Too Many Homes Without Flood Insurance

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Homeowners in flood-prone areas with federally backed loans are required by law to have flood insurance. This however has not stopped many of these homeowners from not purchasing this type of insurance for their homes.

In Iowa, only about 12,300 property owners out of 50,000 homes which sit in the most flood-prone areas were covered by flood insurance at the time of this summers flooding, according to estimates put out by the state. Iowa is not alone in this, homeowners in other states that are prone to flooding have about the same track record of not obtaining flood insurance as Iowa.

These homeowners then expect FEMA and other government agencies to bail them out when their homes and other properties are destroyed by floods or hurricanes. Uninsured losses for flooding and hurricanes are already expected to tally several billion dollars, much of which could have been avoided if these homeowners had protected themselves.

A vote is expected by Congress before September 26 on the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, which is a part of FEMA that provides special insurance that the typical homeowner's policy doesn't cover.
Much of this legislation is still subject to debate.

According to FEMA, flooding has caused more economic loss to this country than any other kind of natural disaster with more severe storms being predicted. The federal government has left enforcement of flood insurance regulations up to the lenders in the past.