With the recent floods in the Midwest and hurricane season beginning, flood insurance should be a consideration for many that are located in the affected areas. The devastation of hurricane Katrina is still fresh in many people’s minds and others would like to avoid a similar devastation and loss.

According to The Colorado State University forecast team, the U.S. Atlantic Basin is likely to experience a well above-average hurricane season in 2008. The team predicted that there is a 69% chance that at least one major hurricane this season will make landfall on the U.S. coastline. Don’t you want to be prepared?

Everyone wants to be prepared for the worst. Although hurricanes usually only affect the coastal areas on the United States, flooding due to heavy rain is likely to affect the rest of the country causing significant damage.

Many do not know that flood insurance is NOT always covered under your home insurance. This means that you cannot depend on just home insurance to cover you and should look to investing in suitable flood insurance for your area.

According to FloodSmart.gov, 1 inch of flooding can cost about $7,800 while 18 inches can cost around $24,000! This is a significant amount of money that you may not have readily available to repare the damage of your home.

Flood insurance covers you when there is a flood for losses to buildings and the contents within the building, not for the land surrounding the building. FloodSmart.gov explains that “to be considered a flood, the waters must cover at least 2 acres or affect at least 2 properties.”

There is a possibility that you may already have flood insurance. According to an article on MainStreet.com about flood insurance by Jessica Wakeman, “The National Flood Insurance Program offers coverage for sale to homeowners and businesses located along coasts, on islands, and along rivers.” In the areas that participate in the NFIP, if you have a federally backed mortgage then you are required to have flood insurance, if you do not then you can decide whether or not you want to purchase flood insurance (at your own risk of course!).

FloodSmart.gov has several policies that you can choose from based on the history of floods in your area and where you live.

Remember, it is always better to be proactive when preparing for flood or natural disaster, because when they hit it may be too late to protect your property.

Check out some great related articles:
** You Don’t Have Flood Insurance?
** Why The Midwest Floods Could Impact the Cost of Your Coke and Your Burger
** Are You Prepared for a Natural Disaster?

Photo: Kevin Connors

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 4:03 pm and is filed under insurance, security, social/environmental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.