Another disaster plaguing the state, widespread flooding in Colorado is being viewed as an “unprecedented†event wherein losses will take quite your time to calculate - although there are more immediate lessons to be learned.
Thousands are missing, tens of thousands of properties were damaged or destroyed and a minimum of six people were confirmed dead, per authorities.
Among the spate of bad news there's some good news. One of many worst hit counties throughout the state, Boulder, is where there are the key flood policies are in place under the National Flood Insurance Program.
And in accordance with NFIP’s Floodsmart.gov website, some 15,700 of the 20,000 NFIP policies in Colorado are in place in counties affected.
And if there will also be any longer good news from the positioning - which was declared a disaster on Sunday by President Barack Obama - it may be that this, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the state in the previous couple of years, helps raise awareness of the importance of insurance and prompting policyholders to make your mind up just what their insurance does and doesn't cover, in step with Carole Walker, executive director with the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.
“I get weary of using the word unprecedented, nonetheless it is a historic, unprecedented event that has affected 11 counties of Colorado,†Walker said. “All possible forces have come together to make this an unprecedented event for Colorado.â€
Walker has had plenty to talk about in the previous couple of years. The large Black Forest Fire earlier this summer was preceded last year by the Waldo Canyon and High Park fires of 2012, which combined for a whole of $567 million in losses, and the hail storm in June of that year caused $321 million in insured losses.
After consecutive years of record-breaking wildfires and hail losses all measured by hundreds-of-billions-of bucks, insureds and the uninsured are taking away a vital message, in keeping with Walker.
“Anecdotally is seems more people are calling their agent, doing their insurance review, and being attentive to how much insurance they've and what it covers and what it doesn’t cover,†she said. “Any time you've an enormous event, this can be a teachable moment.â€
She added, “It is not the way we want to have lessons learned, but certainly there is a heightened awareness.â€
However, despite the heavy NFIP coverage in many affected areas, it’s likely many losses suffered by Colorado residents and businesses will not be covered, Walker said.
“We know that there will be many homeowners, renters and businesses that just don’t have flood insurance,†Walker said.
Additionally, Walker believes that while plenty of properties will be covered, there are countless separate policies required for contents within those properties that aren’t in place.
According to estimates released by the state more than 19,000 homes was damaged or destroyed, and 12,000 people were evacuated. Roughly 1,200 people remain unaccounted for.
Numbers on losses cannot expected for no less than another week, or longer as the flooding continues to spread onto the plains, said Randy Welch, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We just got no form of numbers really to produce,†Welch said.
When those numbers are released they will be released to the state, which could decide easy methods to distribute that information, he said, noting that estimates are being made harder to calculate for the reason that event continues to unfold.
“It’s actually a growing event,†he added.
There are now 15 counties where FEMA is giving direct federal assistance, including search and rescue teams, commodities, personnel. FEMA has called on nearly 400 of its own personnel to work on and help coordinate federal disaster relief efforts, Welch said.
Other federal departments thinking about the operations include Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Human Services, Department of Agriculture, Small Business Administration, Department of Energy and armed forces Corp of Engineers.
Obama’s disaster declaration makes federal funding available to designated counties, assistance that may include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to conceal uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners.
