Dale Urges Miss. Coast Residents: Buy Flood Insurance

As another hurricane season fast approaches, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale is encouraging Mississippi Gulf Coast residents to buy flood insurance with a simple message, it’s a bargain considering the alternative.

Dale said not having flood coverage could result in a claim being denied because private homeowner policies do not cover a hurricane’s tidal surge.

“Flood insurance averages about $450 a year. The cost is substantially lower in more moderate flood areas,” Dale told The Sun Herald during his visit to promote the governor’s Stay Alert, Stay Alive campaign to promote hurricane preparation.

Dale said 26,129 residents in the three coast counties have flood insurance, a 19 percent increase over the number insured when Katrina hit on Aug. 29. Dale and Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives hope the percentage moves higher. The number doesn’t take into account the number of policies canceled because homes were destroyed.

The federal government sponsors the National Flood Insurance Program, but flood policies can be purchased from insurance companies. With a 30-day waiting period, property owners need to buy their flood insurance soon so that it will take effect before hurricane season begins June 1.

Todd Davison, FEMA’s mitigation director in Atlanta, said property owners outside mapped flood plains are eligible for preferred risk policies at reduced rates of $120 to $200 a year.

Also, he said, statistics show that 20 to 25 percent of flood losses are outside mapped flood areas. That percentage was much higher after Katrina.