By the time many homeowners realize they need flood insurance, it’s too late. And for tens of thousands in North Carolina and across the Southeast, it’s too late.
Only about 2% of residences in the 100 counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene-related power outages were protected by flood insurance, according to an NBC News analysis of Census Bureau data, PowerOutage.us data and National Flood Insurance Program policy data that the insurance company Neptune Flood collected.
While many coastal counties have larger shares of residences with flood insurance, coverage in inland counties is rare. Less than 1% of the North Carolina counties hardest hit by Helene were covered — and in South Carolina, it was even less, 0.3%.
The NFIP, managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the country’s leading provider of flood insurance, accounting for more than 95% of the flood insurance policies nationwide.
www.aol.com/news/map-less-1-residences-covered-090000708.html