By JAY LOOMIS
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: April 17, 2007)

Last year, the Allan Block Agency in Tarrytown sent letters to 7,000 customers encouraging them to purchase flood insurance to safeguard their homes from a severe downpour.

Yet only 5 percent of the customers followed the advice.

"They don't think it will happen to them," said JoAnne Murray, president of Allan Block. "They may have lived in their house for 20 to 30 years and it hadn't happened yet. ... They may see it as money thrown away. Then a storm like this comes through."

In the aftermath of the storm, some of those residents may wish they had bought the insurance. The storm dumped more than three-quarters of an inch of rain per hour at times on Sunday, forced evacuations in parts of Westchester County and triggered numerous calls to Allan Block inquiring about insurance coverage on flooded homes.

"We have a lot of calls coming in, but a lot of people won't be covered," Murray said.

Some people don't realize that standard homeowner policies don't cover flood losses. To be protected, residents must generally buy a separate policy through the federally subsidized National Flood Insurance Program. Costs can vary from $200 to $1,000 a year, depending on the probability of flooding in one's neighborhood as determined by government flood maps.

A standard flood policy covers structural damage; furnace, water heater and air conditioner; floor surfaces, including carpeting and tile; and debris clean-up, according to Floodsmart.gov, the site of the government program. People can also buy a flood insurance policy to cover the contents of their home, including furniture, collectibles, clothing, jewelry and artwork. The policies, however, don't cover loss of valuables below ground, which can include basements.

Yet many area residents don't buy the coverage.

"Weather events like this don't happen that often, so people don't think they need to buy it," said Russell B. Grant, a producer at Grant, Smith & Dassler Inc., an insurance agency in Pearl River.

Grant's office fielded calls from at least five flooded homeowners yesterday.

"I have no idea what will happen," Grant said. "In my opinion, it could get worse. The ground is already saturated and there is more rain on the way."

Flood insurance is increasingly a good idea given forecasts that call for rising numbers of bad weather events, said Robert Hartwig, the president and chief economist of the Manhattan-based Insurance Information Institute. Seven of the 10 most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history made landfall during the past three years. For insurers as a whole, $50 billion in losses from Katrina and other hurricanes in 2006 was more than double the old record set in 1992.

"There are estimates that the hurricane season this year could be 85 percent above average," said Hartwig, who lives near Elmsford. "New York may not be struck directly by a hurricane but it could still receive a significant amount of rain from the remnants of a storm. It is the rain that has historically caused problems in this part of the country."

Hartwig's advice is for people to buy flood insurance coverage now to protect themselves against future storms. He added that a new policy doesn't go into effect until 30 days after it it is purchased. As for the residents who suffered losses from this storm but were uninsured, Hartwig said, they may be eligible for federal or state loan programs if there is an official disaster declaration.