Flood insurance rates can hurt the wallet. Wouldn't be nice if your wallet was impacted less? The NFIP is trying to modernize the program to do that.

In this blog we will discuss this problem, the solution that is being offered, and how to put time and money back into your life by simplifying these changes

However, even with this update — which was made live for all policyholders on April 4, 2022 —, a new legislative proposal is still at hand. Let's talk about the seventeen (17) proposal reauthorization with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and how it can impact flood insurance.

The NFIP Reform

Congressional leaders outlined in their Legislative Package Reform some of the principles they are planning for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)'s priorities in the long run.

It's important to note that despite the changes with Risk Rating 2.0, there are still a lot of concerns that flooded residents outside of flooding alone. One of the biggest concerns is flood insurance premiums being too high for most policyholders.

Hence, the NFIP proposal for reform is intended to include the following things which boil down to the following:

• Affordability of flood insurance for low-and-moderate income families
• Risk communication and flood risk mitigation
• Reducing flood risks and addressing repetitive loss properties
• A sound and transparent financial framework

So what do these four entail? Well, look no further as we'll discuss it here.

Financial Framework

First, we need to address the biggest concerns that residents have with federal flood insurance: flood insurance rates.

It's no secret that there are bound to be some increases on your premium rates once that RIsk Rating 2.0 kicks in. We can owe this to the fact that your full flood risk is being taken into account when it comes to your policy.

1. Making NFIP Sustainable

One of the biggest concerns with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the NFIP is that it's still reeling from the debt it has which increases per year.

The proposal looks to clarify the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA) to support full-risk rates. This way, a sounder financial framework is being established for policyholders.

A full-risk premium rate with flood insurance is the rate that's being charged to a group of policies. Generally, this causes the premium rate of flood policies to be calculated as a group to make it more sufficient to pay any anticipated losses and expenses.

This means that if you're doing a policy that covers multiple buildings, you might find it easier to manage your premium rates as this will follow a full-risk rating method.

2. Borrowing Authority

Another thing coming up with this proposal is aiming to eliminate interest for future debt and decrease how much the NFIP can borrow. This means that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is only allowed two-thirds of total premiums in force.

It's important to note that this has a direct impact on the availability and affordability of flood insurance with the NFIP.

3. Financial Resilience

The NFIP proposal also looks to provide some form of resiliency and reliability with the federal flood insurance option.

This comes in the form of allowing liquidity in order for you to be able to quickly get your flood insurance claim paid. This also looks to provide that without any problems in the future.

Communicating and Analysing Risks

Another thing — what might be the most important one — that the proposal is looking to reform is how residents get information on their property's flood risk.

Here are the new provisions that this NFIP reform is looking to propose.

4. Risk-Informed NFIP

There are two things that this item covers: flood maps and information on flood risk.

FEMA is looking to simplify and provide clarity on how flood insurance rate maps really impact federal flood insurance. So, instead of simply saying that your house is in a flood zone, this reform aims to provide an understanding of where flood insurance is required.

This is really important considering how Risk Rating 2.0 is moving flood zones as a regulatory basis for flood insurance and not premium rates.

Now, when it comes to risk information, the proposal aims to enhance flood insurance products that help understand what flood risks really are and, rates-wise, how they impact flood insurance quotes and policies.

5. Flood Risk Disclosure

Another concern that this NFIP reform is looking to change is how flood risk is being shared with property owners.

Generally, the property's flood risk is either made known to the buyer after the real estate transaction or during the sale. This also applies to renters and not just property owners. Hence, the proposal looks to require full disclosure for participating communities on what risks the houses are facing when it comes to flood risk.

For floodplain management of participating NFIP communities, this means that there must be at least a minimum flood-risk report sent to the seller and lessors before they even close the deal.

Simply, this means that you will get to see firsthand the flood risk you are facing.

6. Replacement Cost Value & Premium Rates

For this one, the proposal is more concerned with how premium rates are being calculated. This reform looks to use the replacement cost value (RCV) or the value of the property in determining the flood insurance rates.

Generally, this looks to help you get a sign and understand the true risk for flooding that your property is facing. This proposal somewhat echoes what Risk Rating 2.0 aims to do which is to accurately provide flood risk.

7. Coastal Zones and Inland Areas

Another thing that we're seeing with this proposal is how coastal zones and areas are being separated from inland locations.

We have seen how flood zones are being overhauled to also address the flood risks for coastal areas such as the Coastal AE zones. This is being done in order to get a better understanding and rating for the two different areas.

Improving Resilience

8. Multi-Year Reauthorization

One thing that most people might not know about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is that its original authorization expired in September of 2017. You might be wondering by now, how were they able to provide flood insurance in the past few years?

This is because the NFIP is clinging to short-term extensions. However, the proposal is looking to extend the reauthorization up to September 30th, 2031.

Getting authorization means that FEMA and the NFIP will be able to provide flood insurance for residents across the country until the next 9 years. This also means that they get to sell and service flood policies even during a lapse of appropriations.

9. Means-Tested Assistance

Now, this is one of the biggest things coming out of this NFIP reform program is how low-to-moderate incomes are being considered when rating properties.

What does this mean? Flood insurance policies will be easier to manage because of the graduated discount benefit for both current and potential residential properties that will purchase flood insurance from these areas.

You might be wondering what's being considered low-to-income households. According to the proposal, these households are those that fall at or below 120% of the Area Median Income.

At the time of writing, the initial estimate of median household income is around $76,000 in a report from April 2022. Now, it's important to note that this consideration depends on where you are.

10. Excessive Loss Properties

A new form of loss properties is being added with this proposal termed "Excessive Loss Properties" or simply XLP. A property is going to be listed as XLP if four or more flood claims and their respective payments of at least $10,000 were made in the life of the property.

Due to this indication of constant flood loss on the property, FEMA will have the discretion to not provide flood insurance. This means that if your house is listed as XLP — due to more than 4 instances of incurring flood damage — you won't be able to go through federal flood insurance for your policy.

It's important to note that an update to repetitive loss (RL) and severe repetitive loss (SRL) definitions are also in place with the existence of the XLP. A property will be considered a repetitive loss (RL) if it incurred two or more separate claims payments of any amount that goes beyond the loss-deductible in your flood policy.

On the other hand, a property will be listed as severe repetitive loss (SRL) if it incurred flood damage and receive a claim payment for four times or more. The claim must be $5,000 with a total amount of $20,000.

How To Get Out of Repetitive Loss

It's important to note that it's not the end of the road if you were to get listed as an RL, SRL, or XPL, you can still have your property removed from that list and avoid increased rates and/or unavailability of NFIP insurance.

The only way to do this is to have your property follow and comply with flood mitigation standards set by your state's floodplain ordinances.

11. Compliance & Mitigation Coverage

Another good thing coming from this proposal is that following and complying with flood mitigation standards will allow policyholders to get higher coverage limits.

It's important to note that the NFIP still follows the $250,000 limit for residential policies and the $500,000 limit for commercial policies when it comes to building coverage. This also includes the $100,000 content coverage limit.

This is being proposed to change depending on how much mitigation you have on your insured property. Simply, the more mitigation you have against flood, the higher coverage limits will be offered for your flood insurance.

12. Effectiveness of Mandatory Flood Insurance

Flood insurance with the NFIP would automatically be required for properties that are in the high-risk zone. It has been this way from the Legacy Program up to the current Risk Rating 2.0.

However, the proposal looks to study if the NFIP's requirement when it comes to mandatory flood insurance meets Congress' goal to increase the number of residents, both renters and property owners, covered by flood insurance in low-income areas.

13. New Construction Properties

An important proposal that the NFIP reform includes is that there might not be a federal flood insurance option for properties that are new construction or under construction in high-risk areas like Flood Zone AE. This proposal is also applicable to commercial properties.

This aims to promote the private flood insurance market which is constantly growing. The NFIP will be looking to increase the competition for flood insurance companies on the private side to provide coverage for these highest-risk areas and commercial properties.

14. Increasing Coverage Limits

Considering the increased housing prices in the country, the endorsement is also looking to increase the limits on flood insurance coverage provided by the NFIP.

This means that we might not be seeing a $250,000 and $100,000 limit in building and content coverage respectively. The proposal mentions that this is due to property owners being underinsured in the event of a total loss. We will have to wait and see what this coverage increase will offer for NFIP policyholders.

 

Technical and Operational

Lastly, there are some technical and operational changes coming from this proposal as well. This involves filing a suit, reporting complexities, and removing barriers to switching to private flood.

15. Period to File Suit

Now, it's possible that there might be an instance where your flood claim with the NFIP will not go through. Although this is the worst-case scenario, it's still good to know the clarifications being made when you file a suit.

The proposal states that you must exhaust the administrative appeals process before starting a lawsuit. This also means that you only have no later than 90 days from the appeal decision date to file a suit if any.

16. Reducing Reporting Complexities

The NFIP is also expected to get a reduced number of reports to file for congress. The proposal is looking to change the 15 reports in a span of two years will be brought down into 4 reports only while making sure that the information being provided is still timely and sufficient.

17. Removing Barriers for Private Flood Insurance

Although this proposal is offering the thirteenth item in somewhat favor of private flood, they are also balancing this with this removal of barrier when switching to private flood.

What does this mean? The proposal says that policyholders who have a lapse of NFIP coverage, generally due to switching to private flood, won't have the premium discounts they have with the NFIP.

This means that if you ever switch to private flood and eventually switch back to the NFIP, you might be seeing a very different increase because they won't allow you to retain the discounts on premium rates you once had.

As we mentioned, there are a lot of changes coming to federal flood insurance, but will these proposals be better for policyholders and give you a competitive option with FEMA and the NFIP? For now, only time can tell.

Ready to solve your flood insurance problems? Here are the steps you can take:

• Fill out this form by clicking here.
• Talk with our flood education specialist.
• Get back to the important things in your life.

We want to help simplify flood insurance for you so that you can find more time in enjoying life's beauty.

Just a week ago, we've seen another case of flooding in Birmingham, Alabama. The city just couldn't get a break from floods.

In this article, we look back at the plans to lower flood risk in Jefferson County and help reduce the amount of flooding that happens in communities in Alabama. We also talk about how this can impact flood insurance in the long run.

Birmingham, AL Floods

Last week, a storm went past Birmingham, but it didn't leave without a mark. As water came down on the Saturday of July 9th, roads were easily flooded. This left a lot of drivers to find ways to navigate flooded roads.

This type of scenario isn't really new to Birmingham, Alabama. This is why National Weather Service (NWS) hydrologist Roger McNeil looked at the flood-prone creeks that easily help to flood in Birmingham and other nearby communities in Jefferson County.

These flood-prone creeks include the Village Creek in Birmingham wherein a $4.8 million project is planned to relocate sewer lines. It's important to note that the areas around the creek are in a high-risk flood zone which some would call the 100-year floodplain or flood zone A and AE.

The Five Mile Creek in the Ketona-Tarrant area however is still looking forward to getting financial help to mitigate flooding and reduce flood damage in the nearby communities around the creek.

These are just some of the areas that Roger McNeil found to have a high risk for flooding. If you want to read the full article, click here.

But how does this relate to flood insurance?

Flood Insurance in Birmingham, Alabama

One thing you'll be able to notice in these communities is that most of them are being put in a floodplain due to being close to a water source. This is one of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) flood risk factors that now directly impact your flood insurance premiums. This is through the Risk Rating 2.0 program.

More than the impact on premium rates, being close to any body of water speaks to your flood risks. We've seen this in the same article as businesses on Highway 31, that are close to Patton Creek in Vestavia Hills, are required to carry separate flood insurance. This is due to the fact that these businesses are in a floodplain or a high-risk flood zone.

These creeks in Alabama, especially in major cities like Birmingham, contribute to the increased flooding in the state.

Why Flood Insurance is Important

There is no other insurance that can cover flood damage. The fact that we're seeing increased flooding across Alabama shows that you don't need to be in a high-risk flood zone to get flooded.

Flood insurance can provide coverage for damages on both the building or the structure of the property and the contents and everything inside the insured property. Depending on where you're getting your flood insurance from, this coverage can be as high as $250,000 for building coverage with $100,000 for contents coverage.

But this is only applicable if you're buying flood insurance with the government-backed National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). However, it's a different story when it comes to private flood insurance as they provide more flexibility when it comes to flood insurance policy coverage.

Watch the video below to see a more in-depth discussion of the difference between federal and private flood insurance.

Floods are becoming worse recently and are also becoming more frequent. Keeping a property without flood insurance is bound to really cause some big headaches. If you have questions on flood insurance in Alabama and Birmingham City, you can visit our Flood Learning Center by clicking below.

Remember, we want to simplify flood insurance through education so that we can help you avoid problems and keep the value of your property long-term.

So you want to buy a flood insurance policy from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Well, you won't have to worry about how to get a policy directly from FEMA because there is the Write-Your-Own (WYO) Program.

In this article, we talk about everything you need to know about WYO policies and why the Write-Your-Own Policy helps make the process of getting flood insurance coverage from FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) easier.

Write-Your-Own Policy

When looking at flood insurance options, you'd be remiss to think that the NFIP and Private Flood Insurance are two separate worlds that can never meet.

This is far from the truth as FEMA and the NFIP actually built a cooperative in 1983 as a form of partnership with the private flood insurance industry. This is called the Write-Your-Own (WYO) Program.

This created a system wherein you don't need to bother and go through all the hassle of getting a flood policy from FEMA.

Generally, the Write-Your-Own (WYO) Program helps you find an alternative way to process your NFIP policy through other insurance companies. At the time of writing, FEMA reports that there are at least 50 participating insurers or carriers.

If you want to see what insurance companies are participating in the WYO program, CLICK HERE to go to FEMA's official list.

What's The Difference?

Now, you might be starting to wonder: what's the difference then?

When it comes to the Write-Your-Own, it basically allows other insurance companies outside of FEMA and the NFIP to provide insurance support for operations and everything needed to write an NFIP policy. This makes it easier and quicker to understand your flood risks, especially with the updated Risk Rating 2.0.

The insurance companies participating in the WYO are allowed to both process the writing of your flood policy, managing of the documents, and use their resource to help you get your flood insurance easier.

The same also applies when you file a flood claim where you will see the participating company to help you get your flood insurance claim get processed.

It's important to note, however, that policies that are written under the WYO still follow FEMA and NFIP's coverage and rates. This should be your heads up especially considering that all federal flood insurance policies are now officially following the new Risk Rating 2.0 program.

Generally, this means that you will still see a $250,000 limit for building coverage for residential properties or up to $500,000 max for commercial properties with a $100,000 contents coverage.

Getting a WYO policy also means that floodplain management regulations (i.e. flood insurance rate map) set by the federal government will be strictly in place and participating companies are expected to follow it.

Want To Learn More?

If you want to know more about the benefits and differences between the Write-Your-Own Program and NFIP Direct, listen to our podcast below or read our blog post on Write-Your-Own and NFIP Direct:

If you still have questions on flood insurance, click below to go to our Flood Learning Center. You could also contact us so we can discuss your flood insurance needs.

As the whole country moves out of the winter season, saying goodbye to all that snow might not be quick after all. One of the secrets of this transition from the snow-filled streets to blooming trees is the threat of flooding.

Today, we want to talk about snowmelt, how it impacts flooding, and how flood insurance helps in protecting yourself from snow.

Spring Floods in 2022

Farewell to our cool friends from the month of December (see what we did there?) and hello to a warmer climate. For some this is a breath of fresh air since, let's be honest, the winter season had its fair share of annoyances like slippery pavements and the need to constantly shovel snow for areas that experience a lot of snow like the midwest region.

However, this shift might be presenting a bigger concern for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the warmer climate also presents the possibility of drought and spring floods across the West, Midwest, and Southeast.

Why are NOAA and other National Weather Service (NWS) are worrying? We got a lot of moisture from winter, Chris.

This is exactly the case when you start to look into flooding. As we move into the warmest season of the year, Summer, it's important to note that all that ice and snow will start to melt.

When you have oversaturated soil, it only takes a small rainfall to transform these into water.

Lookout! Spring Floods in 2022

NOAA considers a lot of factors other than snowmelt when it comes to what's called the spring flood that we may see in May. These things include drought, the current status of snowpacks, saturation levels, frost depth, and streamflow.

These things separated don't really cause floods, but they are ingredients to the worst cocktail you might experience. However, it's important to note that flood threats don't just pertain to that overflow of water from rivers, lakes, or creeks. We all know by now that even consistent rainfall can create damaging floodwaters.

We've actually seen this happen last year in the state of Colorado. You can read our blog on it by clicking here (Snowstorm in the Centennial State: Impacts of the May Spring Runoff).

Considering that there was very late precipitation in fall and winter, the ground that we have during the first months of Spring would still be too wet to take in more water. Major flood risks are being expected from areas near the Red River, Ohio River, and the James River.

This isn't a problem that's specific to areas covered by snow like Ohio where there can be 2 to 4 inches of snow on average, but also to low-lying areas. Once these areas' respective ground couldn't take any more water, all that water won't stop and actually go to low-lying areas.

Once you include drought in the equation, then you're just looking at heavy rain and even small amounts of precipitation to be water hitting cement.

This is why NOAA's recent outlook sees areas like the Ohio Valley to be at above-average levels when it comes to flood risks during the spring. This simply means that Ohio is expected to see more floods and runoff during the blooming season. This is the concern of NOAA due to the melting of ice, snow, as well as precipitation as we move into a warmer climate.

How Flood Insurance Helps

We're going, to be honest, a mere flood policy won't be able to change the flood threat that you're facing in Ohio or control its flood stage. However, just like a role-playing game, flood insurance has all the defense stats you would need to avoid getting snared by the violent spring runoff.

Flood insurance actually covers damages from all types of flooding including spring runoff or spring flood. This simply means that regardless of the floodwaters coming from snowpacks melting, storms, or major rivers cresting, you will find peace of mind knowing that you can fight those losses.

A standard flood insurance policy can cover all of the damages due to flooding on both your home or dwelling and everything inside of it. Depending on where you're getting your flood insurance, you might see different coverage amounts.

For example, getting a flood policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will cap your coverage amount for building damages to $250,000 and $100,000 for contents.

The same can't be said for private flood insurance companies. Private flood is known for its quick turnaround time to have a policy take effect on an insured building and more flexible coverage amounts.

Need more help in preparing for spring floods? Click here to read our guide on "How to Prepare For 2022 Spring Runoff Season".

Bloom in Spring

Spring flood is becoming a yearly concern for the United States, so it's best to know why such an important change from winter to spring can impact you. After all, we are talking about our safety.

If you've got questions on spring floods or anything about flood insurance, click below to go to our Flood Learning Center where we answer your flood insurance questions.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flooding, flood insurance, and protecting you from all types of flood risks.

 

 

Birmingham — Water is the source of life, right? But for Birmingham, Alabama, water can be a real problem and danger as floodwaters become more dangerous.

Just this month of March, we've already seen substantial flash flooding that inundated streets, establishments, and roads rendering them unusable and unsafe.

This begs the question, why do these floods keep happening in Alabama?

We'll talk about that and more in this blog.

Birmingham Last Week

Many residents across multiple counties in the State of Alabama are being bombarded with heavy rainfall due to severe storms since last Wednesday (March 16th). There were numerous areas of heavy rain and storms on First Alert AccuTrack moving in all sorts of directions. We expected this when we discussed potential flood events last month. However, this is was not at a level anyone can expect to impact Alabama.

Flash flooding immediately occurred after cities get dumped with about 2 to 4 inches of rain. At this point, it shows that it doesn't really need to be the heaviest rains to cause a flooding event in Alabama and in the city of Birmingham.

Source: www.al.com | Elizabeth D. Madison

Yesterday evening (March 22nd), a lot of vehicles in the suburbs of Birmingham were stalled by the flash floods. The drivers faced huge problems when they got caught in a flood causing a lot of cars to simply shut down in the middle of flooded roads.

This is one of the biggest concerns that FOX News' Jonathan Hardison tweeted about last night. Add this to severe storms literally busting the roof off of multiple properties ranging from mobile homes to common residential buildings.

Unfortunately, such weather conditions became very bad that one man, Joseva Lawrence Speed, 60, reportedly drowned in Wednesday's flooding after trying to get into a family members' car, and sadly he got overwhelmed by the flash flood.

So with all these flash floods caused by 1 to 5 inches of rain, you might be wondering, what's causing all these constant floods in Alabama and Birmingham City?

Birmingham Relentlessly Battles Floods

Geographical Reasons

For us to understand why Birmingham keeps on getting flooded, we have to acknowledge that Alabama and the city of Birmingham itself sit on a valley which at least 8,000 acres of land being zoned into a Flood Zone A or AE. This means that whenever there's precipitation, you can't really avoid or prevent that excess rainfall to flow downhill into low-lying areas.

These include multiple creeks such as the Shades and Little Shades creeks. You can also count the Black Warrior and Cahaba River watersheds in the areas that receive all that water from excessive rainfall.

Although there are systems in place like stormwater drainage that helps in redirecting where the floodwater goes to avoid potential damage to properties, Jonathan D. Yates, Birmingham's director of the Department of Public Works, had different findings.

These systems are simply not cut out anymore for what's happening in Birmingham. Yates even said that the stormwater drainage system is not built to handle that big and severe of a storm. So it's not just blockage or blocked drainage that's causing all these floods, it's also the behavior of water itself.

Urbanization: Water Hitting Cement

Other than the geographic consideration, you also need to look at progressive urbanization which turns natural soil into hard concrete. There are a lot of building projects which remove our natural protective measures against flooding such as flora like trees, vegetation, and grasses.

You see, in wooden areas, all that rainwater is getting absorbed by the soil; however the same can't be said for cities like Birmingham where rain simply just stays and moves around there.

Just imagine spilling water over your wooden dining table versus the water that's poured on a sponge. It's basically changing all that rainwater into stormwater runoff from higher areas of the state and Birmingham City.

Impacts of Climate Change

Lastly, you also need to consider how climate change has drastically worsened how these usual storms, rainfall amounts, and flooding behaves.

The drastic change from cold weather to a very warm one is only going to cause more precipitation or rain in an area. It's basic evaporation, condensation, and precipitation in Science. 

Extreme heat can also cause droughts which are generally like hitting the water to a hard concrete or cement. Take note, this is natural soil not being able to seep in water due to these severe weather conditions.

How to Best Protect Yourself

A lot of things come into play whenever you start thinking about flood mitigation. You can consider the area and flood zone to determine the overall chances of getting flooded you may have.

This is why we really encourage property owners, from restaurants to residential houses, to create flood protection for their property. This includes installing flood vents that help floodwater pass through your property and not really inundate it that much. You can also prepare sandbagging in order to slow the flow of water on your property.

These are just short-term steps in protecting yourself. The best way is to really get yourself flood insurance. This isn't really something that you can see like flood vents or sandbags, but it's the most efficient way to protect your valuables and property from flood damage.

Flood loss is the biggest concern of people in Birmingham especially with these constant floods happening in the city and the only way to take that off your chest is to be sure that someone's got your back.

Birmingham has a lot of flood insurance options that you can choose from.

You can do it through the federal government with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which got an update through Risk Rating 2.0.

You can also go through the Private Flood Insurance market which offers multiple and various insurance carriers to help you get coverage for your property.

Getting flood insurance also helps you avoid the worry of not having anything to go back to. This is because regardless of where you get your flood insurance from, you will be covered for the damages on your building as well as everything inside it.

It's hard to say that all this will be over since we can't really predict and dictate how floodwater behaves. We hope that you stay safe out there!

If you have any questions, click below to go to our Flood Learning Center where we try to answer all your flood insurance questions.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and protecting the value of your property long-term.

Facts can be Stranger than Fiction.

When scrolling through your Facebook feeds, you'll stumble upon an unexpected mind-blowing video. Do you know those stories that could make you do google fact check if the story is true?

Check out, for example, what happened today in Alabama's weather. We expect the winter season to close and welcome the blooming spring flowers and… BOOM! We get a deluge caused by heavy rainfall to sink everything around.

Alabama's Shocking Weather Today 

At the time of writing, many residents across multiple counties in the State of Alabama are being bombarded with heavy rainfall due to severe storms. There were numerous areas of heavy rain and storms on First Alert AccuTrack moving in all sorts of directions. We expected this prior when we focused on the potential flood events last month.

These types of storms have also been known to produce hail, which was of the size of a pea from the report. But don't underestimate them, considering it can hit like that of one of those used in paintballs which could definitely cause minor damage to your property. 

Alabama News even called this weekend a "severe risk Friday" due to the amount of rain expected due to the upper-level lows and cold fronts moving from Central Alabama to the Southeast.

Although these conditions are expected to end by next week, one should expect moderate to heavy rain until Thursday. The impacts of these severe thunderstorms are already felt across Jefferson County and Shelby County.  

From this scenario, the whole central area of the state will obviously be exposed to heavy flooding. Just this afternoon, as the hail falls in multiple counties, a woman in Birmingham was rescued from her car, which was stuck on knee-deep high water. 

Don't worry, the lady is unscathed and in good condition. Sadly, we can't say the same for her car and dozens of vehicles that drove off the same road and those left in the parking area. 

This begs the question: Does flood insurance cover vehicles damaged by floodwater? 

Flood Insurance and Vehicles 

Today, Highway 31 in Alabama was inundated by flood. The local government of Jefferson and Shelby counties issued a flash flood warning until 5:30 PM. That is to save everyone from getting stranded at that same time, minimize the risk of vehicular damage. 

When it comes to flooding, vehicles are more susceptible to getting the bulk of the damage than homes. Why? For one, numerous vehicles get driven into flooded areas which causes a lot of problems safety-wise and insurance-wise.

When a car gets flooded, it is vulnerable to various problems, beginning with mold. Rust can form on body panels and other components. Water can cause engine harm. Then there's the electrical circuitry that controls everything from power windows to a car's safety and entertainment systems. They might fail intermittently or entirely.

Believe me, I worked as a branch manager for Enterprise Car Rental in Alabama and I saw how the southeast easily gets flooded. This is especially noticeable in Avondale and near the University of Alabama in Birmingham. This happens even with the smallest amount of rain and I've seen its severe damages to the vehicles.

— So, does having flood insurance also cover your vehicle?  

No. When it comes to vehicle coverage, no flood insurance policy will cover the damages that your truck, car, or minivan gets due to flooding. Even when you get extended coverage with your flood policy, vehicles won't be covered.

This is because flood insurance only covers your dwelling or the property building and its contents. The only time your vehicle will be covered due to flood damage is if you have that comprehensive coverage in your auto insurance policy.

Regardless of this exclusion in your flood insurance policy, it's always essential to ensure that there's a flood policy ready to protect you from flood loss.

Do Flood Zones Still Matter in Alabama?

That's another question that we need to ask about the current erratic weather conditions and the flooding we're seeing across cities in Alabama. Specifically, do flood zones still matter, especially with all these flash floodings? 

Not anymore. 

As you know, flood zones rating is no longer carried by either the federal or private flood insurance carriers. These ratings, which are a basis of risk a location could have when severe rain happens is, omitted and now do not impact the homeowner's premium rate.  

— Is it sound advice then not to get flood insurance just because of flood zone changes?

When you consider Alabama's current weather state and flooding occurrences, I believe we will both agree that regardless of a flood zone, one can never be too sure about the damages one can get because of these heavy rainfalls.

Do you know that Alabama is experiencing an enhanced risk for flooding in the last 2 - 3 years compared to the previous 10 - 15 years?

Be not like the property owners who moved into a low-risk flood zone and forgo carrying flood insurance for their properties and end up incurring large losses.

They may save money in the short run compared to those properties in the high-risk zones like Flood Zone A or AE, which are required to carry flood insurance. But that could be an expensive mistake, especially if situated in Alabama.

Nowadays, it's easy to conclude that you still have a big chance of getting flooded regardless of your flood zone. Would you risk losing thousands of dollars in flood just to save a few bucks from not getting flood insurance now?

We believe that you'd say no. So, let's talk about your flood insurance options in Alabama. Watch this video so you could too understand how to buy flood insurance in Alabama and your options.

We hope that everyone in Alabama is safe and sound despite having this type of weather condition. Flooding, hail, rainfall, and storms like this are no joke. So be safe as well. Don't drive into flooded roads. Make sure to be aware of where an area is flooded and protect yourself with flood insurance.

If you have any questions, click below to go to our Flood Learning Center where we try to answer all your flood insurance questions. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and protecting the value of your property long-term.