Flood insurance policies plunged

Many will be on the hook for damages from storm

WASHINGTON - Houston’s population is growing quickly, but when Harvey hit last weekend there were far fewer homes and other properties in the area with flood insurance than just five years ago, according to an Associated Press investigation.

The sharp 9 percent drop in coverage means many residents fleeing Harvey’s floodwaters have no financial backup to fix up their homes and will have to draw on savings or go into debt — or perhaps be forced to sell.

A former head of the federal flood insurance program called the drops “unbelievable” and criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the program.

“When you start to see policies drop like this, FEMA should have done something about this,” said Robert Hunter, who ran the program in the late 1970s. He estimates that fewer than 20 percent of homeowners with flood damage have flood insurance.

Houston’s Harris County has 25,000 fewer flood-insured properties than it did in 2012, according to the AP’s review of FEMA data.

In percentage terms, the drop was even more dramatic in certain sections of the county: In Pasadena, just southeast of Houston, policies were down nearly 20 percent. Baytown, east of Houston, saw a 22 percent drop. The trouble extended beyond Houston, too. Jefferson County, home to cities like Beaumont and Port Arthur, which Harvey hit Wednesday, saw a bigger drop. That county fell from 25,818 policies to 19,773 in the past five years, a 23 percent decrease.

FEMA Director Brock Long, told the AP on Wednesday he was uncertain what was driving the drop in insurance coverage in Houston. He said storm victims who have lost their homes and are uninsured could seek assistance through the Small Business Administration, which offers loans.

Experts point to a mix of reasons for Houston area residents deciding to drop coverage but lack of fear was a big one. The last big flood, Tropical Storm

Allison, was 16 years ago, and people stopped worrying and wanted money they would have spent for insurance premiums for other items. The average cost for premiums in Harris County increased from $514 a year in 2012 to $555 annually this year, an increase of 8 percent, according to FEMA data.

Jesse Trubia, president of a metal fabrication company, decided to pass on flood insurance when he moved to his two-story home on the outskirts of Houston several years ago. That decision will now cost him up to $30,000, he estimated. Up to a foot of water seeped into his home in Cypress.

Jiles Daniels, a retired oil company manager, didn’t waver when he bought flood insurance on both his homes: one in Houston and another on an island near Cleveland, northeast of Houston. The cost is considerable: about $1,800 a year in premiums for the two houses combined. He thinks it’s worth it: The lower level of his island house went about 4 feet underwater, he estimates, though his city home had been spared so far.

Under current rules, most homeowners with mortgages living in highrisk areas for flooding, called Special Flood Hazard Zones, must buy flood insurance.

Most of the Houston area falls outside those most vulnerable zones, and many homeowners who aren’t forced to have coverage have decided to do without.

One problem with the flood risk maps highlighted by Tropical Storm Harvey: They don’t take into account the risk of flooding from overcapacity drainage sewers and ditches or from water flowing toward a sewer or bayou. More than half the flooding in Harris County over the years has been because of such problems.