florida and over 20 percent in Louisiana. 

As researchers continue to track state-specific data in the coming years, more property owners will be making the switch to save money. To learn more about private flood insurance and if it is a good solution for individual needs, contact us.

Almost everyone has a risk of their home being flooded, regardless of where they live. And now as flooding has become an annual threat to many communities across the country, even areas that were not considered flood-prone are also at risk. 

There was record rain and snow in many parts of the country in the early part of the year, and many areas can therefore expect flooding.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, more than 20% of all flood insurance claims come from areas outside of high-risk flood zones - and that number is rising with each passing year.

That still means the vast majority come from high-risk areas. How can a property owner find out what their flood risk is?
 
Gauging your flood risk
FEMA considers a property to be at high risk of flood if there is at least a one-in-four chance of flooding during the life of a 30-year mortgage.

Geographic areas with this risk are known as special flood hazard areas (SFHAs). Federal regulations require federally regulated or insured mortgage lenders to confirm that mortgaged properties in these areas carry flood insurance.

The traditional way to determine a property's flood risk is to locate it on a flood insurance rate map (FIRM). FEMA publishes these maps based on geographic survey data. They are the official depictions of flood hazards in a locality.

FIRMs are freely available for review at the Flood Map Service Center on FEMA's web site. As a property owner, you can view your flood risk by entering your address in the search field.

Flood maps assign each area in a community to labeled flood zones. Areas with low-to-moderate risks of flooding are assigned to zones with labels beginning with the letters B, C, X or a shaded X. SFHAs are designated with the letters A or V. These areas are shaded on the maps for easy identification.

Property owners can also search for their flood risks at FEMA's flood insurance consumer web site, www.floodsmart.gov. By entering your address in the fields on the home page, you can quickly learn whether you face a low-to-moderate or high risk.

The site offers other valuable tools, such as an estimator that can calculate how much financial damage a given amount of water (two inches, four inches, etc.) would cause in homes of various sizes. 

For example, six inches of water in a 2,000 square foot home would cause $39,150 in damage.

FEMA also offers a suite of flood risk products that go beyond the information provided in a FIRM. They include:

• Flood risk maps, which show the overall picture of risk for a given area,
• Flood risk reports, which show community-specific risk information, and
• The Flood Risk Database, which stores all flood risk data for an area.

 
These products are helpful for community planners, but individual property owners can also use them to get a clear idea of their flood risks.

Elevation certificates may also be on file with local governments for certain properties. These documents show the elevation of the lowest floor of a building (including the basement) compared to the base flood elevation for the area.
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An elevation certificate demonstrates community compliance with flood-plain management laws and is used to set appropriate flood insurance premiums.
 
The takeaway
A flood can be every bit as catastrophic as a fire. It is worthwhile for property owners to learn their flood risk and take steps to reduce it. Additionally, with the increasing risk of flooding in non-flood-plain areas, if you live near a flood plain, you may want to secure flood insurance.