The National Flood Insurance Program has received nearly 30,000 claims from Louisiana policyholders affected by the historic August flood. That puts the event on track to become the fourth-most significant flood in NFIP history, coming in behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Ike in 2008.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says the new data, which he received last week from the NFIP, underscore the need for all property owners in Louisiana to buy flood insurance.
“With more than $16.9 billion in NFIP claims payments since 1978, Louisiana is the primary beneficiary of the National Flood Insurance Program,” Donelon writes in his latest monthly column. “For most people in the state, it continues to be a highly subsidized means of putting a life back together after a devastating flood.”
Katrina was the costliest flood event in the history of the program, with 167,985 paid losses totaling $16.3 billion. Sandy had 130,352 paid losses totaling $8.3 billion and Ike had 46,658 paid losses totaling $2.7 billion. Rounding out the top five is Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which had 28,300 paid losses totaling $1.6 billion.
Donelon predicts the August flood will prompt many who don’t have flood insurance to get it. But he says experience has shown after initial spikes in the level of NFIP penetration following flood events, the numbers tend to go back down. As of July 2015, for instance, just 20.8% of Louisiana homeowners had flood insurance, though in most cities the average was far lower. In Lafayette, just 14.1% were insured against flood. In Baton Rouge, fewer than 12% were.
“It is vital to our citizens, our economy and to the continued way of life we enjoy here that there is vigilance across the state for flooding disaster,” he says. “I will continue to sound the alarm about the need for the National Flood Insurance Program.
—Stephanie Riegel
