I’m curious if any freepers have had claims with their flood insurance and how well it pays? I recall these same issues when Hurricane Ike hit Galveston a few years ago - some folks are still fighting with insurance companies. It is idiotic for anyone along a coast line not to have flood insurance and that idiot Harry Reid should be raked over the coals by the media for his stupid comments comparing sandy to katrina. But the media will not mention it because he’s a liberal.
We have some friends that got flooded when Lake Travis went over 700 MSL back in 1991. The insurance company came out after the lake dropped and they got a full settlement.
Several years ago the LCRA has raised the pool level to 690 instead of 680 MSL and the insurance company sent them a notice that they are no longer covered for flooding.
We don't have flood insurance. Our home is about 750 MSL and the top of Mansfield Dam is 715 MSL. If we ever flood, Austin would be washed into the Gulf of Mexico. Hmmmmmmmm, not a bad idea for Texas.....
I have a lot of experience with flood claims under NFIP. They are almost always paid more quickly and with less nickle-and-diming than wind claims. People living in coastal zones or in other flood plains are courting disaster if they don’t maintain coverage. I really have run out of patience with these Sandy crybabies.
I was on a team of volunteers who helped flooded people get re-established after Ike.
If you have flood insurance, you have Fema and the insurance company to deal with. The insurance adjusters come out multiple times to measure the losses of household items and building damages. Fema comes out (multiple times) to weigh the losses and measure everything. We met these insurance adjusters and fema agents every time they came to the house and answered their questions and handled minor misconceptions which would cost the home owner a lot of money. We got all the appointments asap - no delays. First ones in.
One handicapped lady’s daughter in law, for example, went around with a bleach bottle mixture and scrubbed every two by four in the inner walls to remove salts and to kill mold. She swept and scrubbed away all the plaster dust from the flood plaster removal crew so it would not damage tile floors. She scrubbed the tile floors to remove the dirty water. When the adjuster came out, he did not see the usual evidence of flooding. I was able to show him this woman’s cleaning project and he was very impressed with all the work she did and was really helpful to her after that. If I had not been there, he would have totally screwed up. Fema people are dumb as a post (sometimes mean) and need a lot of help...
Everyone we helped came out alright on their losses and restorations. But it was a full time job for many volunteers and home owners to make that happen. The phase of damage assessment is extremely important. Getting it right the first time is better than correcting errors in the aftermath. We did not want to rip them off and we did not want the elders and hadicapped homeowners we were helping to get ripped off either.
Many of the people wrecked have no flood insurance only wind insurance. Flooding did most of the damage during Ike. They usually thought they would get covered through some fema welfare funds that do not exist. It’s all done through expensive flood insurance. If you don’t have it, you are out of luck. It does not cover any damages outside the building structure.
Some of the people wrecked with flood insurance did not know to book quickly and meet insurance adjusters and fema agents and walk around with them, answering questions and helping them out and making sure things were right at that vital stage of $$ recovery. Some people were not aware that they needed to engage in overseeing reconstruction and many got ripped off by fly by night builders.
Renters with a brain knew to re-establish life beyond the wreckage and not hang around waiting to be taken care of by anyone. Most of them never came back to the area after it was repaired and never recovered their household losses.
Our volunteer leader lined up a couple of experienced contractors before the storm for the people he knew were too weak to handle it on their own. The guy leading the group knew what was important and what to do from other disasters he had served. Retired military Christian guy. He even had Christian disaster volunteers lined up. Tight ship and all that...
Other Christian volunteers helped the poor find housing elsewhere and encouraged relocation rather than waiting around (forever). The towns affected did a very good job in recovering the immediately needed infrastructure in Texas after Ike. I was impressed. Some are still wrestling with fema for payments.
Word spreads on what to after a storm on the Gulf. Lots of experienced people around. Some people are prepared with insurance and instruction ahead of time and are go getters and some people are short cutters and whinners. You will lose if you are weak in the aftermath of a storm.