If you don’t have flood insurance—and most people in Louisiana don’t—now would be a good time to get it, experts say.
“I think everyone in Louisiana should have flood insurance,” Melissa Becker, assistant director and flood-plain manager for the Rapides Area Planning Commission, tells The Town Talk.
With more flood events occurring in areas not designated as high-risk, “it’s almost to the point where we can’t afford not to have flood insurance,” Becker says.
An estimated 75% of those affected by the weekend’s catastrophic floods do not have flood insurance, according to Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon.
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David LaCombe of UDB Insurance in Alexandria says interest in flood insurance has increased locally since the south Louisiana flooding, and he has sold some new policies in the past week.
“There are a lot of people who should have flood insurance but don’t,” LaCombe says.
Only about 21% of the residences in Louisiana are covered by flood insurance, according to the state Department of Insurance, and the percentages tend to drop the farther you get away from the coast.
“That’s very low,” Donelon says of the 21% statewide figure. “When Katrina hit we had 360,000 flood insurance policies in the state. That ballooned to 490,000 in 2008 and dropped back down to 450,000 statewide now.”
Homeowners who live in a high-risk area who don’t carry flood insurance “are gambling, there’s no doubt about it, in my opinion,” LaCombe says. “Even if you only have 3 or 4 inches of water in your home, it could still cost you $40,000 to $50,000 to replace the sheetrock, replace the flooring and all that sort of stuff.”
About 45% of Louisiana homeowners living in high-flood-risk areas have flood insurance, according to FEMA, but in areas designated as low to moderate risk, the figure drops to about 12%.
Standard homeowner’s and renter’s insurance does not cover flood damage, although many comprehensive car insurance policies will cover flooding of vehicles, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
