2020 Hurricane Season for the Atlantic

Hurricane season starts June 1st each year. NOAA has already predicted it to be a busy hurricane season. However we have already seen our 2nd named storm in the Atlantic and it's not even hurricane season yet.

FEMA is already strapped with the Covid 19 response and the recent flooding event in Midland Michigan.

So being prepared has never been more important.

Tropical storm Bertha caused flooding in Miami over memorial day weekend before moving up the coast and making landfall in South Carolina on Wednesday May 27th.

Thankfully it's a tropical storm so high winds are not that much of a concern. However with so many storms the concern is rainfall. This storm has already caused coastal flooding in South Carolina.

The storm is predicted to move up into North Carolina and Virginia. It's predicted to slow down and cause flooding in the Appalachian mountains.

So what can you do to prepare for the 2020 hurricane season?

Having your flood insurance in place before hurricane season is very important. Most people inland usually don't take hurricane season seriously. However as years past has shown us inland flooding from hurricane season is a major threat and might be a higher concern than some of the coastal flooding.

When these storms hit the coast they are still moving at a decent speed but once they move inland they tend to stall out dumping lots of rain.

As hurricane season approaches in the next couple of days its important to understand a few things about flood insurance.

1. Wait period
   
   
2. Payment options
   

Most flood insurance has a wait period unless its for a loan closing. Let's look at the National Flood Insurance Program first. This program will have a 30 day wait period which means if you start on June 1st it really would not go into effect until June 3oth.

Now lets look at some of the wait periods in the private flood insurance market. The average wait period for private flood insurance usually ranges from 10-15 days unless its for a loan closing.

There are a few options with no wait period but it is extremely rare.

Now that you have an idea of the wait period what about paying for the flood policy?

When it comes to the National Flood Insurance Program flood insurance has to be paid in full for the year. This is also generally the case with private flood insurance policies as well. Every once in a while you will find a policy that can do quarterly payments but it's pretty rare.

Now that you understand what the wait periods and payment options are it's time to make sure you are prepared for hurricane season.

If you want to see what your flood insurance options are then click here.

If you want to learn more about flood insurance then make sure to check out our YouTube channel where we daily flood education videos. You can also check out our podcast.

Remember we have an educational background in flood mitigation so we are here to help you understand your flood risks, flood insurance, and mitigating your property against flooding.