Category Archives: Floods

Disaster Preparedness, Floods

FEMA Report Recommends New Mechanisms to Ward Against Natural Disasters

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By Max Dorfman, Research Writer

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is being pressed to adopt innovative methods to increase insurance penetration for floods and other natural disasters. In a draft report, FEMA’s National Advisory Council suggests that in order to increase financial preparedness for householders and local governments, novel financial models must be considered. The report notably mentions parametric triggers as a way to grow the insurance markets and protect against future disasters. Blockchain is also recommended as a means to create a land and property registry stored off-site in a secure platform.

What are parametric triggers, and how can they help?

Parametric insurance is a type of insurance that agrees—before the triggering event—to make a certain payment, instead of compensating for the pure loss. Parametric insurance pays out immediately when a certain threshold, such as water depth or wind speed, is reached; thus, expediting funding and reducing overall administrative costs.

What does the future hold for this new model?

“When added to the ubiquitous nature of smartphones and other levels of connectivity, the opportunity for expanding parametric insurance protection to individual households may merely be a matter of connecting the dots, for which FEMA is uniquely placed to lead this effort,” the Council’s report states.

Indeed, the Council believes that FEMA should “look towards a new model of insurance” in an age when natural disasters increasingly threaten both public and private interests.

The draft report also includes many suggestions to improve disaster preparedness, such as better building codes and code compliance, better preparedness for Indian tribes and rural communities, building resilient infrastructure and increasing funding for mitigation.

To close the insurance gap the report recommends:

  • Educating the public about the benefits of flood renter’s insurance and hidden hazards in real estate, rental properties and communities.
  • Stress testing state insurance guaranty funds to determine if they can withstand large-scale disasters and insurer insolvencies.
  • Creating more offerings for state and local governments to reduce rates of self-insurance of infrastructure.

 

Floods

Nearly 80 percent of homeowners in coastal Carolinas uninsured for flood

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As Hurricane Dorian churns northward off the coast of South Carolina as a Category 2 storm, the National Hurricane Center continues to forecast dangerous storm surge conditions through the Carolinas, up the coast into Virginia, as of 11 a.m. September 5.

I.I.I. infographic based on Aon estimates of NFIP data

Using National Flood Insurance Program policy takeup rates as estimated by Aon, the six coastal counties in South Carolina average a 28 percent flood insurance takeup rate, compared to a 16 percent takeup rate for the 21 coastal counties in North Carolina. Dare County in North Carolina had the highest takeup rate of both states, with 61 percent, and Hertford County had the lowest in the two states, at 1.0 percent. Overall South Carolina has 204,372 total policies in force, with 2,284,722 housing units statewide. North Carolina has 132,983 policies in force for 4,622,575 housing units statewide.

The graphic below shows the probability of storm-induced flooding for the Carolina coast as of September 5 at 2 p.m. eastern.
For up-to-date flood probability click here.

USGS Coastal Change Hazards Portal

More flood insurance facts and statistics from the I.I.I. are available here.

Floods

Buyer beware: In Barry’s wake, flooded cars are about to hit the used car market, NICB warns

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Hurricane Barry made landfall on July 13 as the first hurricane of the 2019 season, dumping heavy rain on parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Unfortunately, whenever there’s flooding there are unscrupulous people ready to unload flooded cars onto credulous consumers, and vehicles flooded by Barry may soon appear for sale around the nation.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) warns that buyers should be particularly careful in the coming weeks and months as thousands of Barry-damaged vehicles may reappear for sale in their areas. Vehicles that were not insured may be cleaned up and put up for sale with no disclosure of the flood damage, which is illegal.

“When tragedy strikes criminals have the tendency to swoop in and scam consumers especially when it comes to the resale of flooded vehicles,” said Brooke Kelley, communications vice president of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

Flood-damaged vehicles can exhibit a host of problems ranging from electrical malfunctions, mold and mildew, corrosion of various parts and slippery brakes. Corrosion can find its way to the car’s vital electronics, including airbag controllers, warns Consumer Reports.

The NICB offer the following tips to avoid being scammed:

  • Don’t rush to buy a used vehicle, especially if the price looks too good to be true.
  • Look for water stains, mildew, sand or silt under the carpet, floor mats, and dashboard, and in the wheel well where the spare is stored. Look for fogging inside the headlights and taillights.
  • Do a smell test. A heavy aroma of cleaners and disinfectants is a sign that someone’s trying to mask a mold or odor problem.
  • Get a vehicle history report. Check a trusted database service. You can check NICB’s free VINCheck database.
  • Have a trusted mechanic inspect the car’s mechanical and electrical components, and systems that contain fluids, for water contamination.

After a disaster, NICB works with its member companies, law enforcement, and auto auction companies to identify the vehicles that have had an insurance claim filed. Most of the vehicles are sold to parts companies who will dismantle them and resell usable parts that were not damaged by the flooding.

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of vehicles that have been damaged by Barry will be searchable through NICB’s free VINCheck® service as well as the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) database.

VINCheck allows car buyers to see whether a vehicle has ever been declared as “salvage” or a total loss by an NICB member that participates in the program. Insurers representing about 88 percent of the personal auto insurance market provide their salvage data to the program. It also alerts users if a vehicle has been stolen and is still unrecovered.