ummmmmmmmm did they HAVE FLOOD INSURANCE??? (probably not)
I have no love for insurance companies but they have no reason to pay anything except exisiting policies.
Are they going to try to LAWSUIT them into paying for things they did not cover?
They had Hurricane coverage, and for *some* reason thought that they were protected from a hurricane's damage, and even more farfetched, they believed that all that water was from a hurricane's storm surge. Imagine their surprise when their insurance companies informed them that they hadn't lost their property to a hurricane, but to a flood.
Many of these houses weren't on a "flood plain" and had never had flooding. I can see that many people paid their premiums believing that they were covered from the thing they were at risk of - a hurricane.
I'm not well versed in the national flood insurance program since I don't live in a flood plain, but it's my understanding that one can't just get national flood insurance by paying a premium, it's not even offered unless the whole community agrees to certain federal stipulations concerning exsisting and future building codes.
Is there a difference between a "flood" and a "storm surge"?