By: Kenneth R. Gosselin for Hartford Courant
Shocking images of flooding in southwestern Connecticut this summer stirred up fresh worries about climate change but also how homeowners and small businesses may need to protect themselves with extra insurance, even if they don’t live in an area designated at risk for flooding.
The federal government has reported that 25% of all property losses caused by flooding occur outside of areas officially mapped as vulnerable to flooding, a statistic that coincides with expectations for more — and violent — rainstorms in the years to come.
“So that’s a pretty substantial number,” George Bradner, director of the property and casualty division at the Connecticut Insurance Department, said. “And the other issue is 25% of small businesses by a catastrophe like this never reopen their doors again. So those are two staggering numbers.”
Decisions about whether to purchase flood insurance — either through the federal government or a growing number of private insurers — comes as the problem of flooding in Connecticut is now drawing increasing attention.
Earlier this month, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents cities and towns, issued a report recommending, among other things, that “towns should promote flood insurance coverage and other flood risk reduction strategies for properties outside the designated flooding areas.” No longer exclusively a shoreline a problem, the storms have become more unpredictable and moved inland with businesses and residents experiencing flooding at levels not seen in 50 years or more.
The storm that pummeled the Connecticut town of Oxford and surrounding municipalities in August dumped as much as 16 inches of rain in a short span of time, spawning devastating flooding. The weather was described as a “one-in-1,000-year” storm.
Scientists at the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation at the University of Connecticut in Groton also are examining how more sudden, intense rainstorms are overwhelming decades-old drainage systems, leading to more frequent flooding.
Link: https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/ct-saw-catastrophic-flooding-this-summer-heres-why-you-may-not-have-enough-insuranceTown: None Assigned
Focus Area: Flood and Sea Level Rise
Type: In the Media