Federal Emergency Management Agency Archives

Is your flood insurance ready for Atlantic Hurricane Season’s start tomorrow?

May 31, 2024May 30, 2024 John Bowers

The official beginning is June 1 and experts are predicting that it will be an active one With the start of Atlantic Hurricane Season tomorrow, preparedness experts are reminding consumers who have waited until the last minute about the importance of flood insurance. FEMA is among those urging property owners to buy coverage Hurricanes can cause damage from many different issues, ranging from high winds to flooding, but the latter requires additional flood insurance coverage as rising overland waters are not typically covered by a standard home policy. Many people…

Will New Legislation Lure Property Insurance Providers Back to California?

April 29, 2024April 28, 2024 Loreen

California’s Property Insurance Landscape through the Disaster Resiliency and Coverage Act In a significant move to address the growing challenges facing the property insurance market in California, Bay Area congressional representatives are spearheading an initiative designed to entice property insurance companies back into the state. Spearheaded by US Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), the proposed bipartisan legislation seeks to mitigate insurance carriers’ losses by offering property owners financial incentives to enhance their emergency preparedness. Dubbed the Disaster Resiliency and Coverage Act (House Resolution 7849), the legislation was unveiled on Thursday…

As floodwaters rise in California, flood insurance covers few homeowners

January 26, 2023January 25, 2023 Nordstrom

Flood insurance - Home near rising waters

Rainstorms have been soaking the state, placing property owners at risk of uncovered water damage. Throughout the entire state of California, only about 230,000 homes and other properties are covered by flood insurance policies. This coverage is not included in standard home policies, leaving Californians vulnerable. Therefore, only about 2 percent of California properties have flood insurance coverage against rising waters from storms such as those that have been soaking the state in recent weeks. For most of the properties that are covered, the federal government is the insurer. About…

Higher cost of flood insurance causes massive coverage dropping trend

August 22, 2022August 19, 2022 Marc

FEMA’s program overhaul in 2021 sent prices skyward, causing hundreds of thousands to drop out. In 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted an overhaul of its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to encourage homeowners to purchase coverage due to the more precise risk their property faced from flooding. So far, the result appears to be rising rates and hundreds of thousands of people dropping existing coverage. Homeowners that had been purchasing their flood insurance coverage through FEMA have widely dropped their policies, leading to a concerning number of…

Flood insurance uncommon among Kentucky homeowners under water

August 9, 2022August 5, 2022 H. Cutner

With dozens of people dead and rain still in the forecast, the area hasn’t been known for this type of flooding. Regions of Kentucky have suffered profoundly as a result of extensive and ongoing flooding, a situation that has only been made worse because there is very little flood insurance coverage throughout the affected areas. Hundreds of homes flooded, primarily badly, and residents were left waiting to assess the damage. While flood insurance is often purchased in parts of the country at a higher risk of damage from these natural…

California Wildfire insurance expansion act passes House

August 4, 2022August 3, 2022 Nordstrom

HR 8483 has now passed the House and will require studies by FEMA and the GAO. House Committee on Financial Services Chair Rep Maxine Waters (D) has announced that “The Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act” has passed the House, including her bill HR 8483, “The Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2022”. The next step will involve studies to provide assessments regarding the rising danger of the blazes. HR 8483 will require that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct assessment studies to…

Flood insurance rate increases will affect 81 percent of policyholders

April 29, 2022April 28, 2022 Logan B.

FEMA’s NFIP overhaul was intended to increase premiums primarily for larger, high-value homes. A year ago, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency overhauled the National Flood Insurance Program it expected that larger, high-value homes would see most of the rate increases. It anticipated that about 90 percent of policyholders would either keep their existing rates or would even experience a reduction in their premiums. This month, when the changes went into effect, the situation proved to be considerably different. Now that the changes in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)…