Flood Insurance
Anyone who has experienced a flooding disaster, knows how harrowing an experience it can be. Flood insurance coverage protects against raising water from an overflowing river or a hurricane’s tidal surge. It also covers damage from water that builds up during storms.
Flood insurance covers property loss from flooding only. It is important to make this distinction as water damage that doesn’t include a flood is covered through your homeowners’ insurance policy.
Insurance companies often refer to topographical maps that denote lowlands and floodplains susceptible to flooding to determine risk factors for specific properties. Naturally, because of Florida’s coastline location, 80 percent of residents live or conduct business along or near its coastline.
The National Flood Insurance Program is a pre-disaster flood mitigation and insurance protection program designed to reduce the rising cost of disasters. The program, which is voluntary, provides a trade approach to floodplain management that makes federally backed flood insurance available to residents and business owners in communities that agree to adopt and adhere to sound flood mitigation measures. This helps guide building development in floodplain areas. In Florida, the Governor has designated the Florida Division of Emergency Management as the state coordinating agency for the National Flood Insurance Program.
