Do You Have Flood Insurance

[acinpcola]

The recent floods here in the Northwest Florida area came real close to my house. In fact the flood water stopped just 3 foot away from my neighbors house so I tell people I was just 3 foot and 1 house away from flooding. Here is the kicker, my house is in a low risk flood zone, in fact the entire neighborhood is in the low risk zone. If you look it up the neighborhoods are Bristol Park, Bristol Woods and Bristol Creek. Two friends that live down the street from me were hit with flood waters, only one had flood insurance. The point I am trying to make here is this, if you think you are in a low flood risk zone, be aware that it can still flood. I am now taking steps to get some flood insurance, as with all insurance it is a risk, we are betting on it not happening. I hope this makes you all think about how unpredictable floods can be.

Be Safe
AC

[cuznjohn]

i am in a very low risk area but i do carry flood insurance, it is cheap and in my opinion worth having.my sister lives on the water on long island and was hit bad last year with the sandy storm, it cost close to 220k to fix her house and she pays big time for her flood insurance. so it is well worth having it for peace of mind

[PrairieSpyder]

I agree it's a good idea, especially if it doesn't add so much cost to the annual bill. Insurance companies are good at assessing storm damage claims and denying them because they see water damage and you don't have flood insurance. It's better to have your bases covered.

[Oh no! I may have stepped on the Bob D's turf here.]

[PMK]

While further south than you, we live in West Palm Beach. We are about 15 miles total including the inter coastal waterway and Palm Beach from the ocean.

Flooding can happen almost anywhere there is water. Our closest call was a hurricane or tropical storm that hit and because of the concerns with Lake O at the time, water management decided to hold off on draining water from local canals into main canals that flow from the lake. Suffice to say the local canals overflowed and in turn many people got damage. We did not having a bit higher lot.

We have priced flood insurance and have always opted out. In fact at this point just getting good homeowners insurance is difficult since most of the quality companies have as they say "reduced their exposure". This is basically based on them losing the bet a strong hurricane would not hit.

Our house is paid off, and we are still not able to purchase simple fire, theft, style insurance. You must buy hurricane insurance. It has also been mentioned that they may mandate flood insurance even in the safe zones.

Each year I try to convince the wife that we should go self insured and be done with insurance. For the price they charge, I believe we could do better to take each years bill and invest it which should quickly be more than enough for all but the worst situations.

FWIW, over the last few weeks, we have had the exterior of our house redone where all the stucco was removed, all wood rot replaced, it now meets the current Miami code which is to install plywood over the studs (previously this was not required when our house was built), all the studs are now clipped top and bottom with approved clips and screws, all the sills are wedge anchored into the slab (previously nailed), replaced all windows, the sliding glass door, garage door, and front door with hurricane rated products. Plan is, no more shutters, minimal prep, fill the two Honda generators with gas and ride it out. We already had the entire roof redone to Miami code with the heavier plywood, ring shank nails and reshingled. This was about 12 years ago.

Ever since the one time they messed up opening the local locks and flooded the homes, water management begins lowering water levels often two or more days before a storm hits. So I am confident we won't flood from uprising water.

Obviously the things to consider are carpets, and drywall. With this rebuilding of the house, I was told we need to have 4 inches of concrete slab exposed, the final thing will be to grade a portion of the yard away to ensure all water drains away.

I think we will pass on the flood insurance one more time.

Best of luck in how you decide.

PK

[cuznjohn]

i have 2 cousins that live in long beach long island and both their houses were destroyed by sandy up here. they were ranch type houses but the feds told them that if they wanted to fix the houses they would have to raise the houses up by one story and the street level should be for storage or parking and a laundry room. so they both raised their houses to great cost to them but they wanted insurance for any future damage

[Chupaca]

when we lived in Florida we always carried flood insurance. Many areas are below sea level. You can poke your finger in the ground and hit water. The way I see it there is no low risk areas. You have flooding from rains and hurricane. Now we live in a low risk area...top of a mountain so folks at the bottom are at risk, to much rain here (if ever) and we may change zip codes but won't flood...:roflblack::roflblack:

[Questions]

I recommend flood insurance for everyone. I work for FEMA during disasters as a floodplain management specialists. Flood insurance covers more than just a flooding event. If your residence is damaged by a flood, if you don't have flood insurance then the only help is if it gets declared as a disaster. The cost of flood insurance is based on your risk. Anyone can check their risk by going to www.floodsmart.gov. There is a higher chance of your residence being flooded than having a fire.


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[bruiser]

I'm in a non flood zone. In 1999 Hurricane Floyd hit this area just days after Hurricane Dennis sat off the coast and drenched us with 11 inches of rain. Floyd dropped 22 inches. Many areas here flooded that weren't in a flood zone. There are whole neighborhoods that no longer exist because of the flooding that occurred. We were fortunate in that the flooding was just two miles from us. We are somewhat elevated from the river. We moved friends from their home the day before the flood hit. We could watch as the ground water rose in the ditch in front of his house. By the following day, the water was up to his front yard. In two days all that could be seen was the peak of the roof. Floyd devastated Eastern NC.

[woolfski1713]

One only has to look at the recent flooding in Pensacola and compare it to hurricane Ivan. Many homes that flooded during Ivan stayed dry this time and those that didn't flood during Ivan, flooded this time. So flood insurance is probably a good idea. Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it.:banghead:

[PrairieSpyder]

I recommend flood insurance for everyone. I work for FEMA during disasters as a floodplain management specialists. Flood insurance covers more than just a flooding event. If your residence is damaged by a flood, if you don't have flood insurance then the only help is if it gets declared as a disaster. The cost of flood insurance is based on your risk. Anyone can check their risk by going to www.floodsmart.gov (http://www.floodsmart.gov). There is a higher chance of your residence being flooded than having a fire.


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:welcome: So this is your first post? Thanks for the input. Don't be a stranger.

[Dan_Ashley]

I recommend flood insurance for everyone. I work for FEMA during disasters as a floodplain management specialists. Flood insurance covers more than just a flooding event. If your residence is damaged by a flood, if you don't have flood insurance then the only help is if it gets declared as a disaster. The cost of flood insurance is based on your risk. Anyone can check their risk by going to www.floodsmart.gov (http://www.floodsmart.gov). There is a higher chance of your residence being flooded than having a fire.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD$500 a year. Last flood in this town was in 1893 (121 years ago.) It occurred 5 miles from where I live. Lots of infrastructure upgrades since then. $500 a year.

[Dan McNally]

Fortunately, our development is near the top of a slope that drops 132 feet to a major stream over two miles . . . It would take LOTS of water to flood us . . .