Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumIn MO, NE, IL Less Than 15% Of Homes In Floodplains Have Federal Flood Insurance
Despite years of devastating flooding and hurricanes, the number of Americans with flood insurance remains well below its level a decade ago, undermining the nations ability to cope with disasters just as climate change makes them more frequent and severe.
In some of the states hardest-hit by the recent brutal flooding in the Midwest, the number of federal flood insurance policies has dropped by at least one-third since 2011. As a result, in Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri, the share of homes in floodplains that have flood insurance is now 15 percent or less.
The declines have persisted despite a two-year campaign by the Trump administration aimed at doubling the number of Americans insured against floods, which standard home insurance policies typically dont cover. That effort has faltered, and officials are now beginning to worry about the disaster after the disaster: What happens as the water recedes, and many people cant afford to rebuild?
They think they can gamble and avoid buying flood insurance, said Paul Osman, chief of state floodplain programs for Illinois. Low-income folks without a flood policy will likely be forced just to walk away from the damaged home. The reasons are complex. Despite the recent onslaught of disasters, people tend to underestimate the odds of something bad happening to them, behavioral economists say. Add to that the escalating cost of coverage, spurred by rising risk levels and changes to the federal flood insurance program, and the result is a persistent hole in the countrys defenses against climate change.
EDIT
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/08/climate/climate-flood-insurance.html
SWBTATTReg
(22,143 posts)flooding)...
Finishline42
(1,091 posts)If you don't buy it then the borrower will buy it and charge you for it, at least that's what a banker told me yesterday.
Makes sense.
Found this in the local paper that backs up what the banker told me (I'm an uber driver and gave them a ride to airport)
If properties are in "high-risk flood areas" and were purchased via federally backed mortgages, federal law requires homeowners to purchase flood insurance.
The average annual flood insurance policy premium costs $700, according to FEMA.