Insurance to pay for preparations/damages in spillway flooding

By Christopher Tidmore,
Contributing Writer

The opening of the Morganza Spillway promises to flood as much as 150,000 acres, including some of Louisiana’s prime corn, cotton, and soy bean farmland. It will devastate Oyster beds and fresh water fishing, and one report estimates the floodwaters will shut down about 2,200 oil and gas wells and close the ALJ Krotz Springs refinery for several weeks.

The damage to homeowners who have not seen Morganza opened in 38 years will be extensive. Put in perspective, the Morganza floodgates are sending enough water to fill a football field 10 feet deep every second across the Atchafalaya basin, eventually filling an area almost as large as Connecticut.

Until the middle of last week, the residents of the basin thought they had no insurance recourse. They built in a flood diversion plane. It was their fault. Agents had said that since the opening of Morganza was an act of man rather than an act of God, the Federal Flood Insurance program was not responsible for recompensing the damages.

Jim Donelon tells The Louisiana Weekly that is not so. Quite the contrary. The Flood insurance program will pay you for protecting your property and potentially for damages.

As Louisiana’s Insurance Commissioner explained, “Re­gar­ding the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), please alert your readers with flood coverage that the NFIP may reimburse residents up to $1000 for preventative measures taken such as sandbags, supplies and labor for property removed to safety.”

“Insured property must be stored in a fully enclosed building and is covered for 45 consecutive days from the date it began being moved there. Residents should keep all receipts in order to receive reimbursement and submit them to their claims adjuster. In preparation of filing a flood insurance claim, residents should have their insurance policy, inventory of their contents, all receipts and photos of damaged items (if possible).”

“Please feel free to direct individuals with flood insurance questions to the NFIP at 1-866-751-3989 or other insurance questions to the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) at 1-800-259- 5300.”

This article was originally published in the May 23, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper