Tropical Storm Isaias Is Now On Land. Will Your Insurance Protect Against Floods?
With Tropical Storm Isaias having hit land last night, according to the National Weather Center, causing storm surge and flash flooding in the Carolinas, the disturbance now moves north. That makes this a good time to review how your insurance policies cover (or don't cover) water damage from bad weather.
Hurricanes are defined by their high winds — of a sustained 74 mph or more, to be precise — which makes it easy to mistake wind as their most potentially destructive aspect. Yet as the National Hurricane Center points out, it’s actually storm surge and large waves from hurricanes that “pose the greatest threat to life and property along the coast.” And not only coastal communities are vulnerable. “Storm surge can travel several miles inland,” the NHC points out, as happened with devastating consequences during hurricanes Katrina (in 2005) and Sandy (in 2012).
Isaias was upgraded to a hurricane last night, based on its wind speeds, but has now been restored to tropical-storm status. Yet the National Weather Center predicts heavy rains as Isaias moves up the coast, including "potentially life-threatening urban flooding in D.C., Baltimore, and elsewhere."
