Many Victorians are in for a big "I told you so." This will come at the worst possible time, after having our homes damaged by rising water.
The surprise may come to some of them as a result of their belief that their home is not subject to any possible flooding. It may, on the other hand, come to them because they were not aware that their homeowners policy excludes flood coverage.
Despite repeated, responsible reporting by the press that homeowners insurance does not include coverage for floods, many people carry the false assumption that it does. I guess these news articles about insurance are being overlooked by home owners, or perhaps that part of the news story about the recent flooding went unread or forgotten.
Whatever the reasons, we will experience an unusually heavy rain in the next hurricane season, affecting our area and unfortunately surprising many people.
I realize that this is a somewhat bold prediction, but it is not at all improbable. Victoria has not been affected by a hurricane since Carla over 35 years ago. That is the kind of storm that can dump over 14 inches on our town in under six hours. Our flood last year was due to rain falling upstream. I'm talking about that much rain falling right on top of us.
Let's look at a six-inch rain: A glass three inches in diameter contains 36 oz. of water if filled six inches. A three-foot diameter tub would contain 41 gallons of water. If a six-inch rain fell on a neighborhood block (100 x 100 yards), that equates to 521,767 gallons of water.
On just a square mile, that would equate to over 161 million gallons of water. This kind of a rain happens all the time. The water has to go somewhere. Some is absorbed until the ground is saturated, the rest runs off and flows to lower ground.
A hurricane brings anywhere from 10 inches to more than 17 inches of rain, and can drop it in under six hours. The drainage systems in most neighborhoods will have difficulty evacuating that much water without it accumulating to rise up to foundations and flood property.
This is why the NFIP says that between 25 and 30 percent of all flood insurance claims come from outside high-risk flood areas.
Think about these questions in determining whether you should consider flood insurance: Are you at the low end of the street?
Might your neighborhood have leaf- and debris-clogged drainage pipes from the well-established trees and from people leaving clippings on the yard and street? These only worsen and prolong the flooding.
Have you or your neighbors observed an accumulation of water in your neighborhood during heavy rains?
A covered flood is when one contiguous body of water affects two or more homes, or covers over two acres of land in the country. So, water backing up in your own back yard and affecting just your house is not considered a flood. You need to address your yard drainage in these instances.
Think of all of Victoria County and City as being a flood zone. Flood insurance is valuable even if you are not in a special hazard area.
Statistically speaking, we are well overdue for a hurricane. You can just hear that water bomb ticking. A newly written flood policy has a 30-day waiting period before it becomes effective.
Hurricane season is beginning, so call your agent now to place your policy. When you are not in a high risk flood hazard area, the premiums are very affordable.
Russell Janecka is a Certified Insurance Counselor. He is the owner of Janecka Insurance Agency in Victoria, and serves on the board of directors with Germania Insurance Companies. (361) 573-4475 e-mail: info@jiavic.com
