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Nearly $10B in Hurricane Debby damage occurred in areas without flood insurance requirements
The Hill ^ | 08/13/2024 | Saul Elbein

Posted on 08/13/2024 11:33:03 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27

Hurricane Debby left billions of dollars of damage in its wake as it moved across the southeastern U.S. last week — losses made all the more devastating because so many of them may have been uninsured.

More than three-quarters of the houses damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Debby were in regions where flood insurance isn’t required, a new report from nonprofit First Street Foundation has found.

That’s because nearly $10 billion of the slow-moving storm’s estimated $12.3 billion in damage happened in regions outside the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) designated Flood Zones.

FEMA’s flood maps dictate where homeowners are required by law to purchase flood insurance — a financial protection that is becoming increasingly necessary to shield families from crippling losses as flood risk worsens around the country.

But as climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels has expanded the area at risk of catastrophic flooding, FEMA’s maps have been slower to change.

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: damage; debby; fema; flood; floodinsurance; insurance
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Can't they just blame climate change?? (s)
1 posted on 08/13/2024 11:33:03 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Guess what??

You can purchase flood insurance even if you’re not forced to buy from your lender or your government.


2 posted on 08/13/2024 11:42:11 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (2 coups in less than 4 years. America is truly a first world Banana Republic.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

In my work life I used to look at the flood maps.

Then I would talk to locals about their experience with floods.

The map was definitely not the territory.

Lol.


3 posted on 08/13/2024 11:44:29 AM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: Responsibility2nd

And they expect those that are not responsible enough to purchase home insurance to pick up the tab? Sorry but I’d say you’re out on your luck.


4 posted on 08/13/2024 11:45:28 AM PDT by Jarhead9297
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To: ChicagoConservative27

This is the fault of the US government, they bail people out and they do it consistently and openly. They’ve been told their entire lives that the GOVT will cover it.


5 posted on 08/13/2024 11:47:12 AM PDT by Glad2bnuts (“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: We should have set up ambushes...paraphrased)
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To: ChicagoConservative27
But as climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuel

BULLsh;+!!!!

I see The sHill has abandoned reporting facts and is wandering around in Bizarro World.

6 posted on 08/13/2024 11:47:47 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

FEMA’s flood maps dictate where homeowners are required by law to purchase flood insurance —

______________________________________________________

Not True. FEMA cannot and does not force homeowners to purchase flood insurance.


7 posted on 08/13/2024 11:48:17 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (2 coups in less than 4 years. America is truly a first world Banana Republic.)
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To: ChicagoConservative27
Can't they just blame climate change?? (s)

 

They Did!

"But as climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels has expanded the area at risk of catastrophic flooding, FEMA’s maps have been slower to change."

8 posted on 08/13/2024 11:49:52 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (2 coups in less than 4 years. America is truly a first world Banana Republic.)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Just directing the funds to illegals
25 years ago they could find resources, not today


9 posted on 08/13/2024 11:57:21 AM PDT by George from New England (escaped CT back in 2006)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Exactly. The local community has to adopt them.


10 posted on 08/13/2024 11:57:41 AM PDT by Rural_Michigan
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To: ChicagoConservative27

I heard that the catastrophic hurricane never materialized, just a lot of rain, but no real flooding. Vacationers left the beach and drove in-land, when they got back they were mad that they ever listened to the weather reports.


11 posted on 08/13/2024 12:00:57 PM PDT by Eva
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To: All
The cynical take is that it is a good thing to NOT buy flood insurance, but instead save money ahead of time to help with a worst case scenario.

I've heard that hurricane damage to homes can come from water or wind, and that most insurance either protects you from just one or the other. When you try and place a claim the insurer argues that the damage was caused by the thing you didn't pay coverage for.

12 posted on 08/13/2024 12:01:31 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (Kafka was an optimist.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Correct.

However both home insurance companies and mortgage lenders rely on them to evaluate flood risk.

If you do not need a mortgage and are willing to self-insure there is no impact—but most folks do not meet that criteria.

Imho the flood maps are not all that accurate—and of course that has nothing to do with the phony baloney alleged “climate change”.


13 posted on 08/13/2024 12:05:26 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: Responsibility2nd

You are correct. But your mortgage lender, on the other hand....

Of course there is yet another option, which is to purchase your home in an area that is not a flood zone.


14 posted on 08/13/2024 12:10:16 PM PDT by steve in DC
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To: steve in DC; cgbg

I did go on to read that FEMA can force property owners to purchase flood insurance if the owner has received FEMA aid in the past.

“Take the king’s shilling, do the king’s bidding.”


15 posted on 08/13/2024 12:26:03 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (2 coups in less than 4 years. America is truly a first world Banana Republic.)
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To: Glad2bnuts

“This is the fault of the US government, they bail people out and they do it consistently and openly.”

Definitely too much of that going on.


16 posted on 08/13/2024 12:26:07 PM PDT by cymbeline (we saw men break out of a concentration camp.”)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Don’t most mortgage lenders require the homeowner to carry flood insurance?

https://www.floodsmart.gov/am-i-required-have-flood-insurance

Note to the folks who chose to forgo the insurance and can’t self-insure...

Hopefully next time you’ll know better.


17 posted on 08/13/2024 12:29:32 PM PDT by mewzilla (Never give up; never surrender!)
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To: steve in DC

It might not have been in a flood zone when you bought the home.

But say developments spring up all around you after you purchase and those developments affects drainage/stormwater runoff...

All the more reason to stay informed, use yer noggin, common sense, and be wary of listening to people who tell you things you want to hear.


18 posted on 08/13/2024 12:34:33 PM PDT by mewzilla (Never give up; never surrender!)
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To: mewzilla

Excellent example on why flood maps can be wrong—that is one of the most common reasons.


19 posted on 08/13/2024 12:36:41 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: cgbg

Agnes ‘72 as a kid was a great education for me.

That experience is just another reason we carry good insurance.

And why we checked both hazard and risk maps before we bought our home, and keep up to date on any changes.

To spend that much on a home and then cheap out on decent insurance coverage...

I will never understand that.


20 posted on 08/13/2024 12:42:06 PM PDT by mewzilla (Never give up; never surrender!)
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