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HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – Following Hurricane Ida, people across the country have been reminded of the growing need for flood insurance. In the Valley, insurance agents stress the importance of getting a flood policy for your home or business as soon as possible.
“Timing is the big thing that people need to be aware of, you can’t wait until the water is running through your basement then call up and say ‘hey I need a flood policy.’ You just got to remember that from the time we bind it to the time it takes affect is 30 days,” said Dennis Blackwell, a State Farm insurance agent in Harrisonburg.
Blackwell has been an insurance agent in the area for 40 years. He says that almost all flood policies take 30 days before they go into affect, unless you’re closing on a home and your mortgage company requires you to have flood insurance, in which case a flood policy would go into affect on the day of the closing.
Insurance companies like State Farm provide flood insurance through FEMA, which determines the flood risk of a property based on it’s location and elevation. The higher the flood risk of a property, the higher the insurance premium. Blackwell says this can make things tricky for people buying flood policies in the area because of the valley’s unique and hilly topography.
“In this area the flood zone can change pretty quick you can be in a non-flood area, walk about 100 yards and you’re in a top risk area, it can happen that quick,” said Blackwell. “We have some areas in Rockingham County that are pretty severe risk, I was here in 1985-86 when Briery Branch went underwater, I was here that same year when the floods went all the way through Mount Solon, Mount Sidney, we have some low areas in there, and Augusta County is the same way.”
Blackwell adds that it’s important for people to consult with their insurance agencies to navigate flood policies that can often be very complex.
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