BRIEF: Can you buy flood insurance now that will cover damage by Florence?

Sept. 15--People around the Carolinas are being told that say they can buy flood insurance policy right now that will cover damage done by Florence, according to FEMA.

FEMA says such a notion is just a rumor. No insurance purchased right now could kick in fast enough to cover someone from a storm that's on top of them.

"It typically takes 30 days from the date an NFIP policy is purchased for it to go into effect," FEMA says on it's website.

The South Carolina Emergency Management Division called the insurance rumor "FALSE" over social media, saying that the claim had spread to SC residents.

Insurance scams are common following natural disasters.

"Hurricanes bring out a lot of good in people and also the worst in those few bad actors preying on homeowners whose most prized asset has been damaged," Jon Moore, spokesman for Florida's Department of Financial Services, told the Miami Herald following Hurricane Irma in 2017. "We're trying to educate and protect Floridians so they don't fall victim to Irma for a second time."

Many in South Carolina don't have flood insurance.

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