With the South Plains expecting rainfall and even flooding this week, it is important to know if your home sits in or near a flood zone. Flood insurance isn’t part of your basic homeowner’s policy, but it is required if you live in a flood zone.
“So if you live in an area where that imaginary river flows after the rain hits, then you have to have flood insurance,” Insurance Agent Ron Hettler of Hettler Insurance Agency said.
He said 25 percent of claims come from homes not in those flood zones.
“I mean, all it takes is a lot of rain coming down, and something to dam up the backyard,” Hettler said.
Hettler said here in Lubbock we don’t worry about the type of flooding that areas like Houston have seen following Hurricane Harvey.
“60 some inches, and five feet of water of rain forming in just a few days,” Hettler said. “But Lubbock would have trouble with eight inches…eight or nine would be a real mess.”
He thinks if we ever get a “500 year flood,” it would be an issue for a lot of people.
“It is really hard to imagine. It is kind of like flipping a coin. You flip it 5 times, you will never get 5 heads…but you might,” Hettler said. “They don’t see it as a real risk in West Texas, not yet. If it happens that means we are going to have a lot of people without insurance. It would be a catastrophe for our community because we are not going to have the dollars flowing in here called insurance to take care of the problem we will have to deal with it ourselves.”
Hettler encourages everyone to consider it because flood claims can be some of the most expensive.
“If you have water come through your house, just an inch of water come through your house, you are talking tens of thousands of dollars to cut out the sheet rock and tear out all the flooring. It would be a mess,” Hettler said. “Just muddy, ugly water.”
CLICK HERE to see Lubbock’s Interactive Flood Map.