FLOOD08840

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: The Floods of June 1972
• Date: 6/23/1972
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

Status of Flood Insurance

A simple fact became clear as the sun came out following the
rains of June, 1972: the rublic just hadn't bought flood insurance.
In the wake of the record rainfalls it is easy to say "What a
shame!" On the other hand, who can say when or where flood
insurance appears important to a homeowner, especially
because of the difficulty of recognizing the threat of a flood io
an area that is normally dry most of the year, and has been
unthreatened for many, many years.
Take the case of the puhlic works director in Scottsdale,
Arizona, who advised residents of that area (where it hadn't
rained (or '162 consecutive days), that it would be a good idea to
buy Federally subsidized flood insurance before the summer
rains. A survey of how many of them actually did buy insurance
is still being made. Meantime, a tornado and flood did damage
in Scottsdale estimated at somewhere between $30- and $50-
million.
According to the figures of the National Flood Insurance
Association, the following number of policies have been sold in
the states affected by the lune, 1972 disasters:

Arizona .......................205
Connecticut.................. .115
Oelaware ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .614
Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21,208
Maryland ......................693
Massachusetts ................1,681
New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9,259
New York ....................2,046
No. Carolina ...................919
Ohio......................... .210
Pennsylvania ...................683
Rhode Island ................ .1,904
So. Carolina ..................1,946
Virginia ...................... .669
W. Virginia ................... .437

Nationwide .................92,590

Current estimates are that the Federal Flood Insurance
program will have to pay an estimated $10()-million in claims in
the area affected by HurriGlI1e Agnes. However, with probable

damages approaching two billion dollars, the coverage repre-
sents probably less than 2% of the actual damage.
It is ironic that most of the policies purchased were for
coverage of homes along coastal areas that would normally have
been affected by a hurricane. However, in the case of Hurricane
Agnes, these areas were not widely affected; it was the property
in valleys along normally peaceful streams that bore the brunt
of the damage.
The devastation of these widespread deluges would have
many effects. By Saturday, June 24, President Nixon had declared
five stales disaster ilreas-Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New
York and Virginia-and other states were petitioning for similar
treat ment.
The flooding, called "the most extensive in the country's
history" by the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, dramatized for homeowners the need for
possible re-evaluation of their decisions not to bother with flood
insurance coverage.
It a/so moved the Federal Government, on June 26, to reduce
sharply the rates for flood insurance. The rate prior to the June
floods had been 40 cents per $100 of coverage; now that has
been slashed to 25 cents per $100.
For the insurance industry the floods brought a number of
different reactions:
. sympathy for the untold human misery suffered by victims;
. activity in settling those claims when coverage existed;
. study of the causes and means for future prevention;
renewed efforts 10 make more people aware of the availability
of flood coverage and its reduced rates;
GAB as usual, will do its part shoulder to shoulder
with companies and with agents in the hope of doing even a
little bit to ease some of the misery occasioned by a truly
miserable month-June, 1972.

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