Preparing For Hurricane Season
Although the official start to hurricane season is June 1, Texas decided to get an early start. Tropical Storm Hilary smacked Houston, leaving at least five dead and one million people without power just as the heat of the summer spikes.
Economic losses from the storm are estimated at $9 billion. Houston’s population density helped drive up the damage costs. Although the intense windstorm only lasted ninety minutes, it packed as much damage as a Category 1 hurricane. However, unlike a hurricane, there was not a several day warning to observe the path and prepare ahead of time.
This storm followed a previous tornado in April that hit the Houston suburb of Katy.
When we discuss things like this with clients, we recommend they get flood insurance. This is frequently met with resistance as they say, “But I don’t live in a flood zone.”
According to the National Flood Insurance Program, more than one-third of the Federal disaster assistance goes to people outside of mapped high-risk flood areas. As such, you are smart to prepare now.
In thinking through this, recognize that a standard homeowner’s policy offers coverage from wind damage, but not flood damage.
Don’t procrastinate. It usually takes 30 days to bind coverage—assuming there is not a named storm barreling your way. If there is, you will not be able to bind coverage until a named threat passes.
Remember that hurricane season runs June through November, so there is plenty of immediate exposure. The frequency of hurricanes along any fifty-mile segment of the Texas coast is about one every six years. Just since 2020 Texas has experienced four hurricanes and three tropical storms. Over the last five years there have been fifty-five billion dollar disasters in Texas.
It seems that on a frequently recurring basis we experience the “100-Year Storm.” Either our models are wrong or things are happening which have increased previous risks. Although flooding can happen as a result of hurricanes, it can also happen as a result of winter storms and snowmelt, too.
Furthermore, new land and road development increases risks as natural runoff paths are altered or compromised.
Get enough coverage. The standard flood policy for a single family home only provides $250,000 of coverage on the structure and $100,000 on the contents. With home sizes consistently increasing, along with the cost per square foot, wise consumers will determine if they need a surplus insurance policy to cover any value above base policy limits.
Make sure you have renter’s coverage. Approximately 45% of the people who rent an apartment or house don’t have renter’s insurance. Although your landlord is responsible for the physical structure, they do not cover your possessions. This coverage is usually quite affordable and covers a wide variety of perils.
Take pictures or video and store them safely. The time to document what you have is when you can calmly assess your assets and get appraisals. Take pictures and store them in a safe deposit box or upload them to the cloud. You don’t want to try to remember what you had after five feet of water has stagnated in your residence for several days.
Get collapsible water cubes and, if possible, fill them up prior to a storm. Anticipate that your water may be cut off.
Have a secondary method to heat food and water. A typical barbeque grill with surplus propane tank will help.
Get a generator and install a transfer switch on your house. Know the set up well enough to set it up in the dark.
Get your “bug-out” bag ready. If you have a flood, the odds increase significantly that you will not be able to occupy your residence for quite some time. Make a list of what you need if going on a ten-day trip out of the country. A short list should include medicines, food, important documents, keys, codes, cash, cell-phone and phone numbers. Not only do you need to plan for the humans in your life, but the furry family members, too.
For a more comprehensive list of disaster preparedness, use this link: https://satherfinancial.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Hurricane-Flood-Emergency-Preparedness.pdf
There are few things in your life that are less sexy than flood insurance or planning. However, if and when you need it, a small amount of planning now offers tremendous resources for your family when needed most.