Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on August 29, 2021, the same day 16 years ago that Katrina made landfall. The storm just might throw another vicious punch at the Ohio Valley area as it looks to bring flooding to an already heavy hit area.

How Will Hurricane Ida Impact Western Tennessee and Kentucky?

We've already talked about the possible results of Hurricane Ida on Louisiana and what approaches the state and the federal government made sure they did to ensure that something like Hurricane Katrina won't happen this year. If you want to read on that blog, click here so you can know more about this hurricane.

Today, we want to focus on the threats of Ida to western Tennessee and Kentucky, not only when it comes to flood, but also the general impact of this weather event on the two states.

Tennessee

The Volunteer State is in the hot seat — should we say wet one — when it comes to this type of weather event. Not a week ago, a small town in Humphreys County was devastated with a huge amount of flooding due to continuous rainfall and this caused a lot of troubling numbers to come up. At least 17 inches of rain was dumped on Humphreys County and Waverly alone. This easily led to very grim results as, unfortunately, this took the lives of at least 22 people and about 50 are still missing.

How Will Hurricane Ida Impact Western Tennessee and Kentucky?

Earlier this year, we also saw Nashville find itself in shambles during the Spring season overwhelmed the city, and caused flooding due to torrential rains. Franklin had at least 9 inches of rain throughout the two-day period of the heavy rain. The floods were caused mostly by pluvial factors where the already-oversaturated soil was no longer in shape to suck in more water and lead to immense flash floods. You also have to take into account the rising of the Cumberland River due to the continuous heavy rainfall. Sadly, this flash flood event also took 9 lives in its wake.

At the time of writing, News Channel 5 reported that a lot of threats of flash flooding will be brought about by this Storm Level 5 weather event across Tennessee. This immediately prompted a flash flood watch that was issued earlier today and will expire on Wednesday, September 1st. Aside from flash floods, you also have to watch out for possible catastrophic wind gusts and tornadoes as Ida continues its course.

How Will Hurricane Ida Impact Western Tennessee and Kentucky?

It's not absurd to think that what happened back in March will repeat itself. We're expecting a very strong hurricane with Ida and it's important that you have the right protection against floods, tornadoes, or even strong winds if you live in Tennessee. If you are inclined to evacuate, make sure that you don't leave your property unprotected and ensure that you take only the safest routes as we overcome this storm.

If you want to know more about flood insurance in Tennessee especially concerning the new National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0, CLICK HERE to check out our blog for it.

Kentucky

Although news and other reports say that when it comes to Kentucky, Hurricane Ida would have already lowered its intensity in comparison to the Category-4 hurricane that the state of Louisiana had to face this week. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood warning in place as a preparation for the cold front that central Kentucky, areas like Lexington, and Louisville because once that rain starts, there's no stopping it even for a minute until the hurricane has passed to the East.

How Will Hurricane Ida Impact Western Tennessee and Kentucky?

We've seen this film before and no one liked the ending when it comes to continuous rainfall and you might even feel safer than anyone just because you're not in a flood zone or a high-risk flood zone. However, this doesn't really exempt you from any threats of flash floods. Always remember that when there's a huge amount of rain and water is no longer going in the ground, most of the time this will runoff to low-lying areas and even low-risk flood zones.

Kentucky, especially its central areas, can expect persistent showers of rain starting today up to Wednesday, September 1st. Keep in mind that even though reports would say that there are only about 2 - 5 inches of rain that the state can expect to receive, floods due to runoffs aren't out of the equation.

If you want to know more about flood insurance in Kentucky especially concerning the new National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0, CLICK HERE to check out our blog for it.

Hurricane Ida

Ida immediately escalated to a Category-4 after leaving Cuba on Friday and made landfall on the 16th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina at Louisiana and the New Orleans area specifically. Sustained winds of 150 MPH with gusty winds that go up to a Category-5. The hurricane was so intense that officials from Louisiana weren't able to order a mandatory evacuation for residents.

At the time of writing, the forecast of rainfall is significantly lower as Ida moves to the eastern coast of the country. Rainfall totals aren't expected to go higher than 6 inches as the hurricane is rapidly weakening as it goes through its course. 

Regardless, it's always better safe than sorry as even relatively small inches of rainfall can be as devastating as the heaviest rainfall. If you have questions on how to prepare and protect yourself and your property from this type of event, what your flood insurance options are in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky, or anything about floods, click below.

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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 Kentucky and how they can impact your flood insurance in the future.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Kentucky Flood Insurance: New Federal Flood Insurance Risk Rating 2.0

Today, we want to talk about the upcoming federal flood insurance changes to the Bluegrass State of Kentucky. Considering how the state has been subject to flooding in recent years; one even happening earlier this Spring, we want to help residents to understand one of their flood insurance options: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

We want to unpack the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to federal flood insurance with the Risk Rating 2.0 that will take effect 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. 

A lot of things come into play with this new rating structure in FEMA policies. You also have to be aware that things like the history of flood claim and damages, your property's lowest grade position compared to the base flood elevation levels in Kentucky, and overall flood risk will determine the final premium you'll get with FEMA and the NFIP. 

The Flood Insurance Guru | Kentucky Flood Insurance: New Federal Flood Insurance Risk Rating 2.0

When it comes to the rate changes happening across the country, you're going to see these colors in ranges which represent these changes with flood insurance rates from FEMA. Now, each of these colors represents the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to each state.

The National Flood Insurance Program provides flood coverage on buildings and personal property or contents lost to flood damage. These coverages maxes to $250,000 and $100,000 respectively. 

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

The Flood Insurance Guru | Kentucky Flood Insurance: New Federal Flood Insurance Risk Rating 2.0

The Good

First, let's go over the good things coming with this Risk Rating 2.0. We'll show this as the green slice on our pie, and this will be the best slice you'll get with this update.

This will impact 29% or 5,524 policies for the better as it would bring an immediate decrease on flood insurance rates of more than $100 ($1200 per year) for policyholders included in this bracket.

Considering that the average flood insurance premium for the state currently plays around $1100, this can really help residents deal with federal flood insurance especially if you're one of those paying for $2000 to $3000 FEMA premiums right now.

This can also help people with lower-valued homes and lower-income communities get protected from flood damage since FEMA doesn't really pick and choose whom they provide their services to. When it comes to the flood insurance industry, it's important to remember that the private sector flood insurance industry has removed itself from entire communities due to the risk of flooding that the community has. 

The Bad

Now, let's move into the bad change or the blue slice of small increase as we'd like to call it. Yes, this means that 54% or 10,559 policies in Kentucky will have to deal with an increase in their rates starting this October.

The increase ranges from $0 to $10 per month ($0 to $120 per year). This may sound minor, but if you look at it, policyholders who are currently paying for FEMA flood insurance premiums of less than $1000 may start to swallow that 4-digit premium in October.

The Ugly

Lastly, let's talk about the ugly changes coming to residents of Kentucky when it comes to your flood insurance rates. Now, these changes are represented by the last two small slices. Although they may look small, these two packs an ugly punch. Let's talk about the pink and grey ranges.

Starting with the pink slice, which takes about 11% or 2,035 policies in the state, will get an increase on their rates ranging from $10 to $20 per month ($120 - $240 per year). 

Now, let's look at the uglier change with the grey slice. This covers 6% or 1,245 policies from FEMA in the state. If you're part of this slice, you're going to get an increase on your rates of more than $20 per month (>$240 per year). Now, it's important to emphasize that $20 is the lowest increase that the grey slice will get which generally means that you might even start getting an increase of $100 per month once the NFIP 2.0 starts to kick in October.

The rate increases with the Risk Rating 2.0 may not work out for people whose residential properties are more than $250,000. Higher-valued homes are encouraged to go through the private flood insurance market and we also would say the same especially if you're part of those who will get rate increases. You wouldn't want to pay for maybe $3,000 premium only to get covered for $250,000 on the damages to your buildings and not get replacement cost for the things you lost.

You can see the full graph of these changes here:

The Flood Insurance Guru | Kentucky Flood Insurance: New Federal Flood Insurance Risk Rating 2.0

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 Kentucky, 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.

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