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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Binghamton NY
800 AM EDT Thu Mar 23 2023

The National Weather Service has declared March 20 through March
24 to be Flood Safety Awareness Week.

Your National Weather Service will feature a different
educational topic each day during Flood Safety Awareness Week.

Today`s topic: Flood insurance.

What is flood insurance?

In 1968, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program in
response to the rising cost of taxpayer-funded disaster relief
for flood victims and the increasing amount of damage caused by
floods.

Why do I need flood insurance? Flood losses are not covered by
your homeowners insurance policy. Local flooding can happen in all
parts of the country at almost any time of the year. Flooding
causes more damage in the United States than any other weather
related event, averaging 4.6 billion dollars per year over the
past 20 years.

How do I obtain a flood insurance policy? You can purchase
national flood insurance from private insurance companies and
agents. Currently, there are over 100 insurance companies that
sell national flood insurance coverage through some sixty-
thousand independent insurance agents.

If a seller of a property has flood insurance coverage on the
Building, that policy can be assigned to the buyer at the time of
closing. If a mortgage company requires flood insurance as a
condition of the loan, the lender may escrow flood insurance
premiums, making it easy to ensure that you will not get caught
without flood insurance when a flood threatens your home.

Who can purchase flood insurance? Anyone in a community that
participates in the National Flood Insurance Program can purchase
building and...or contents coverage, with a few exceptions.
Coastal barrier resources system areas, otherwise protected areas,
and buildings principally below ground or entirely over water are
not eligible for national flood insurance.

You can find out if you can get flood insurance at the floodsmart
dot gov website. Just fill out the flood risk profile for the
location you are concerned about.

Our topic for Friday will be, Flood safety.

For more information on Flood Awareness Week, check out the
following web site: www.weather.gov/safety/flood

$$