Individual flood impact muted in wake of clean-up

March 20--Local governments have calculated the approximate cost of flood damage to public infrastructure, but few private damage totals have been determined.

The damage local homeowners sustained to their properties by the flooding, which lasted more than a week after a state of emergency was declared in Daviess County on Feb. 23, will have to be claimed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Daviess County Emergency Management does offer trained damage assessors that can assist residents prepare the extensive claims packets.

Daviess County EMA Director Andy Ball said the agency has only received a couple calls for damage assessors since waters receded. Without contact from property owners, the EMA is unable to track personal costs of disasters.

"The only thing we can go off of is when damage teams go out after the initial flood, but we won't know if the properties are insured or uninsured," Ball said. "If they have flood insurance, that's what it's for but some people don't make claims because they are afraid their premiums might increase."

Ball said some rural homeowners that contacted EMA had largely cleaned up their properties before documentation was made in order to get on with their lives.

The city, county and state highway estimate for public infrastructure damage was about $115,000, according to Ball. The threshold for public assistance from FEMA was roughly $360,000, based on the area's population.

Homeowners don't buy their insurance straight from the federal government, but most flood insurance policies from private insurance agencies in the area are backed by NFIP.

An inquiry was made to FEMA Region IV about the amount of claims and a damage estimate from the flood event, but a FEMA spokesperson said the data was not yet available.

Kentucky has 22,099 NFIP policies in the state with a maximum liability limit of about $3.7 billion, according to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA compiled by the non-profit Insurance Information Institute (III).

According to a 2011 III study, just 18 percent of Americans in flood zone areas have flood insurance.

While there might not be any indication of the amount of personal property damage, damage mitigators have been hard at work.

Mark Reeder, marketing manager for SERVPRO of Daviess County, a damage mitigation and restoration company, said the company's call volume was high from the start of the flood event.

"We were out (Feb. 24) during the initial rain and then all day and night, until the end of the week," Reeder said. "After the water subsided, we got even more calls. There was no access to some of the houses until the water went down."

Reeder said SERVPRO is an emergency response team so the flood event didn't seem any more severe than other disasters the company handles, but employees did respond to homes partially submerged in water.

"The main thing we can do in those situations is try to help dry things out and focus on mitigation," Reeder said.

Even long after the waters recede, Reeder said property owners affected by the flood will have to be on the lookout for the prolonged effects of damage such as mold growth.

Jacob Dick, 270-228-2837, jdick@messenger-inquirer.com,Twitter: @jdickjournalism

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