In fact, 2001 was a terrible year for the United States when it came to flooding. We watched the Mississippi and Missouri rivers breach levees in many states. We also noted incredible snowpack in Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and California, and the runoff in June 2001 was significant, causing all kinds of flooding and some pretty serious incidents as you know. Of course, the time to buy flood insurance is before the flood.
What was that famous phrase in the movie? “When did Noah build the ark, before the flood do you remember?” Yeah, I love that quote, I use it quite often, and yet buying flood insurance is pretty expensive, especially if you live in a flood zone, and then there’s the 50-year flood or the 100-year flood, those are floods. events that go well beyond the normal cycles of dry seasons and rainy seasons, and when they occur there can be devastation, loss of life and massive property damage.
Now, when it comes to floods, not all flood insurance policies are created equal. If you buy hurricane insurance, it may cover storm surge, but maybe not the massive rain that the hurricane brings, which floods your property later. After all, that massive amount of rain can happen upstream, and after the storm passes, the water goes down, maybe even after a couple more storms later in the season. Do you see the problem?
Now if you recall, the Army Corps of Engineers had no choice as the Mississippi levees were in jeopardy and that peak flood would have inundated massive parts of New Orleans and Baton Rouge Louisiana where millions of people live. So they opened the dams along the Mississippi and allowed the water to flood an area of 3,000 square miles. Unfortunately, there were small towns and cities in their way, and they were flooded on purpose to save the larger area. Yes, those are tough decisions to make, however people were mandatorily evacuated and a deluge of water was released.
Okay, you may not realize this, but even if you had flood insurance in those areas, the flood insurance company wouldn’t pay the policy because the government flooded the area on purpose, so you’re being it will instruct you to contact the government to get paid for your damages, after all it was your fault, and your decision to flood your home and town. Most people don’t realize this, and yet it’s hard to say if the government will pay, we’ll see. In fact, I hope you will please consider all this and think about it.