Thousands of homes uninsured against flooding in North Carolina

Thousands of homes uninsured against flooding in North Carolina

In Buncombe County, North Carolina, where an entire town was submerged under floodwaters, less than 1 percent of households had flood insurance. In Unicoi County, Tennessee, where dozens of residents were stranded on the roof of a hospital as waters rose, the figure was less than 2 percent.

On average, only a fraction of households in the inland counties hardest hit by Hurricane Helene and its aftermath had flood insurance, according to a Washington Post analysis of recent National Flood Insurance Program data. In seven affected states, just 0.8 percent of homes in inland counties affected by the storm had flood insurance. By contrast, 21 percent of homes in coastal counties in those areas had coverage.

The Washington Post estimated the share of households with flood insurance using a count of documents as of Oct. 1 provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a housing unit count from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Experts say the lack of insurance will devastate those families in the coming years, adding to the total losses from the devastating storm. As of Thursday, at least 213 deaths had been confirmed in six states. Disaster assistance funds are largely intended to pay for temporary shelter, food, and water—not to rebuild homes. Thanks to outdated policies and high prices, most people don’t know they need flood insurance—or can’t afford it.

Without insurance, people affected by flooding must rely on a complex web of federal programs or aid from nonprofit organizations to rebuild their lives. The Individual Assistance Program, administered by FEMA, can help provide immediate resources but is limited to about $42,500 for housing and $42,500 for other costs. Most recipients receive much less than that. As of Thursday morning, FEMA listed 108 counties in five states where people are eligible for the assistance.

“It’s something people don’t want to think about,” said Craig Landry, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Georgia, about the risk of catastrophic flooding. “People have a positive perception of disaster relief. But in reality, it’s not that generous.”

A Washington Post analysis shows that many counties affected by Helen’s flooding have seen flood insurance rates drop over the past decade. In some cases, about half of flood insurance policies have been canceled.

Stephanie Buchanan, a resident of Bakersville, North Carolina, didn’t know she didn’t have flood insurance until the rising creek swept away her property. Buchanan and her husband ran out the back door and watched as two feet of water surged into their home, destroying furniture and dragging their belongings into the garage.

She called her homeowner’s insurance company and discovered that her policy didn’t cover flooding. In Mitchell County, home to Bakersville, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported 31 flood insurance policies covering more than 8,600 homes.

“Nobody said anything about it,” Buchanan said in an interview. The 47-year-old has lived in the Bakersville area and can’t remember any similar disasters. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” she said. “Is anyone going to help us? Are we going to be able to get a house?”

The lion’s share of flood insurance in the United States comes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program. For homes in a 100-year flood plain, or with a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding each year, the insurance is legally required to have a mortgage and can pay up to $250,000 for structures and $100,000 for contents.

However, experts say the flood maps used by the national program need to be updated, leaving many areas that should have flood insurance without it.

“It doesn’t include flooding from small waterways, like creeks, tributaries, and streams,” said Jeremy Porter, head of climate impact research at First Street, which models climate risks. “It doesn’t include heavy rainfall as a source of flooding.”

That means events like the Helen flooding that hit inland areas last week are almost entirely ignored, leaving residents to decide whether flooding might affect them.

I want to buy private flood insurance.

Jess Dixon, 29, a mural artist in Sugar Grove, North Carolina, said in a phone interview Wednesday that she didn’t get flood insurance when she bought her one-story brick house two years ago because the area hadn’t flooded in recent years.

“There’s a river across the street from me, but it’s never been near this high,” she said. “Whenever I bought the house, it wasn’t considered a flood plain. It’s so expensive here that it seems unnecessary. Many people can’t afford it in this area — it’s a low-income area.”

The rainwater rose a foot in the first 10 minutes, reaching four feet in Dixon’s attic crawl space. “I didn’t have time to call my insurance company,” she said as she and her friend emptied the house.

“I’m trying to figure out if FEMA will cover anything. My main focus was trying to save as much of the house as possible,” she said.

Dixon was staying with friends in nearby Blowing Rock, “Moving” to make room for others displaced by the storm.

“We have a tent in my backyard in case it gets worse. We just got power today, but I’m scared to turn it on,” she said. “Mountains aren’t built for flooding.”

“The risk of flooding is underestimated across the country — even in flood-prone areas,” Jeff Jackson, interim executive director of the National Flood Insurance Program, said in a statement. “This is a challenge we continue to face and will continue to work on as we remain committed to closing the flood insurance gap across the country.”

“Right now, Helene survivors must file flood or homeowners insurance claims immediately,” Jackson added. “I urge those who don’t have insurance to sign up for FEMA disaster assistance now.”

Landry, the University of Georgia professor, said people may end up rebuilding in flood-prone areas because the housing market has a short memory. While home prices often drop after major flood events — as buyers pick up the cost of flood insurance — research shows that the effect wears off after five or six years.

FEMA’s individual assistance program “is not intentionally designed to make people financially whole after a disaster,” said Carolyn Koski, a flood insurance expert and associate vice president for economics and policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group.

She said most people get only a few thousand dollars in individual assistance.

According to Samantha Montano, an emergency management professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, survivors must navigate a complex bureaucracy to get that much funding. Some disaster victims will file five or six appeals after being denied the first time. “People will call it their second disaster just because of the difficulty of getting around,” she said.

While additional funding from Congress could help fill the gap, that money could take years to deploy. In the meantime, residents will have to wait in whatever temporary housing they can find.

Many experts say the country needs to impose more comprehensive flood insurance requirements.

“Congress needs to mandate that everyone have flood insurance, just like we require everyone to have auto insurance,” Montano said. “And in my opinion, they need to increase the amount of money that FEMA can provide people for individual assistance.”

But right now, with many parts of the country being hit hard by climate change, researchers say the insurance system needs to catch up.

“I don’t think we appreciate how much flood risk changes over time and how quickly,” Koski said. “We’re certainly not talking to people about it.”