Surge of insurance purchases in A-K Valley after Hurricane Ivan floods hasn’t been maintained

Sept. 14--Ten years after Bull Creek filled his Tarentum house to the second floor with floodwater, Mark Magoc does not carry flood insurance.

The 59-year-old man notes Hurricane Ivan was the only occasion in his lifetime that Bull Creek reached his childhood home. He believes -- and hopes -- the odds are slim that his Cedar Street house will ever be flooded again.

And Magoc may very well be right. Under the criteria of the U.S. Geological Survey, Ivan was a 100-year flood, meaning a similar rain event has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.

Tarentum had a spike in the number of people participating in the National Flood Insurance Program in the year after Hurricane Ivan, according to statistics provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Forty Tarentum homeowners had flood insurance through the federal program in August 2005 -- an increase of nearly 70 percent from the month before the hurricane.

But as of June 2014, that number had dropped back to 25 homeowners, only one more than just before the flood.

With 15 participants, Lower Burrell has one fewer homeowner in the program now than just before Ivan.

Conversely, Freeport, New Kensington and Plum -- all communities with neighborhoods that experienced Ivan flooding -- have from 23 percent to 150 percent more homeowners with flood insurance now.

Peter Herrick Jr., a spokesman for FEMA, said those figures do not include the small number of people who may seek private flood insurance rather than participate in the federal program.

Herrick could not provide an estimate of the average cost of flood insurance premiums because it varies widely depending on factors such as whether people live in a high-risk area and whether they buy coverage for their buildings or just their contents.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, Hurricane Ivan ranks No. 7 on the list of most costly hurricanes to hit the United States, with more than $7 billion in damages nationwide.

"Flooding was, and continues to be, the most common natural disaster in the United States," Herrick said. "We encourage everyone to purchase flood insurance, as nearly 30 percent of flood insurance claims come outside of the high-risk area on the (flood-hazard) map. If people are in a low-risk area on the map, flood insurance is significantly less expensive."

Liz Hayes is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4680 or [email protected].

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