National Flood Awareness Week

With the flooding events of last week in Northwest Ohio, it seems only fitting that this week (March 16-20) is National Flood Awareness Week. Despite yearly reminders of flooding potential, many home owners and renters are unaware that they are not covered by insurance in the event of flooding. The only way to obtain flood coverage is through the federally funded National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). However, it must be noted that your community needs be registered in order to participate in NFIP. To find out if your Ohio community is registered, please click here.

With the start of National Flood Awareness Week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released the top ten reasons to buy flood insurance now. If you want to read the press release for yourself, you may do so by clicking here but for the ease of our readers the following is the top ten list:

• Spring flooding is almost here and there is a 30-day waiting period before coverage begins.
  
• Coverage is relatively inexpensive with an average annual average premium of $500.
  
• If your community participates in the NFIP, you are eligible to get flood insurance even if you are located outside the 100-year flood plain.
  
• You can receive payments for flood-related losses for over-land flooding – even if no disaster was declared.
  
• You can depend on being reimbursed for flood damages because NFIP flood insurance is backed by the federal government.
  
• You do not have to repay flood insurance benefits (as you do with disaster-related assistance loans).
  
• Renters can purchase flood insurance contents coverage for personal belongings or business inventory.
  
• Basement coverage includes cleanup expense and repair or replacement of items such as furnaces, water heaters, washers, dryers, air conditioners, freezers, utility connections, and pumps.
  
• You can request a partial payment immediately after the flood, which can help you recover even faster.
  
• Buying flood insurance is the best thing you can do to protect your home and business, and your family's financial security from a flood.

To gain more information about flood insurance, you can visit NFIP's website at http://www.floodsmart.gov/