Snow Now Means Water Later: Are You Ready?

CHICAGO – Just a few inches of water can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage to your home. A flood insurance policy could protect you from the devastating out-of-pocket expenses caused by flooding.  

Don’t wait until it’s too late. A policy takes 30 days from application and payment to go into effect. And a typical homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover floods.

“Snow thaw and the potential for heavy spring rains heighten the flood risk throughout our area in the coming months,” said FEMA Region V Administrator Andrew Velasquez III.  “A flood insurance policy is the best option to protect your home from the costly damage floodwaters can cause.”

Just last April, many Illinois communities were under water after more than six inches of rain fell in two days, causing localized and riverine flooding throughout the state and damaging thousands of homes and businesses.  Today, with less than 50,000 flood insurance policies in force statewide, a large majority of the more than 5 million Illinois homes remain uninsured against flood damage.

FEMA recommends that all Illinois residents visit FloodSmart.gov or call 1-800-427-2419 to learn how to prepare for floods, how to purchase a flood insurance policy and the benefits of protecting your home or property investment against flooding. You can also contact your insurance agent for more information.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at twitter.com/femaregion5, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at twitter.com/craigatfema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

Media Contact: Cassie Ringsdorf, (312) 408-4455

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Snow Now Means Water Later: Are You Ready?

Any Colorado Resident with an NFIP Policy has 60 Days to File a Claim

DENVER – FEMA has an important message concerning who may file a federal flood insurance claim.

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policy holders in any Colorado county are eligible to file a flood claim. Policy holders do not have to live in a disaster-designated county.

Any Colorado resident covered by NFIP with flood damage should file a claim within 60 days of the date of loss. As an example, if the flood damage was on Sept. 10, the claim must be filed by Nov. 9.

To date, NFIP has paid out $22 million to Colorado policy holders this year.

Floods are the most common and costly natural disasters in the United States.

NFIP policies are sold and serviced through many private insurance companies. The policies cover physical damage to a building or personal property that is directly caused by a flood. For example, damage resulting from a sewer backup is covered if the problem is a direct result of flooding. However, if the backup is caused by something else, the damage is not covered.

Please also refer to floodsmart.gov for more information about flood insurance.

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Any Colorado Resident with an NFIP Policy has 60 Days to File a Claim