Flood damage victim explains why flood insurance is important
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) When the remnants of Hurricane Francine get here, we can expect to get wind speeds up to 40 miles per hour, and as much as six inches of rain.
Alfa Insurance Agent Heath Fisackerly said now is a good time to make sure your property is protected from mother nature, so that you can avoid out of pocket costs later.
“Home insurance is what is going to protect your investment in owning your house. Home insurance is going to cover wind, hail damage, and trees falling on your property. Anything storm related, is what your home insurance is there for,” said Fisackerly.
But standard home insurance does not cover flooding. Chris Leach found that out after three inches of rain came through his door.
“The rain came down so quickly that all the water was going into the main drainage ditch. There is a little blockage in that ditch down the road from us, and that made the water flow over that ditch. It came into our neighborhood and flooded the entire neighborhood, we are in a lower sitting house, so we actually got about three to four inches of rain, in our house,” said Leach, storm damage victim.
Leach said because of the location of his house, he took a chance and didn’t purchase flood insurance.
“We did not have flood insurance, this is not a designated flood plain, so when we bought the house, there was no requirement to buy flood insurance, and we figured a flood is something that would never happen to us. It did happen to us, we contacted our insurance and told them about the flood, and they told us that the flood was not cover by our homeowner’s insurance,” said Leach.
The average cost of flood insurance in Mississippi is $850 a year. Leach said it is better to pay an annual fee, then to pay an out-of-pocket fee, that could take a huge hit to your wallet.
“With flood insurance, I am paying about a thousand dollars a year, and that will cover me if my whole house gets wiped out by a flood. That is the beauty of the flood insurance, that is why I say, anybody who thinks they might be at any risk of getting flooded, should seriously consider purchasing flood insurance,” said Leach.
Studies show that Mississippi is one of the states most at risk for flooding, studies also show that at least 20% of homeowners in Mississippi do not have flood insurance.
