Heavy Floods Hit California, Nevada and Oregon

Snowstorms are slamming the west coast: with 40 mile per hour winds ripping through power lines and roofs collapsing under the weight of too much snow. Highways in California, Nevada and Oregon were intermittently closed after recent snowfall and downpours have caused flooding, mudslides and avalanches.

Besides soggy shoes and clogged gutters, extreme weather can also wreck havoc on your home. Your homeowners insurance should cover most of the damages. “Homeowners insurance covers for any kind damage for weight of snow, frozen pipes, those sorts of things,” says Dale Burton from a State Farm Insurance branch based in Salem, Oregon, where the National Weather Service issued a heavy snow warning last week.

Insurance for potential flood damage is another matter altogether, Burton says. That is because flood insurance is strictly a Federal Emergency Management Agency policy – controlled by the Federal government – and it isn’t included in any homeowners’ insurance policies. Your insurance agent can write a separate flood insurance policy for FEMA, but it’s subject to their rates, which cost about $400 a year.

FEMA recommends everyone have flood insurance, regardless of whether you live in a high or low risk area. Flooding is the number one natural disaster in the United States and annual flood losses average $2.4 billion per year. But most people don’t opt for flood insurance in order to defray costs. According to Burton, State Farm in Salem hasn’t experienced a sudden rise in interest in flood insurance after being hit with what Western USA weather expert Ken Clark calls “the worst storm since the last decade.”