Episode 136: The Alabama Flood Threat

Unless you live under a rock you probably remember the terrible flooding that occurred across the United States in 2019. Alabama property owners fell victim to this flooding in early 2019.

In this episode of the podcast we want to discuss what exactly is causing the flood threat for Alabama and how it is impacting flood insurance availability?

November and December 2019 were some unusually wet months. The higher levels of rainfalls in this month helped fill up rivers, lakes, and streams across the state. Then there was January 2020 which was extremely wet.

It almost feels like the twilight zone from 2019 when Alabama suffered from significant flooding. However this flooding is a little bit different. You see in 2019 Alabama got hit with a steady week of rainfall which caused Weise lake and Lake Logan Martin to fill up flooding homes.

Video below from CBS 42 News in Birmingham Alabama shows us some of that damage.

In 2020 the story has been a little bit different, instead of a week of rainfall it has been one moisture filled system after another.

It's similar to what happened in Iowa in 2019 where moisture filled systems caused one flooding event after another.

February 6th might go down as a historical day in Alabama weather history. You had some cities in Alabama that set single day rainfall records. The National Weather Service shows us some of those records from Tuscaloosa to Huntsville Alabama. Some areas received anywhere from 3-5 inches of rain. You put this on top of already full rivers and lakes and you have a major problem.

However it doesn't end there the week of February 10th brought another 4-6 inches of rain causing even more flooding in areas like Birmingham and Huntsville Alabama.

So how exactly is this impacting flood insurance options in Alabama?

Well if you have watched our videos or read our blogs then you probably know there are two options for flood insurance in Alabama.

You have the National Flood Insurance Program also known as NFIP, as almost everybody knows about and you have private flood insurance.

Let's look at NFIP first thankfully when this type of flooding occurs it does not impact getting flood insurance through it. However the private flood insurance market is a different story. As of February 7th 2020 many of those companies have moratoriums in areas like Huntsville.

So what does this mean for you?

Well this means if you decide to get flood insurance through one of these companies they will make you wait until these moratoriums are lifted.

We just had this happen to someone who was building an apartment complex in Huntsville. They could not get the private option they wanted and had to go with the NFIP option. This had a big impact on them because the rate was higher and NFIP will not let you cancel midterm for a better option.

So what can you do then?

Well in these situations the only real options are the NFIP and the private carriers that do not have these moratoriums.

So will they allow you to back date coverage when the moratorium is lifted?

No they will only start coverage on the date the policy is completed. They may even make you wait 15 days depending on if it is for a loan closing or not.

Have questions about flood insurance in Alabama, then make sure to visit our website. You can also check out our daily flood education videos on our YouTube channel.

Remember we have an educational background in flood mitigation which means we can help you understand your flood risks, flood insurance, and mitigating your property against flooding.