Thousands of uninsured homes were in Helene's path

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

In Buncombe County, N.C., where an entire town disappeared beneath floodwaters, less than 1 percent of households had flood insurance. In Unicoi County, Tenn., where dozens of residents were stranded atop a hospital roof as waters rose, it was under 2 percent.

On average, just a tiny fraction of households in the inland counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene and its remnants had flood insurance, according to a Washington Post analysis of recent data from the National Flood Insurance Program. Across seven affected states, only 0.8 percent of homes in inland counties affected by the storm had flood insurance. By contrast, 21 percent of homes in coastal counties in those areas had coverage.

The Post estimated the share of homes with flood insurance by using policy counts as of Oct. 1 provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and housing unit counts from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Experts say that lack of insurance will prove deeply damaging for those households in the years to come, adding to the overall toll of the devastating storm. So far, there have been at least 213 deaths confirmed in six states as of Thursday. Available disaster assistance funds are largely intended to pay for temporary shelter, food and water - not to rebuild homes. And thanks to a combination of outdated policies and high prices, most people don’t know they should enroll in flood insurance - or can’t afford it.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thousands-uninsured-homes-were-helene-001114475.html

[NameAlreadyTaken]

1. Building in a flood zone + no flood insurance

[jimfields33]

3. I'm not sure some on a mountain thought they'd need it.

But it was their choice regardless.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

15. Not on high ground

[Mariana]

16. That area has had severe flooding before.

Within a week-long period in July of 1916, two back-to-back hurricanes dropped more than 26 inches of rain over western North Carolina, leaving most of the region inundated and its riverways overflowing.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bcb2e5373c21491c9e68e96a8156d92b

Edit: typo

[surfered]

2. After Hurricane Harvey, many homeowners who had been paying flood insurance found out their damage was not covered...

...because the lower floor was below a prescribed elevation. Their upper floors were covered, but the higher floors had no damage.

[lindysalsagal]

5. That's just insane, and a ripoff.

[Fiendish Thingy]

4. Taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for homeowners who choose not to fully insure their homes

If insurance companies refused to provide flood insurance (see exception below), that’s a different issue, but it sounds like this was the choice of the homeowners.

If the home was in a flood plain, I feel especially strongly that taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill.

[womanofthehills]

8. Most don't think of living high in the mountains as living on a flood plain

One of the woman whose house was flooded ( in the mountains)- said the creek never had over a foot of water in it since her grandmother was little - so flooding was the last thing anyone ever thought would happen.

House insurance keeps climbing and many can barely afford it. I have 2 neighbors who built their own houses (beautiful houses) and do not have insurance. Say - they can't afford insurance as they are on social security.

[malaise]

11. Precisely

They never expected this period

[Jersey Devil]

14. Most have flood insurance only because their lenders require it

The Army Corps of Engineers sets the flood maps and if your property is in a flood zone you won't get a mortgage loan unless you get flood insurance. I doubt there are many areas in the mountains that are in designated flood areas requiring such insurance. I wouldn't blame people who live in the mountains for not thinking to get flood insurance. It's not like they have a home on the ocean waiting to be swept away by the tides. The danger is not apparent.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Good grief, but am not surprised. Seems like every massive storm that comes ashore, raises these very same issues

again and again. But it still happens.

This time around, the rains were massive, and 1 in a 500-year flood events all across the area. I wonder how many of these homes were (1) actually located in a flood plain vs. (2) those that got flooded, but weren't in a flood plain?

Seems like to me that states should mandate that if folks chose to build in these areas, then they have to have insurance too. No exceptions. But obviously this is not the case (until the home has a mortgage that the mortgage holder demands that the home buyer have the appropriate insurance).

[doc03]

7. How many times will the rest of this country have to rebuild homes built where they

shouldn't be in the first place. People build houses on the beach where hurricanes wipe them out every few years or on
the side of a mountain prone to mud slides. We have to rescue them, rebuild them, our insurance rates go up and building
products go up.

[LiberalFighter]

9. I have sympathy but should homes or businesses even be built there?

[sarisataka]

10. It is not so much that they were uninsured

But that they did not have flood insurance. Floods are an exclusion in HO policies, separate coverage is needed.

[Prairie Gates]

12. I'd be curious to see how much the flood insurance cost in a place that "never flooded"

I have no doubt the rest of us will be asked to bail out people who gladly spent the money they saved on that unnecessary flood insurance on whatever they happened to want. Creek never gets over a foot of water in it, doncha know, and Johnny wants a new four wheeler...

[sarisataka]

13. It is a quite variable choice

Unlike other forms of insurance, you get to pick you dollar value coverage. Coverage is picked separately for building damage, personal property and what deductible you have. The flood zone rating you are in will have a major factor as well. 95+% homes are in flood zone 'X'- no appreciable risk.

I am not at work otherwise I could run a quote through FEMA, but as a guess I think a most people could get insurance for $75-$100/ month. Since a home in an 'X' zone has a