Flood Facts

by Thomas P. Della Torre

To almost no one's surprise, fiscal 1995 has been a record-breaker with respect to flood damage claims. As of January 1996:

FEMA has paid out a record $700 million for properties insured through the National Flood Insurance Program.

Estimates are that about 35,000 claims from the Louisiana floods will come to almost $600 million. Only 12% of the payouts in Louisiana came from Federal Disaster Relief as opposed to about 60% from the Midwest floods of 1993.

The reason: about 40% of the flooded Louisiana properties were covered by flood insurance; less than 20% of the Midwest properties were covered.

Any wonder that Congress has taken a get-tough attitude to flood compliance by passing the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994?

Thomas P. Della Torre is President and COO of Transamerica Flood Hazard Certification and can be reached at (800) 247-3384.

Copyright © 1996 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1/96