Flood insurance advice a little late | The Brantley Enterprise

Ken Buchanan

National Flood Safety Awareness Week is March 12???16, and insur?ance com?mis?sioner Ralph T. Hudgens reminds Georgians that a?flood pol?icy can be a?valu?able addi?tion to stan?dard home?own?ers? coverage.

Of course, that reminder may be a?bit late for Atkinson res?i?dents who have already been hit by the first flood of the sea?son. The National Weather Service issue a?flood advi?sory last week warn?ing res?i?dents that the Satilla River was quickly ris?ing and expected to reach flood stage?today.

The river was at 13.6?feet Monday at 10 a.m. but was expected to fall to 13.3?feet by Tuesday, to 13?feet by Wednesday, then to 12.4 Thursday, 11.7 Friday, and 11 Saturday.

?Purchasing flood insur?ance is an impor?tant con?sid?er?a?tion for Georgia con?sumers, even if you think a?flood is unlikely in your area,? Hudgens said.??Twenty-five per?cent of flood claims occur in areas con?sid?ered medium or low-risk for floods.?

Flood cov?er?age is fed?er?ally backed by the National Flood Insurance Program (?NFIP?), and is avail?able for up to $250,000 for dam?age to your home.?A?stan?dard flood pol?icy will cover the basic struc?ture as well as the fur?nace, water heater, air con?di?tioner, floor sur?faces (car?pet?ing and tile) and debris clean?up.

For an addi?tional pre?mium, you also may buy flood cov?er?age for up to $100,000 dam?age to the con?tents of your home.?Coverage is avail?able up to $500,000 for non-residential build?ings and their contents.

NFIP flood insur?ance can be bought directly from your prop?erty and casu?alty insur?ance agent or insur?ance com?pany if the com?mu?nity par?tic?i?pates in the NFIP.?An insur?ance agent or insur?ance com?pany can con?firm whether flood insur?ance is avail?able to you and what it would cost.?Flood insur?ance is avail?able for your home or busi?ness, regard?less of whether the prop?erty is in or out of a?flood?plain, as long as the prop?erty is located in a?par?tic?i?pat?ing community.

It is very impor?tant to plan ahead; a?flood insur?ance pol?icy will not go into effect until 30?days after you buy the pol?icy.?More infor?ma?tion about flood insur?ance can be obtained at http://www.floodsmart.gov.

Posted by Ken Buchanan on March 12, 2012. Filed under FRONT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Source: http://enterkom.com/enterprise/?p=13436

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