The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is rolling out changes when it comes to flood insurance rates across all states in the country. Today, we will unpack these changes coming to Arkansas and how they can impact your flood insurance in the future.

Arkansas, at the time of writing, is currently in a flood warning state due to these low-pressure systems coming in. Since last month, the state is already getting these flood forecasts that minor to moderate flooding. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is changing this year and it's been a long time coming. 

Today, we want to cover the upcoming flood insurance rate changes that the Risk Rating 2.0 (also known as NFIP 2.0) will present to residents of Arkansas come to Fall this year. This update will change the landscape of being prepared for flood risk and responding to all possible flood damage to your personal property. We really believe that the true risk here is not having the right flood coverage from flood waters more than the flood itself.

These changes are expected to start on October 1st, 2021.

The NFIP 2.0

The Risk Rating 2.0, or commonly known as NFIP 2.0 as well, is more of a move of equity. This update on the federal flood insurance program itself will allow you to no longer pay more than your fair share when it comes to premiums as this would now be based on the value of your property or home starting this October. 

When it comes to the rate changes happening across the country, you're going to see these colors in ranges which are the green, blue, pink, and grey range bars. Now, each of these colors represents the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to each state.

It's important to note that these changes will also include having your rates depend on your property value which includes also the risk of flooding, the distance of your lowest grade to the base flood elevation, flood insurance claims history, and overall flood hazard. 

Let's unpack these and see what they mean for flood insurance.

The Good

Let's start with the green range or what we call the good change. This will impact 33% of policies with the NFIP in Arkansas or about 4,771 policies. The green range shows that you're going to get a decrease in your flood insurance premiums for more than $100 (up to $1200 per year). 

This means that if the average premiums in Arkansas are about $900, you can expect this to go significantly lower starting this Fall. This can really help a lot of people who found it hard to go with the federal flood insurance due to the overall cost of flood policies with FEMA.

This will also be significantly felt by those who are sitting in high-risk flood zones or the special flood hazard area (SFHA) and the coasts where the chance of flood is very extreme in most cases.

The Bad

When looking at the light blue range in FEMA's Risk Rating 2.0, you have to know that this is mostly a bad change coming to policyholders since this indicates that you're going to get an increase in your rates.

This bad change since about 57% or 8,138 policies will get up to a $10 rate increase per month ($120 per year). It means that you're going to start paying for that premium that starts at that $1000 mark.

This might not mean much for those who carry flood policies for their residential property however this may be a significant issue with premiums for commercial properties where generally the rates and premiums are significantly higher.

The Ugly

Lastly, the ugly change is covered by that dark blue and grey range. We put this in the ugly change even though generally it takes up the lowest percentage, this part has the highest increases in flood insurance rates when it comes to FEMA. Let's break these two down first.

When it comes to that dark blue range, it's going to impact 6% or about 919 policies in Arkansas which will increase from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $140 per year). That's putting your average premium to $1000 at the lowest.

On the other hand, the grey area — composed of 4% or 570 policies in Arkansas — will get more than a $20 rate increase per month ($240 per year). This generally means that the premium you're going to pay to start this October will be at $1000 or $2000 even. 

A full graph of these changes with the NFIP 2.0 can be seen below:

When Will It Happen?

Now, the date when you can adopt this program really depends if you're doing a renewal or if it's a new business policy. You see, you can expect these changes to start on October 1st and you're going to adapt to these rate changes if you're buying flood insurance from FEMA on or after that date. 

On the other hand, if you're doing a renewal with FEMA after that date then you don't have to take in these new rate changes until April 1st, 2022.

So, you want to be very ready for this. We've been talking about this since last year since basically the NFIP is already 30 years old already and is in need of this change. 

If you have questions on these upcoming changes, what are your flood insurance options in Arkansas, or anything about flood, reach out to us through the links below. You can also watch this on our YouTube channel.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you understand flood risks through education and awareness in flood insurance and preparedness.

        

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is rolling out changes when it comes to flood insurance rates across all states in the country. Today, we will unpack these changes coming to Arizona and how they can impact your flood insurance in the future.

When it comes to flooding, Arizona had experienced a trend of monsoon flooding and flash floodings throughout the years. One of the reasons why the state has become prone to flash floods is because it's in a Flood Zone AO.

Generally, this zone is considered under the special flood hazard area (SFHA) or high-risk flood zone since the flood frequency is significantly more compared to other zones. Mostly this is due to the flood is coming from the water that's from the higher areas flowing into these zones which impacts the amount of flood you might get especially when we're going to talk about heavy rainfall.

This upcoming Risk Rating 2.0 is an update for FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will change rates across each state in the country. We'll look at the good, the bad, and the ugly changes that this update will bring to flood insurance.

The NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 will kick in on October 1st this year.

The NFIP 2.0

The Risk Rating 2.0, or commonly known as NFIP 2.0 as well, is more of a move of equity. This update on the federal flood insurance program itself will allow you to no longer pay more than your fair share when it comes to premiums as this would now be based on the value of your property or home starting this October. 

When it comes to the rate changes happening across Arizona, you're going to see these colors in ranges which are the green, blue, pink and grey ranges. Now, each of these colors represents the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the flood insurance premiums in Arizona.

For Arizona, we want every local to pay close attention to this update since a large portion of the state is going to experience an increase in rates come October this year.

The Good

Let's talk about that green range that you see in this Risk Rating 2.0 report. We call this a good change because we're talking about an immediate decrease of more than $100 per month ($1200 per year). This decrease is something that 25% or 7,312 policies in Arizona.

We call the immediate decrease good for the property owners especially in flood-prone areas where generally the average premium will be at least 20% higher than other areas.

Considering that most of Arizona is mapped in a high-risk area, federal flood insurance might not be very easy to pay for which where this decrease can really give hope to more people or at least the 7,000 people in the state.

The Bad

On the other hand, we want to look into the light blue range which is the bad change. This is what we call a bad change because this range talks about the policies which get an increase of up to $10 maximum per month (up to $120 per year increase).

It's important to note that 68% of the policies in Arizona will experience this rate change. This is significant because we're talking about 19,957 policies that will get that increase on top of their base premium rates with their FEMA policy.

The Ugly

Lastly, we want to talk about that dark blue to grey range that you'll see in this Risk Rating 2.0 report. This is an ugly change because this will cause FEMA policyholders in Arizona to get a $10 to $20 rate increase per month for the dark blue range and over $20 per month for that grey range. Let's break this down a bit.

When it comes to the dark blue range, about 5% to 1,398 policies in Arizona will get that $10 to $20 per month increase. This totals from $120 to $240 increase on top of that premium that you're getting now with FEMA. If you're paying that average of $700 annually, you're going to start paying for about $820 to $940 on average when this policy kicks in.

On the other hand, there's that grey range which will get you an increase of more than $20 per month or more than $240 per year. The grey range is composed of that 2% or about 598 policies from FEMA. This means that you're going to start paying for more than $940 starting October this year.

You can see a full graph of these changes with NFIP 2.0 right here:

When Will It Happen?

Now, the date when you can adopt this program really depends if you're doing a renewal or if it's a new business policy. You see, you can expect these changes to start on October 1st and you're going to adapt to these rate changes if you're buying flood insurance from FEMA on or after that date. 

On the other hand, if you're doing a renewal with FEMA after that date then you don't have to take in these new rate changes until April 1st, 2022.

So, you want to be very ready for this. We've been talking about this since last year since basically the NFIP is already 30 years old already and is in need of this change. 

If you have questions on these upcoming changes, what are your flood insurance options in Arizona, or anything about flood, reach out to us through the links below. You can also watch this on our YouTube channel.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you understand flood risks through education and awareness in flood insurance and preparedness.

        

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is rolling out changes when it comes to flood insurance rates across all states in the country. Today, we will unpack these changes coming to Alaska and how they can impact your flood insurance in the future.

Alaska has been a victim of multiple floods throughout the years and one can even say that the cold temperature is contributing to spring runoff, frozen bodies of water melting, or simply the overall oversaturation of the land. In this upcoming update with the Risk Rating 2.0 in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), we want to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly changes.

Note that these changes, or the NFIP 2.0, will kick in on October 1st this year.

The NFIP 2.0

The Risk Rating 2.0, or commonly known as NFIP 2.0 as well, is more of a move of equity. This update on the federal flood insurance program itself will allow you to no longer pay more than your fair share when it comes to premiums as this would now be based on the value of your property or home starting this October. 

When it comes to the rate changes happening across the country, you're going to see these colors in ranges which are the green, blue, pink, and grey ranges. Now, each of these colors represents the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to each state.

For this one, we want to focus on Alaska which seems to be one of the states that are getting mostly good changes. Let's unpack these and see what they mean for flood insurance.

The Good

Residents of Alaska will be happy to know that most of the policyholders they have in the state will experience a decrease in flood insurance premiums. We call the green range bar on this Risk Rating 2.0 report the good change. In fact, the Risk Rating 2.0 shows that 86% (1,923 policies) will be in that green range. This means that these people will get an immediate decrease in flood insurance premiums of more than $100 per month. This eventually totals to $1200 per year.

It's important to note that out of these 1,923 policies, 200 of them are written for single-family homes across Alaska. Since these good changes are effective immediately, it means that you get to lower your rates once October 1st arrives.

The Bad

Now, if there are good changes, there will also be bad changes bound to happen. In the case of residents of Alaska — specifically, ones doing a flood policy with FEMA and NFIP — we're going to see about 12% of policies in the state experience this bad change. This is generally represented by that light blue range where you can expect that you'll get up to a $10 increase per month on your premiums (up to $120 per year).

This change will affect about 271 policies where about 77% of these policyholders are doing a single-family home flood insurance. Now, this may not sound as bad especially if you're going to look at the increase alone, but it's important to note that this increase of up to $10 per month will be on top of your flood insurance rate.

The Ugly

Lastly, we want to cover the 1% going in the pink and another 1% for the grey range bars. Now, these are what we include in what we call the ugly changes.

When you're part of the affected policies by this ugly change, you're going to get an increase in your rate from $10 to $20 per month. The pink range is less ugly than the grey area since this more of a range. Depending on your property value, you may get that $10 or that $20 per month which is about a $120 to $140 increase per year.

This is even uglier with the grey range since we're talking about more than a $20 increase in premium rates per month (>$240 per year) for those 24 NFIP policies in Alaska.

You can see a full graph of these changes below:

Now that we all know what these changes will mean, one of the questions you might be asking right now is when this is going to be in effect.

When Will It Happen?

Now, the date when you can adopt this program really depends if you're doing a renewal or if it's a new business policy. You see, you can expect these changes to start on October 1st and you're going to adapt to these rate changes if you're buying flood insurance from FEMA on or after that date. 

On the other hand, if you're doing a renewal with FEMA after that date then you don't have to take in these new rate changes until April 1st, 2022.

So, you want to be very ready for this. We've been talking about this since last year since basically the NFIP is already 30 years old already and is in need of this change. 

If you have questions on these upcoming changes, what are your flood insurance options in Alaska, or anything about flood, reach out to us through the links below. You can also watch this on our YouTube channel.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you understand flood risks through education and awareness in flood insurance and preparedness.

       

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is rolling out changes when it comes to flood insurance rates across all states in the country. Today, we will unpack these changes coming to Alabama and how they can impact your flood insurance in the future.

Alabama has been facing a lot of threats when it comes to flood damage and this is something that even homes that aren't in a high-risk flood zone are being impacted severely by floods. This is why it's always important to make sure that you have the best flood coverage with your insurance policy in relation to the premiums that you're paying for.

Here in Flood Insurance Guru, we always believe that the true risk of floods lies in the amount of protection that your insured property has against these impacts of flood waters.

NFIP Risk Rating 2.0

This new program that FEMA is planning to enforce with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in order to make sure that individuals will no longer pay more than their fair share of flood premiums based on the value of their homes. Most likely, these new risk ratings are going to be in full effect by October this year. Today, we want to discuss the premium rate changes coming to Alabama in order to better prepare ourselves for the upcoming changes.

Generally, this also means that your average flood insurance rates will depend on your property value. It's important to keep in mind that expensive properties may face higher premiums as a result of these rate changes.

Now, when it comes to the Risk Rating 2.0 or NFIP 2.0, you're going to see these ranges that are called green, blue, pink, and grey portions. Each bar represents the good, the bad, and the ugly changes when it comes to premium rates with the NFIP in Alabama. Let's break each one of them down to further get an insight into how these changes can impact you.

The Good

When it comes to the green bar or the green range, this is generally the good change that you can see since this means that there'll be a decrease of more than $100 on flood insurance premiums. Now, this change will be an immediate change once the Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in on October 1st. This is good news for the 11,220 or 21% of policyholders in Alabama since this means you get to save on your premiums starting this October.

The Bad

Now, let's talk about the bad change which you'll see in that blue range. We're talking about the 36,736 Alabama policyholders or 70% that will experience this change. This is a bad change because we're looking at an increase of up to $10 per month for that 70% of the policyholders in Alabama when it comes to the flood insurance premium you're going to pay. This amount eventually totals to about $120 per year when this change kicks in October.

Now, this may not sound big when it comes to some people however you have to consider that the federal flood insurance or FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) continuously updates flood maps, and properties that are sitting on those high-risk flood zones can find this increase very hard to swallow.

The Ugly

These ugly changes are what you'll see in the pink and grey bars in that Risk Rating 2.0. Now, we call this ugly because 6% in that pink range which is about 2,991 policies in Alabama, is going to get about a $10 to $20 increase per month. This totals from $120 to $240 per year.

You also want to include in this ugly change the 3% or about 1,706 policies who will experience a rate increase of more than $20 per month which can go way over $240 per year.

This can really be very ugly for property owners who are facing expensive premiums. We mentioned that the premium itself would be different on each individual properties in Alabama; this includes flood map data, flood claims and flood damage history, risk of flooding on your personal property, where the property is sitting when it comes compared base flood elevation levels in that area, and a lot of things.

This type of rate increase might be another reason to move into the private flood insurance market to find a much suitable cost of flood insurance. 

You can see the full graph of these changes below:

When Will It Happen?

Now, the date when you can adopt this program really depends if you're doing a renewal or if it's a new business policy. You see, you can expect these changes to start on October 1st and you're going to adapt to these rate changes if you're buying flood insurance from FEMA on or after that date. 

On the other hand, if you're doing a renewal with FEMA after that date then you don't have to take in these new rate changes until April 1st, 2022.

So, you want to be very ready for this. We've been talking about this since last year since basically the NFIP is already 30 years old already and is in need of this change. 

If you have questions on these upcoming changes, what are your flood insurance options in Alabama, or anything about flood, reach out to us through the links below. You can also watch this on our YouTube channel.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you understand flood risks through education and awareness in flood insurance and preparedness.

         

This week of May 17th has been very heavy when it comes to Spring flooding. This in turn prompted the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to receive a reintroduction of bills from Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer.

Today, we want to unpack these bills and look at how they can impact your flood insurance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the NFIP.

Spring Has Sprung a Leak

We're barely even in the hurricane season when the month of May ravaged multiple states with flooding. Now, generally, this is because of the low-pressure systems we're getting as we shift into a warmer season.

We've seen Nashville get devastated with flooding in March. About 4 to 8 inches of rain was dumped which became the fourth largest two-day rainfall event in city history. When we look at Alabama, there were multiple flood events just this year. Recently, Birmingham faced more than 7 inches of rain and flooding rose to 3-feet. Just this week, Texas, Baton Rouge, and the Ozarks were ravaged by slow-moving low-pressure systems that dumped more than 5 inches of rain in a short amount of time. Even at the time of writing, all the flooding that happened is still being removed and is only starting to recede.

These flood events caused Luetkemeyer to reintroduce new bills when it comes to flood insurance. So we want to unpack this in order to set proper expectations especially when that NFIP 2.0 comes in October.

NFIP Commonsense Reforms?

The Community Mapping Act

When it comes to flood maps and flood zone designations, FEMA and the NFIP generally will be facing a lot of letter of map change because policyholders are being mapped into high-risk flood zones when in fact they've already gone through flood mitigation efforts to be removed from these zones.

This bill goal that NFIP and FEMA allow each community to produce their own flood maps. It's basically having the people who know the community best, designate the flood zone of their residents. Generally, this means more accurate flood maps for properties. Also, this may mean that flood insurance premiums won't be a problem or a shocker since the flood zones may be produced at a faster rate. Many policyholders get surprised with their premiums when they get moved to these high-risk flood zones or the special flood hazard area (SFHA).

Homeowners may also mean that they get the correct flood zone, avoid all that process, and expenses when it comes to changing your zone or removing yourself from that high-risk flood zone.

Replacement Cost Value

Another thing that Luetkemeyer introduced is using the replacement cost value of the property being written the policy for in determining the premium rates for flood insurance.

Generally, this means that people who are buying flood insurance from FEMA and the NFIP will get their flood policy premiums based on their written replacement cost value. In turn, these policyholders will have to pay that fair share when it comes to flood insurance and don't really get subsidies from coastal homeowners.

Opting Out of Mandatory Purchase

When it comes to commercial properties, you have to get flood insurance for these as a mandatory purchase requirement. This is something that you hear from us when it comes to being in a high-risk zone, but when you're doing a policy for a commercial property, you're not really going to have the option of private flood since federal flood insurance will be requiring you to go through FEMA.

This is aimed to change as commercial properties may opt-out of FEMA and the NFIP for their flood insurance and look at private carriers for their flood policy. Remember, regardless of the property type, the NFIP policy will have maximum amounts on their coverages, and sometimes even that $500,000 building coverage and $100,000 contents coverage won't even make up to whatever you lost.

Got questions about the constant changes with Flood Insurance?

Make sure to check out our where we do daily flood education videos. You can also check out our podcast.

As the spring season is in a full swing across the U.S., it's expected to have more problems than hay fever such as heatwaves, strong hurricanes, and wildfires. One of the biggest things that this warmer season brings is the extreme heat that continues to dry up the western side of the country. Eventually, this is causing droughts in the west.

Today, we want to talk about the droughts happening in the West and how this can increase flood threats across Arizona and other nearby areas. Yes — it may seem ironic, but droughts bring higher flood threats.

Flooding Caused by Drought

A lot of people may find it surprising that drought can be one of the most impacting reasons why there can be floods in the area. It's pretty normal to think that since the general climate is dry and warm, flooding won't happen, but this isn't the case.

Even when there's drought, the risk of flooding in these areas is even higher due to the current situation of the soil itself. You see, when drought happens, the affected area's lands become so dry that it becomes totally incapable of absorbing water from rainfall. It's like rain hitting cement.

Additionally, drought adds up to the higher chances of wildfires that burn away vegetation and vaporize organic debris that makes the upper or surface soil become hydrophobic. This is because the dryness of the land is making it hard for the ground to absorb the water quickly enough.

We have to consider that the dryer surface won't allow the water to come in. which simply collects these waters on the surface eventually redirecting it across the affected areas. This is why whenever there's drought or even just the ground being too dry, and even a small amount of rainfall can cause puddles which eventually leads to flooding.

Increase Flood Threats in Arizona

Arizona has a history of experiencing more than the warm effects of droughts across the western and southwestern parts of the country. In 2003, the Aspen Fire affected the ground so much that it was barely able to respond to the storms that caused streamflows to exceed their natural levels. When the water got into the areas with drought and areas where the land is still fresh with burn scars from the recent Aspen Fire, it caused massive flooding in nearby areas in Arizona.

As monsoons also come into play in this season, even small amounts of rain like maybe half an inch or an inch of rain in a short amount of time can flow into the low-lying areas. Considering the burn scars that recent Copper Canyon Fire and Tussock Fire, this can mean that when rain happens there will be flooding in certain areas, if not most areas of Arizona. Since water doesn't have anywhere to go, it's going to flow downhill into these areas causing flood since it's likely to settle at the bottom of these valleys and canals throughout Arizona.

Fighting Nature

Now, when it comes to drought and floodings, we can't really fight them head-on. These are natural disasters we're talking about, after all, so the best fight we can do against these is to prepare for the defenses. Some would call this, the best offense being defense.

So, how do you defend yourself against the drought and high probability of flooding in Arizona?

When it comes to areas deeper inland, you'd expect that flood maps show mostly show these states in low-risk flood zones. It's a common misconception that deserts are immediately marked as low-risk areas. In the case of Arizona, most communities here are in the flood zone AO (a variant of the Flood Zone A or 100-year floodplain zone).

Now, flood premiums are typically very affordable in areas of Arizona, especially in Phoenix who recently had a five percent decrease because of a discount that was added by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) back in late 2018. As well as Scottsdale where flood insurance rates went down in 2016. right.

However, FEMA's rates are subject to change as they introduce the NFIP 2.0, but this is still good to know especially once you start buying your flood insurance or looking at moving to Arizona.

Flood Insurance Options in Arizona

The NFIP

We've already mentioned the first flood insurance option which has been helping Arizona develop both flood mitigation and protection throughout the years through federal flood insurance. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The NFIP can provide you $250,000 max when it comes to property or building coverage and $100,000 max in contents or personal items coverage. This also includes disaster assistance, disaster grants, and your community may also reduce your premiums up to 40% by raising your Community Rating System (CRS). Coverage however won't include things like replacement costs, additional living expenses, and loss of use.

The NFIP can issue and have a flood policy take effect with a 30-day waiting period. This means that you have to wait 30 days before the policy takes effect on your property.

The Private Flood

On the other hand, you may go through the private flood insurance market. Despite having the risk of possibly non-renewing or pulling out from providing insurance from certain high-risk communities, the private flood's becoming very popular across the country. Generally, this is because of the better coverage and lower prices of premiums. 

We were able to insure a million-dollar home in Surprise, Arizona for less than $600 a year through the private market. This policy provided building coverage up to $1,000,000 and personal content replacement coverage up to 400,000, which is what we mentioned before that's a lot more coverage than the National Flood Insurance Program.

This is because unlike FEMA and the NFIP, the private flood doesn't have any coverage limits and the maximum amount they can provide on flood insurance coverages. This is why they can also provide additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs to those buying policies from them.

If you have questions on these flood threats, your flood insurance options, and how best to prepare your flood insurance, reach out to us by clicking the links below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you avoid flood risks to protect your property's value long term. 

         

The week of May 17 seems to be the wick that will start the upcoming storm season numerous flooding are happening due to a low-pressure system going across the country. Missouri seems to follow Texas and Louisiana in those who are experiencing these major spring floodings.

We want to focus today on what happened with this recent flooding that happened earlier today, what caused it, and how this can impact your flood insurance.

Flooding in the Ozarks

After heavy amounts of rainfall, Monett, Aurora, and other parts of the Ozarks faced floodings and most of the affected areas were immediately inundated with water even before the morning of May 18th arrived.

About 4 to 8 inches of rain were dumped in about six hours which started these floodings. One of the reasons why the flooding was so big was because there's a lot of spring runoff happening at this time of year. Immediately, the Monett Professional Firefighters issued flash flood warnings. 

There were a lot of people needing rescues from being trapped in floodwater for various reasons such as people driving into these standing water and respond to a motor vehicle that was caused by the flooding. Although no official data had been released yet on the flooding, it's important to note that this may extend until tomorrow morning as we've seen in other parts of the country.

In these times, we want to make sure that everything that our properties have enough protection from flood damage.

Missouri Flood Insurance

Filing a Flood Claim

Before you file that flood claim, we want you to hold back for it and consider what this flood claim can mean for your property's overall value and how your flood insurance will look like in the future.

Since flood claims stay with the whole life of the property, this means it doesn't really matter who owns it. All of the records that the property has when it comes to its flood history will stay. Considering how Missouri and Monett have been through flooding in recent years, whatever flood claim is in the property, it's still there by the time you file for the flood claim for the flooding that's happening this week.

We want to make sure that you strategize first with your insurance agent on filing this flood claim. Generally, if the damages are less than $10,000 and you should pay the needed coverages out of your own wallet. This is because if you were to file more than one flood insurance claim in the last ten years, your property's going to be listed in the repetitive loss (RL) list.

Repetitive loss can cause your flood insurance rate to drastically increase especially if you won't be able to meet the strict flood mitigation efforts that are set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). When it comes to the availability of private flood insurance, properties in the repetitive loss list are very likely to not get a policy written from private insurers.

The resell value of the house or the property will also be hurt by this RL listing. Since flood claims and repetitive loss generally indicate that the property had experienced flooding and is recorded to have had a lot of flood loss in recent years, buyers are most likely to avoid buying the property. You also have to consider that flood insurance availability is limited wherein private flood might not be available and the only option left is federal flood insurance which has very expensive premiums.

Loss Avoidance

As we face this constant threat of flooding in Monett and other parts of Ozarks, it's best to have the proper preparation against all possible flood damage and flood loss. This is where the coverage that most policyholders miss out on can kick in: loss avoidance.

Loss avoidance provides homeowners up to $1000 for reducing the impact of a flood on their property. This includes paying for sandbags, filling for temporary levees, plastic sheets and lumber, and even the labor that goes into the process.

This is the best answer that you may get before a flood even hits your home and it can be easy to get since there's already flood warnings everywhere — a prerequisite in order to avail this coverage. This coverage also won't ask you to pay a deductible.

Flood Insurance Options

When it comes to where you can get flood insurance, you have two options here: federal flood insurance and the private market.

The NFIP

Since Missouri and the Ozarks is a participating community, you can get your flood policy from FEMA through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Other than being able to get federal flood insurance, disaster aid, and disaster grants, a participating community can get discounts on flood insurance premiums of up to 40% depending on your Community Rating System (CRS) score. Considering that Missouri's flood insurance rates average at around $1000, this can go down to an average $600 premium.

The NFIP provides coverage on buildings or property that maxes at $250,000 and $100,000 maximum for contents or items inside the listed property. Federal flood insurance won't be able to get you coverages for additional living expenses, replacement costs, and loss of use. Once you get a policy with the NFIP, you have to follow the 30-day waiting period before the flood insurance can take effect on your property.

The Private Flood

On the other hand, if the NFIP's flood policy isn't the best one for you and your property, you can always go through the private market and get insured by private carriers or insurers.

Unlike the NFIP, private flood insurance doesn't have a specific maximum amount on the coverages they can provide. This means that your coverages on property and contents can be drastically higher than $250,000 and $100,000. There is also extra coverage like additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs.

Once you finished your purchase of flood insurance, private flood policies will only have to take up to 15 days before it takes effect on the property. Some carriers will also be able to write you a policy within the day.

Since we're already going deeper into the stormy season, we'd best make sure that we have everything prepared from protection up to getting back up from the possible damages. Nowadays, I almost get a heart attack whenever someone says they don't need flood insurance since even news in recent times would tell you that flooding can happen any time and be very devastating.

If you have questions on this recent Missouri flooding, how to pick the best flood insurance option, or anything about flood insurance, reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help protect the value of your property long term through flood education and awareness.

Click the links below to chat with us, get a quote for your flood insurance, and visit our YouTube channel where we post our daily flood education videos.

         

As we approach our last couple of weeks for this month, we also get deeper into the storm seasons brought about the changes in the general weather across the country. We're expecting rains to come since we're already moving from the cold air brought by Winter and into the much warmer air of the following seasons.

Today, let's talk about one of the biggest threats that locals across the state of Texas are about to face: hailstorms and floodings.

Spring Hailstorms

In the next few days, this effect will be severely felt by locals all over Texas due to the severe storms that are arriving this week. More than 30 million residents are expected to be impacted by this.

A level 4 out of 5 moderate risks for severe weather is in place for parts of West Texas. Take note that even though this is just named as "moderate risk", the impacts of this severe weather may be very devastating. This is because this generally means that there will be severe hail across these areas like Abilene, Lubbock, and can span from Colorado to Kansas as well.

Coastal sections of Texas and Louisiana may also be experiencing this severe hail.  San Antonio, Amarillo, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Oklahoma City are also included in the threat zone for severe hail.

Large chunks of hail across the state won't be the residents' only problem when this storm hits.

Supercells

As the moist and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico clashes with the very dry air from the Southwestern desert, this creates the storms that are threatening the state. However, other than the threat of severe hailfall, the first few hours of the formation of these storms can create supercells. Supercell known as the mature stage of thunderstorms, and just like any adult, this type of storm can move and rotate on its own.

This very dangerous since the severity of the storm's impact can move from one place to the other. This also means that areas that aren't included in the moderate risk areas may soon be placed into it. Heavy rainfall, lightning, large hail, and very strong winds are expected to be with these supercells. When there are strong winds, there's also the threat of tornadoes.

Flood Threat

Since we're talking about storms, heavy rain, and hail, it's also expected that this weather will also bring flooding across portions of the Deep South this week. 11 million people are already under flood alerts across the state from the Dallas metroplex, the northern and central parts of Oklahoma.

Flash flooding is seen to be the biggest issue here once heavy rainfall drops in. Central Texas and the Brazos Valley may receive 5 to 7 inches of rain and this can go up to 8 to 10 inches when you go deeper into North and Central Texas.

The Sabine River already rose to 12-feet in less than 24 hours. This is the second time this happened in less than a week. Properties near the river are also at high risk of severe flooding due to the possible overflow of water when the river crests.

It's important to note that your flood insurance can help you be protected from the damages that the possible flooding can bring to you. This is called loss avoidance and you can learn more about it through the video below:

It's important to remember that this is just the first wave of the storms that will impact the state of Texas and its nearby states as well. It's best to make sure as soon as now that you have the right protection and coverages across all your insurances.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation. If you have any questions on this upcoming weather threat, the flood risks in your area, how your flood insurance protects you, or anything about flood, reach out to us through the links below.

You can call us, get a quote from us, and visit our YouTube website to watch our daily flood education videos. We want to help you protect the value of your property long-term and avoid flood risks through flood education and awareness.

        

Spring seems to be very far from keeping the rainy season from the locals of Baton Rouge in Louisiana. Today, we want to talk about the flooding that happened on May 17 (Monday) over at Baton Rouge, its impacts on the residents, and what it can mean for your flood insurance.

Rainfall and Flooding in Red Stick

It's been a long night in Baton Rouge as a slow-moving rainstorm dumped 10-12 inches of rain before midnight even struck. This in turn immediately prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) to declare a flash flood emergency across Ascension, Iberville, Livingston, and East Baton Rouge.

This caused the I-10 eastbound to be closed past Siegen Lane due to the standing water that inundated the highway. Speaking of flooded roads, fire departments had to respond to a number of water rescues for people who drove into high water.

This caused about 7000 locals to also face huge power outages. At the time of writing, the flooding extended to the early morning of Tuesday (May 18), so we're still waiting for the official damages that this flooding brought Baton Rouge, and considering the constant threat of flood, this event may still be extended.

Now, let's talk about things that you really need to know about your flood insurance in times like this.

Louisiana Flood Insurance

At the time of writing, we're looking at the state of Louisiana under threat of the upcoming low-pressure and storm systems, and at times like this, you want to make sure that you get your flood insurance in place and know how to really use it for the best when it comes to protecting and repairing your property from flood damage.

We want to talk about what to do before, during, and after flooding happens, so that you can maximize what coverages your policy is going to offer you regardless of it being from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or private insurers.

Loss Avoidance

It's important to note that Baton Rouge flood insurance policyholders can go through loss avoidance. Now, this is one of the things that people forget that they have on their flood policies, but this can really help you reduce the impact of floodings significantly.

Loss avoidance is a coverage that goes up to $1000 and this helps the insured to get coverage for the expenses of getting sandbags, fills for temporary levees, securing water pumps, and even the labor that goes into making these things be a part of your flood preparation. In times like this, preparing for an imminent flood that can happen any time can help you avoid damages or at least reduce it significantly.

Don't File that Flood Claim!

Stop! Don't you want to know why we discourage filing that flood claim immediately at times like this? Well, let's unpack what happens after you file these claims.

Now, generally, I'd recommend that whenever you file your flood claim since you just had flooding in your area, you want to make sure that it's at least $10,000 in damages to make sure that you get the best out of it. If it's really not that significant of damage or maybe less than $5000, $10000, you might want to hold off on filing that flood insurance claim and strategize with your insurance agent first.

Filing a flood insurance claim will grant you the coverages written on your policy however at the same time this can put your property in a bad light since there's something that's called a severe repetitive loss (SRL), sometimes known simply as repetitive loss, property list.

It's important to remember that, unlike other insurance claims, flood claims stay on the property's history forever. This is why a property that files for more than one flood claim in the last ten years will immediately be marked as a repetitive loss property.

When you get into this list, you'd expect your flood insurance premiums to go up especially if you decide to not agree with or failed to do the strict flood mitigation efforts from FEMA. This also drastically hurts the resell value of the property because you don't want to buy a very flood-prone property, right?

Flood Insurance Options

Lastly, we want to talk about your flood insurance options. If you aren't impacted by this recent flooding then it's good enough of a reason for you to make sure that you ensure that you have a flood policy taking effect on your property at all times.

The NFIP

Louisiana is a part of the participating communities in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) from FEMA. This means that you get access to the federal flood insurance, disaster aid, and disaster grants that FEMA and the federal government provides. 

This means that Baton Rouge locals that go through FEMA get the coverages from the NFIP that maxes to $250,000 in property or building coverages and $100,000 for contents or the items inside the listed building. However, unless there's a presidential declaration additional living expenses and loss of use won't be provided in your standard National Flood Insurance Program policy. There are also no replacement costs with federal flood insurance.

Since Baton Rouge is a participating community, depending on your Community Rating System (CRS) score, you're legible to get discounts on flood insurance premiums of up to 40%. With flood insurance premiums averaging $750 in Baton Rouge, it means that you get to have your rates go down to $450.

If you're looking to get a policy from the NFIP, it's important to note that you're going to have to follow the 30-day waiting period before your policy can take effect on your listed property.

The Private Flood

We also have to consider that if the NFIP coverages don't really fit what you and your property need, you can get flood insurance from private insurers.

The private flood insurance market is becoming more popular across the country and one of the possible reasons is that it has significantly lower premiums. In Baton Rouge, the average rates from FEMA are about $700 to $800 but in the private market, this can go down to an average of $300 to $400. 

Coverages in private flood can be more than $250,000 for property coverage and more than $100,000 since they don't have those max limits compared to FEMA. Private flood also includes additional living expenses, replacement costs, and loss of use. All of these coverages can take effect within 15 days and some carriers we know can actually write you a policy within the day.

We're going deeper into the eye of the storm seasons, per se. It's pretty normal to expect a lot of rainfall, hailstorms, and flooding which is why you should know how to best protect yourself from these damages. We may not be able to stop these from happening, but we can be sure to prepare how to recover from it.

If you have questions on the flooding that happened in Baton Rouge this week, flood insurance options, or anything about flood, reach out to us.

Remember we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to share this to help you protect your property's value long term. Click the links below to call us, get a quote for your flood insurance, or visit our YouTube channel for your daily dose of flood education videos.

       

The times have been changing and if we look at the world around us, we may see some things that shouldn't be like that. If we look at how weather patterns have drastically changed and natural disasters becoming more severe, we can see that there's something wrong with the planet. That's what we want to cover today, we want to understand climate change and global warming, how are they different, and their impacts on our planet.

Climate Change

First, it's important to preface that climate change is not a synonym for global warming. Climate change is a phenomenon that scientists have been looking into even 200-years ago. They were looking into how our activities impact the climate of the Earth. It took them about a hundred years before even arriving at evidence that suggests a link between the two.

Climate change, as the name would show, is the drastic global or regional changes to climate patterns. Now, it's important that you don't confuse weather with climate. Climate is the collective weather conditions that an area experiences in a long period of time whereas weather is just how the day or maybe the week will be (like situations where we say today is sunny, rainy, or cloudy). Climate is more concerned with the prevailing weather conditions over the course of the next three months or maybe the whole year.

Climate change includes global warming but also concerns itself with the drastic weather changes other Earth being too warm. We can look at what happened in Texas earlier this year, where the state had severe winter storms or Egypt receiving snow due to the cold snap in 2013. 

Generally, climate change is blamed to be caused by the significant rise of greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution and the modern age. These are gases we release every day from smoking to car emissions and large industrial factories releasing the smoke as a byproduct of making their products.

Global Warming

Global warming on the other hand, as the name would show, is the overall drastic and continuous warming of the Earth. This is one of the impacts of Climate Change. See, when we say global warming isn't a synonym of climate change, it's because global warming is one of the effects of climate change.

As the planet heats up, we can see a rapid rise in sea levels and this isn't just because there's a hurricane, but in a more permanent sense of the change regardless of the amount of rain. This in turn can cause a huge threat of storm surge and flooding in coastal areas because seawater can easily get through the land.

Global warming is also a catalyst for more severe storms and rainfall, especially for the United States. As we get over the winter season and its colder temperatures, the sudden surge of significantly warm air brings devastating rainfall, storms, and worse hurricanes when cold winter air clashes with the upcoming warm spring season. 

Global warming's unnatural levels of heat also melt — at an abnormally fast rate — the ice and snow from Winter which presents the constant threat of flash flooding in areas close to these once-frozen bodies of water.  This is what we commonly refer to as spring runoff.

Both climate change and its effect on global warming are the biggest threat when it comes to the natural response of Earth to natural disasters. Due to severe wildfires taking down trees that protect us from flooding, landslides, and mudslides, but this didn't come naturally.

What Caused It?

It's often mentioned that the climate change we're experiencing is the result of our actions as humans. Yes, there's a natural way that climate change can happen, but the impacts of these are smaller and short-term compared to the long-term and huge impacts that manmade climate change is bringing.

Numerous factors contribute to greenhouse gases known as the greenhouse effect. One of the biggest causes is because we're burning a lot of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas to power everything we need like cars or other transportation, and daily energy uses like electricity and heat. These fossil fuels we're burning actually contributed about 80% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. All the abandoned oil and gas wells that are now leaking produce more methane than initially estimated that which contributes to 20% of annual methane emissions. 

We can also look at deforestation and wildfires taking down trees that naturally help us fight these gases. Brazil, last year, reached an increase of almost 10% on deforestation. This became the highest level since 2008 and caused even more severe forest fires that further take down trees in the area.

Climate change is the biggest hurdle we're facing when it comes to preserving the state of Earth. We always talk about preserving the value of your property long-term by protecting it from flood damage, but it can only go so far. When faced with bigger, more volatile, and violent floodings, even the best flood mitigation efforts might not be able to handle it.

We should also do our part in helping fight this climate crisis, so we also avoid severe natural disasters which only become worse each year. If you have any questions on global warming, climate change, how this can impact flood insurance, how this can worsen flood events across the country, or anything about flood, reach out to us.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help protect you and your property against flood loss long term. Click the links below to know more, get a quote to protect yourself from flooding, and visit our YouTube channel for our daily flood education videos.

      

When there's flooding and houses impacted, you can expect that there will be a lot of flood claims with it. Although generally, we recommend refraining from filing that flood claim if the damages are not that big or less than $10,000 in order to make sure that you avoid getting into the repetitive loss (RL) property list in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we understand that there are times where filing that claim is simply inevitable.

Once this happens, we usually get a lot of questions along the lines of "this flood claim isn't good for my property. Who can I trust on flood insurance?", so today we answer that question, determining the best flood insurance provider, and the other impacts of flood claims on flood insurance options in the future.

After the Flood

First, let's talk about what you should expect after you file that flood claim. Now, it's important to note that other than getting the coverage promised in that flood policy, the flood claim can also tell you the possible state of your property when it comes to both FEMA and the private flood insurance market.

After the flood claim, you can expect to receive the coverage in your policy, and in the case of FEMA, this may mean that you're going to have to scour for the repair company as a second option. However, it's highly discouraged that you decide on choosing the repair company if you're aiming to get cheaper costs. Most of the time these cheaper repair companies aren't approved by FEMA and won't fit the standards and guidelines on repairing a flooded property which can mean that they won't provide coverage for the costs of repairs. 

Often times, FEMA and private insurance companies have the power to decide how to respond to the flood claim. They can choose whether they'd replace and repair the damages through their preferred repair companies or they may provide the cash needed for the repairs and the insured will be the one to find the repair company that fits the expectations of the insurance company. There will be some cases that they won't decide and will ask for your plans on the flood claim.

If this is you're second, third, or maybe the fourth claim within the last ten years this will be sure to affect how your property appeals to private flood and how it would be listed in FEMA's data. There's something that's called "repetitive loss (RL) property" which only happens if you file more than one claim in the last ten years.

Now, when it comes to flood claims sometimes it's avoidable, but sometimes it isn't. This is why you should also strategize with your insurance agent on how to approach flood claims and when it's really necessary to file one. As much as possible, it's best to keep your flood claim to a minimum or once only for every ten years in order to avoid being placed in the repetitive loss (RL) list. 

Repetitive Loss

Repetitive loss isn't based on a flood zone, so this doesn't mean that because you're in a Flood Zone AE, you're most likely to be in the RL property list. The repetitive loss property is determined through the number of flood claims made across the life of the property. So, it may be that you're in a low-risk flood zone but is still under the repetitive loss list due to the multiple claims you did in the last ten years.

When you're placed on the repetitive loss property list, you may expect FEMA to raise your flood insurance rates drastically as a response to the large number of funds that these properties are drawing in from FEMA. The rising of premiums and rates really depends if you're willing to accept the mitigation efforts that FEMA will ask you. If you decide to reject this offer, then your flood insurance will increase but not more than that actuarial rate for your property.

However, this doesn't mean that FEMA will let go of you due to the number of claims you did in the past 10 years. This is why we always say that FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) takes all the risks.

This is very different from the private market. Private carriers generally non-renew a policy after they receive a claim and we've seen this happen recently with a client. They filed a flood claim with this private carrier and four days after, the private carrier sent them a non-renewal letter. This is why we always preface private flood with their ability to pick and choose the risks they're willing to take.

Some private carriers may still be available out there, but generally, RL properties are something that they shy away from due to the extreme risks it has when it comes to flooding. If you know that you're on the repetitive loss property list, you might want to reconsider trusting private flood since they're more likely to non-renew your policy or overall refuse to provide insurance for your property.

Flood Insurance Options

When it comes to filing a flood claim, you always need to remember that you can still have the two options when buying your flood insurance: FEMA and the private market.

The NFIP

Like we've mentioned, FEMA doesn't really get to pick and choose their clients so you can still go through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) granted that you're in a participating community. This guarantees that despite your recent flood claim, you can go through FEMA again and expect that they won't process a non-renewal due to the claim. The NFIP will provide maximum coverage of $250,000 for property or building damage and $100,000 maximum for contents coverage.

You may also be registered for the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) program which can provide additional coverage of up to $30,000 for flood mitigation efforts which can really help prevent your property from getting those increased rates if it were to be listed in the repetitive loss property.

The Private Flood

You may also go through the private flood insurance market still although this might be something that you shouldn't put high hopes into. Most properties with recent flood claims generally get rejected from the private flood however the good thing is that since there are dozens of carriers or private insurance companies in this market, you may find another carrier that will write a policy for you.

The private flood insurance market provides more than the maximum limit of the NFIP and generally with lower premiums. This means that you can get more than $500,000 in property coverage and more than $250,000 in content coverage.

If you're written a policy from private flood, you can also get coverage for additional living expenses, replacement costs, and loss of use which can really help you recover from a flood loss.

At the end of the day, your best friend in this type of situation is your insurance agent, so make sure to consult them on what to do before, during, and after a flood. Always feel free to ask how to approach flood claims and the possible impacts of it moving forward. Through your agent, you may also get an idea of which carriers generally won't approve of properties with flood claims or in the repetitive loss list.

If you have any questions on flood claims, flood insurance options, and how to best manage your flood insurance, feel free to reach out to us using the links below. You can also visit our YouTube channel for our daily flood education videos or call us to know more.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you get the best deal out of your flood insurance in order to best protect you, your family, and your property from flood risks. 

       

Before the month of May came, San Antonio and other parts of Texas experienced heavy rainfall over the weekend. This caused properties to experience flooding with the state being in a flash flood warning throughout the time. Flash flooding remains a threat after up to six inches of rain poured over the state over the weekend. A lot of roadways were severely impacted by this flooding across Nacogdoches and San Augustine stranding cars and drivers due to the flooded roadways causing damages across the state of Texas. Houston was also threatened with river flooding and is expected to go like this across the month of May. This can also mean that Houston may be at a higher risk when it comes to coastal flooding.

So, today, we want to cover what this can mean for flood insurance for Texans, how it could impact the flood policies moving forward, and your flood insurance options as well.

Impacts on Flood Insurance

As we're less than sixty days from hurricane season, flooding is expected to be more common across the United States, and in cases as the one Texas had, this can cause a lot of changes for flood insurance moving forward.

First, we want to share a tip that if your property's not severely impacted by the flood and only small amounts are impacted, don't file that flood claim immediately as this can cause your flood insurance rate to go up when it comes to renewal.  Instead, you want to make sure that the flood claim won't be misused by collecting and gathering all the relevant information on the damages you had due to this flooding. This way, you can get more out of the flood claim and avoid having the property marked under severe repetitive loss.

Severe repetitive loss means that the property has had a flood claim, disaster assistance, or federal assistance grant more than once in the last ten years. This can cause flood insurance premiums to really go up for these properties through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). When it comes to the private flood insurance market, this can mean that these insurance companies will avoid writing a flood policy for these properties due to the higher flood risks it has considering its flood history.

Also, since there will be people who will file flood claims from the state in this period of time, we can also expect that there will be higher flood insurance premiums across the area as it's possible that the next flood map will move these properties into a higher risk flood zone. This means that a lot of property owners in Houston, Sweeny, San Antonio, and places like that will be required to carry flood insurance for their property. Those closer to rivers, the coasts, or any body of water may be moved into flood zone AE which generally will be required to carry an elevation certificate. An elevation certificate will have a separate cost from the standard flood insurance policy payments, so this can really hurt a lot of wallets in the future.

You may be asking right about now how you can fight these negative changes in flood insurance and what your flood insurance options are.

Flood Insurance Options

The NFIP

The most common flood insurance option that policyholders would usually go for is the federal flood insurance from FEMA. Now, we've mentioned multiple times that they have a max coverage for buildings and contents or personal items. This coverage is maxed at $250,000 for residential properties and up to $500,000 if it's written for a commercial building. Regardless of the type of building, this will have a max of $100,000 when it comes to coverages on personal property.

What we want to focus on here is for those who are asking, what if I have an active policy with the NFIP and FEMA, what can I do to fight these changes? Well, there are several things you can do which involve relevant flood insurance documents that can help you reduce the flood insurance premium for your property.

The first thing is to use the elevation certificate if you believe that your property shouldn't be in a high-risk flood zone. If your property is about four feet above the base flood elevation level in your area then you can get a letter of map change (LOMC) which can remove you from the high-risk flood zone and get you back to low-risk flood zones with low flood insurance rates. It's important to note that this isn't a certain remedy for your situation as FEMA and the NFIP will have to assess the details that you provided.

Another thing you can use to your advantage is to check with your local floodplain manager to see if your community is participating in the NFIP. Participating communities may get up to forty percent discount on flood insurance premiums depending on the Community Rating Score (CRS). The CRS is rated depending on how much flood mitigation efforts are being put out by your community and the more efficient mitigation efforts you do, the higher the discount could be.

Lastly, if you're looking to get flood insurance through FEMA and the NFIP, it's best that you do it ahead of time since there may be a waiting period of 30-days before the policy takes effect on your property. Now, if the NFIP flood policy doesn't really fit your needs and isn't the best flood insurance option, you can always move into the private flood market after canceling your NFIP policy.

The Private Flood

Private flood insurance is managed and provided by private insurance companies like Lloyds of London. This means that the red tapes that you have to go through with federal flood insurance won't be there. This can also have a faster effectivity date for those buying flood insurance since the maximum waiting period is fifteen days. 

When it comes to the private flood, coverage on buildings or properties and contents can be very different from the NFIP since they don't really have any coverage limits. This means that the amount they will cover won't be maxed out as long as the insured needs it. Property damage coverage can go up to $10,000,000 and personal items coverage can go up to $1,000,000. There are also additional coverages on private flood policies like additional living expenses, replacement costs, and loss of use. 

Flood insurance premiums are expected to be significantly lower in the private market compared to the NFIP which can really help you when it comes to immediate flood preparedness actions.

As the risk of flooding become higher as we approach the hurricane season, we can expect dangerous flash flooding, flood waters becoming higher, threat of storm surge, torrential rains, and intensity of rain to be more frequent. This is why we always advise you to look out for tornado and flood warnings during this season and establish better flood risk communication with your local floodplain management team.

At the end of the day, these types of floods can't be predicted nor controlled accurately, so you want to make sure that you're protected at all times.

If you have any questions about flood insurance or anything about flood, reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you protect the value of your property long term through flood education and awareness. You too can be flood-ready so you won't be caught off guard when crap happens. Click the links below to get started.

     

As we fast approach the hurricane season and go through the middle of Spring, we want to understand how this current weather can affect the risk of flooding throughout Colorado. We'll unpack the impacts of the recent snowstorms on flood insurance, flooding in general, and how the Spring runoff can impact these disasters.

As we end the month of April, Colorado has been facing a storm system that brings both rainfall and snowstorms across the state. The heavy precipitation brought about 1 inch up to 4 inches of rain in some areas and this is expected to go on as we move further into hurricane season. Since we're going into a warmer climate in the Spring season, this type of weather can really be very dangerous to residents of the state.

Spring Runoff and Spring Thaw

It's a common occurrence when it comes to the transition of seasons from winter to spring that the snow collected over the former season will start to melt and seep into the soil. This event is called a spring thaw. In turn, it saturates the ground make it less capable of draining water naturally. Considering how much snow is coming in Colorado, this definitely presents a more prominent spring thaw which will cause more flooding in the state if this weather keeps its pace.

As the melting snow seeps into the ground this also causes streams and river levels to rise. This event is called a spring runoff and if we look at the 30 inches of snow covering major parts of the state, this can mean that flooding can be more frequent even with a small amount of rain. When it comes to flood threats, a rising level of any body of water plus the less capable draining of the soil due to spring thaw is sure to bring flooding even in high-lying areas. 

Flood Insurance

It's important to note that this type of event can cause flood maps to be affected wherein properties might be moved into a high-risk flood zone. This is why despite being in a low-risk flood zone, we recommend property owners buy flood insurance to protect their property.

As flood is expected to be more frequent in the coming weeks, it's best to make sure that you're well protected with flood insurance.  Now, it's important to note that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be able to provide you a flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as long as you're in a participating community. So this may be a go-to solution when it comes to flood insurance.

The NFIP provides coverage for property damage that maxes up to $250,000 for residential policies and $500,000 max for commercial policies. There's also a max of $100,000 when it comes to contents or personal property coverage. However, it should be mentioned that federal flood insurance generally has a 30-day waiting period before your policy takes effect on the property. So, if you're going with federal flood insurance, you should expect this waiting period and offset your plans on flood policies.

On the other hand, there's also private flood insurance. First, it's important to note that there may some private insurers who are going to pull away from these high-risk areas. Private flood generally offers more coverage compared to the NFIP and needs less time when it comes to the waiting period for the policy to take effect. It's important to note that the NFIP maxes out at the amount we mentioned previously.

This is different from private flood since they really don't have coverage limits which means you can get more than $250,000 in property coverage, more than $100,000 in contents coverage, and extra coverage such as additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs.

So, if you have any questions on preparing for flood, flood insurance options, flood zones, or anything about flood reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to share this knowledge with you, so you too can be prepared when crap happens. Click the links below to call us, watch our daily flood education videos on YouTube, or get a quote for your flood policy to get started protecting your property from floods.

         

Spring isn't stopping anytime and we're fast approaching the hurricane season. It seems that there are some states which are first to know this the hard way and one of them have been subject to multiple flooding just this year, Birmingham Alabama. Alabama in general seems to be receiving a lot of flooding even before we got into the Spring season.

We want to unpack what happened that caused these floodings in Central Alabama, understand how areas are impacted, their impacts on flood insurance, and availability of the flood insurance options.

Spring Storms in May

Yesterday, May 4th, Birmingham and most of Central Alabama faced severe storms and torrential rain. This immediately prompted the National Weather System (NWS) to issue a flash flood emergency for the metro area at the rush hours. The storms dumped up to 7 inches of rain within this time and a lot of areas faced not just warnings for flash flooding, but actual flash floods with strong currents.

One of the impacted areas was Jefferson County's Homewood city. The flood rose to 3-feet across the cities to the point that boats were needed to evacuate residents and emergency respondents to get to places.  Birmingham also saw these strong floods to the point that major highways like Hoover city were engulfed by floodwater. We've also seen trees falling due to the severity of the flood everywhere in Jefferson and Chilton County, and there was slight flooding in downtown Birmingham. Shelby County schools also faced the backlash as schools had to be moved back to virtual due to the damages that the establishments received due to flooding.

Power outages were also a big thing due to these storms and 10,000 of the 97,000 power outage reports statewide were from Birmingham. The overall damages are yet to be determined and this is expected especially since we've seen bridges and highways flooded, creeks overflowing, and numerous building damages. Many locals mention that this might be the worst flood they've seen, so we want to dive into the details of why this flooding was drastically worse and volatile.

Spring Flooding

Spring flooding has been a common occurrence across the country and this isn't different when it comes to what happened with Birmingham. Flooding generally has a natural way of flowing out of the area; it may runoff to nearby bodies of water like rivers and most commonly drained by the soil naturally. However, this wasn't the case due to the number of torrential rains that came in.

Now, in other areas where snow is a common occurrence in the Winter season, the spring thaw is the catalyst for these spring floods. Spring thaw is when the snow and ice collected during Winter start to melt and seep into the ground, saturating it, and some would flow into other areas known as a spring runoff.

Although the same can't be said for Alabama, there's still an important detail there: water seeping into the soil. When it comes to this recent flood, data shows that soil was oversaturated due to recent rains and the constant rain in a short period of time. This in turn didn't really give any leeway for the flood to be properly reduced both by natural means and by storm drainage systems.

These storms and torrential rains are to be expected and prepared for since we're moving into a warmer season. This generally means that rain will be more often due to warm fronts that eventually become rain when they clash with cold air.

This begs the question, what can you do if you're impacted by flooding in Birmingham?

Alabama Flood Insurance

I was able to speak with clients across the state and many of them say that they don't have flood insurance which almost gave me a heart attack. The reasoning behind this decision is because their insurance agent is telling them that they don't need one. If your agent told you that you don't need flood insurance because you're not in a flood zone, find yourself a new one because there's no such thing as "not in a flood zone". Eventually, when these property owners get flooded, they lose everything.

To clarify, FEMA maps every area to a certain flood zone, it just varies on the level of risks your facing: are you in a low-risk area or a high-risk area when it comes to flood? To get things straight, low-risk areas like Flood Zone X aren't required to have flood insurance, but it doesn't mean you don't need it. This is why I always say any insurance is better than no insurance at all.

Don't File that Claim

The first thing that comes to mind when a flood happens — if you're a policyholder — is to file a flood claim so that you can get back whatever was lost due to flood damage. However, we highly discourage this if the damages aren't really more than $10,000. This may sound unorthodox since the best thing to do is file an insurance claim regardless of home insurance, auto insurance, or any type of insurance.

The thing is flood claims stay with the property forever. So filing a claim even for damages less than $10,000 won't really eliminate the effects of flood claims to a property. One of the most common consequences of repeatedly filing a claim for flood damages is that the property's going to be on the severe repetitive loss list. A severe repetitive loss property is those that filed claims more than once in the last ten years and this impacts flood insurance drastically.

Flood claims directly increase the cost of premiums per claim, so if you do multiple claims in a short time, you're only saying that your property is very flood-prone so your premiums can go up drastically. We've seen this happen where a client had to pay an average flood insurance premium of about $10,000. Getting into a severe repetitive loss also hurts the resell value of your property and this can prevent you to be able to sell the property since it has a very expensive premium and recorded to be very flood-prone.

Flood Insurance Options

Now, it's important to mention that frequent flooding in an area may affect the flood insurance options. Birmingham residents can get flood insurance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or the private market.

When it comes to availability, it's important to note that there might be some areas that the private insurance companies may pull away from since generally, they don't want to take those risks. This leaves you to go through FEMA exclusively, but let's talk about the difference between these two.

The NFIP

FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) don't really get to pick and choose whom they're going to provide their insurance to or what risks they're going to take. This is an important difference between what we mentioned on private flood insurance and federal flood insurance.

The NFIP provides a max amount of $250,000 when it comes to residential property damage and up to $500,000 in commercial property damage. Regardless of the policy type, residential or commercial, there will be coverage on contents or personal items that maxes out to $100,000. The NFIP also doesn't provide additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs with their policies. The only time additional living expenses coverage may be provided is if there's a presidential declaration on the flooded areas.

When you purchase federal flood insurance, you may also have to make sure that you adjust your plans since there will be a 30-day waiting period before the policy takes effect on your property. If you're planning to go through FEMA for your flood insurance, do it as soon as possible to make sure that you get covered before another flooding happens within the next thirty days.

The Private Flood

We've already covered some concerns with the availability of flood insurance in Birmingham or the lack thereof, but since there are numerous private insurance companies providing flood policies in Alabama and Birmingham, there's still a big chance that you can purchase flood insurance in the private market.

Private flood insurance policies don't have any coverage limits, so the cost of coverage they can and will provide won't be maxing out at a specific amount. This is why we recommend people with expensive properties to go through the private market since it's certain that the coverage on the property will cover everything. 

Coverage in private flood policies can go up to $10,000,000 on properties, structures, and buildings. You may also have the flood policy written for multiple structures in your property in a single policy, something that FEMA and the NFIP will have you carry separate flood insurance for. This is with up to $1,000,000 in personal items coverage and includes additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs.

If you're looking to get flood insurance within the next week or so, we encourage you to opt-in the private market since they can have the policy take effect on the listed properties within fifteen days.

If you have any questions on how these recent flooding can impact you, your flood insurance options, flood risks, or anything about flood, reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to share this to protect the value of your property long term. You too can be prepared through flood education and awareness. Click the links below to know more and get started:

       

On May 4th, Pelham and Central Alabama were severely impacted by huge storms that caused flooding in these areas. A lot of properties and homeowners were impacted and left with flood damage on their homes. Due to this, we're expecting a drastic increase in flood insurance claims considering the damages and since it's the natural response when you're faced with flood loss that might even cause you financial ruin.

In this blog, we want to cover how this flood claim can impact your flood insurance and property status, and the answer will this flood claim from the recent Pelham flooding cause you to be put in the repetitive loss properties again?

Spring Flood in Pelham 2021

As the month of May introduces itself and all the blooming Spring stuff, Central Alabama faced batches of torrential rains and storms that dumped 7 inches of rain. This brought about the constant threat of flash flooding that even the National Weather System (NWS) has to issue a flash flood emergency warning over the metro area. Some areas across central Alabama had flood water rise to 3-feet to the point that boats were actually needed just to get to places. This flooding also caused schools to close due to damages and about 97,000 power outages statewide.

After the Flood Claims

Now, it's expected that there will be a lot of flood claims that will come from Alabama due to this recent event and Pelham might be one of those areas with the higher count of flood claims.

Flood insurance claims will be the key to providing the proper coverage for impacted houses and residents. This means that once you file that claim, you're going to get the listed coverage on your flood policy in order to recover from this flooding. It may be that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the private flood insurance market will decide on how to utilize this policy claim. They may choose to provide necessary coverages for repairs by picking their preferred repair company or they can provide you the money to start recovering.

On the other hand, flood claims have certain aftereffects that will impact not only your flood insurance but also your property's status when it comes to flooding. Generally, when you file a flood claim this shouldn't really impact your property other than helping it recover however this is only if you're filing for a claim the first time around. For Pelham residents, you may see after filing that claim that your house is now marked as a repetitive loss property.

Repetitive Loss Properties

Repetitive loss properties are insured buildings that filed more than one flood claim in the last ten years. So, if you previously filed for a flood claim from last year's flooding, this may mean that you're going to be a repetitive loss property.

In the case of the recent flooding in Pelham, it's most likely that locals have already filed a flood insurance claim for the flooding that happened early in February last year. Since the ruling is that there must be two or more claims made within the last ten years, this will be listed in FEMA's data. When you're on a repetitive loss list, you might face flood insurance rate increases upon renewing your flood policy.

In order to avoid FEMA's premium rate increase that's generally equal to 150% of the chargeable rate for your house, you may want to agree to FEMA's offer that you perform their approved flood mitigation efforts on your property. This way, you might still be on the repetitive loss list, but the increase in the flood premiums won't be there.

FEMA will also allow you to dispute this resolution on putting your property on the repetitive loss list. This can be done if you believe that your property's claims history is inaccurate or there are approved mitigation efforts made by the owner on the property in order to reduce future flooding and flood damage. However, this will be reviewed by FEMA, so it doesn't really guarantee that you're going to be removed from the repetitive loss list.

Flood claims may sound like a good deal when facing the aftermaths of flooding, but this is why we highly recommend that you should strategize with your insurance agent on what to do as these impacts will stick with the property forever when it comes to flood insurance, unlike other insurance policies. It's best to make sure that you understand what this can mean for your policy with FEMA and the availability of private flood insurance for your property.

Note that most private carriers won't write a policy if the property's risk of flooding is too high and being on the repetitive loss list may generally say that your house is very flood-prone.

So if you have questions on flood insurance claims, the repetitive loss list, flood insurance options, and anything about flood, feel free to reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you protect the value of your property long term. Click the links below to talk with us, get a quote for your flood insurance, and visit our YouTube channel for our daily flood education videos.