1 minute read
How to cope with flooding
Why flood insurance is a necessity
Bert Riggs Jr. 18, carries fishing nets from his home on La. 56, north of Chauvin, on Sept. 24, 2005 after Hurricane Rita flooded the community.
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THE COURIER AND DAILY COMET/FILE Keith Magill
Houma Courier-Thibodaux Daily Comet USA TODAY NETWORK
Most residents should buy flood insurance because it protects their largest investment, their home and its contents, which could otherwise be lost to a hurricane’s flooding and strong winds, officials say.
Four of every five homes in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes are at risk of being damaged by hurricane storm surges, according to reports from the global property research company CoreLogic. A total of 71,673 local homes are at risk of flooding from hurricane storm surges. Combined, the homes would cost an estimated $14.5 billion to rebuild.
Local homes at risk are also more than double the number covered by flood insurance. Recent FEMA statistics show the National Flood Insurance Program covered nearly 27,000 local homes with a combined value of roughly $7 billion.
Based on the data, if a major storm surge hits, tens of thousands of residents without flood insurance could face having to come up with money to rebuild homes that CoreLogic’s report indicate are at high risk.
The National Flood Insurance Program is the only place you can get flood insurance, and it takes effect 30 days after you buy a policy.
Flood insurance prices can vary depending on your risk. In Louisiana, the average policy costs $726 a year, according to an analysis released April 27 by ValuePenguin, an insurance research company. The average policy cost $583 a year in Houma and $619 in unincorporated Lafourche Parish.
Meanwhile, 2019 census data show the median home’s value was about $160,000 in both parishes.
But changes as early as this year could make it more expensive.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the flood insurance program, plans to enact something called Risk Rating 2.0 for new policies Oct. 1 and for renewals starting in April 2022. The plan aims to bring insurance costs more in line with the actual risk of flooding and help reduce the program’s debt, which hovers at just over $20 billion.
FEMA planned to enact the new rating system in 2019 but delayed under pressure from members of Congress from Louisiana and elsewhere who were concerned it would push costs to unaffordable levels for many homeowners.
For years, critics have pushed to end taxpayer subsidies they say keep policies’ costs artificially low and encourage people to build and live in harm’s way.
But local officials and others counter that would make insurance unaffordable for almost everyone in places like coastal Louisiana, wrecking lives and decimating economies.
To buy flood insurance, visit or call your homeowners’ insurance agent. You can learn more at the program’s’ website, floodsmart.com, which includes a calculator to estimate your cost.
