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Looking at a water mark only works when one has a wall or house left standing.

And I'll try to explain the State of Mississippi's insurance nuances (to the best of my understanding), if there is a policy that covers wind damage but excludes flood damage, the insurance company has to pay for the damages it covered. The problem here right now is that the insurance companies are not paying anyone for any wind damage, they are just saying "flood and not a dime" on houses that are just gone.

I dont think that insurance companies should have to pay for things they didn't cover, but I think if they sold a hurricane policy, they should pay for hurricane damage. And silly me, I think a hurricane wind driven wall of water is hurricane damage.

Our designated flood plains are alongside rivers and bays, but the beaches are on the Gulf of Mexico. I've never in my lifetime heard of the Gulf of Mexico "flooding", have you?

"I dont think that insurance companies should have to pay for things they didn't cover, but I think if they sold a hurricane policy, they should pay for hurricane damage. And silly me, I think a hurricane wind driven wall of water is hurricane damage."

They sell coverage that covers wind damage. I don't believe it's specifically hurricane coverage, so I doubt that the flooding being due to a hurricane is significant as far as the claim is concerned.

Houses can be reasonably easily made to stand up to high winds of the levels experienced in hurricanes. They can be damaged by flying debris, but it's unlikely that many houses were simply blown away. I'm sure someone will find an example of a poorly made or poorly maintained house that was blown down, but most of the houses that get completely demolished are washed away by flood waters.

"Our designated flood plains are alongside rivers and bays, but the beaches are on the Gulf of Mexico. I've never in my lifetime heard of the Gulf of Mexico "flooding", have you?"

Yes. Hurricanes are a natural occurrence down there. I know that just like when I bough my house and had to have it verified that I wasn't in a flood plain, my parents in Florida had to have it verified that they weren't in danger of flooding from a hurricane where they live before they could get their mortgage without flood insurance.

Flooding from hurricanes isn't something that people there don't know is a risk. If they handle insurance there like they do in Ohio, you're definitely informed that your policy does not cover flooding and they are more than happy to clarify what that means if you have any questions.

People that don't get flood insurance in those areas are taking a risk that a big hurricane won't hit in their lifetimes. They guessed wrong, and didn't insure against the possibility.

It's not the insurance company's fault their home was damaged, nor is it their responsibility to cover the damage for something specifically excluded in the policy.

Our designated flood plains are alongside rivers and bays, but the beaches are on the Gulf of Mexico. I've never in my lifetime heard of the Gulf of Mexico "flooding", have you?

I have. Nearly every single hurricane floods with something called a "storm surge." It's why houses along the beach are usually built on stilts.