The New Year began with a
barrage of back-to-back storms
and we're now in the clear.
But what if the rain didn't stop
due to our changing climate?
The states lead researchers say
it's not a matter of if, but when.
California is hit by devastating floods
and something referred to as a mega flood.
So our meteorologist spent months
asking what damage could a mega flood
do and are we prepared tonight?
Carly Gomez closes out our week long
series with a look at the importance
of flood insurance and what you
need to know to protect yourself.
All of our tools were
tough. March on the water. It
looks like a bomb went off there.
Imagine the biggest storm you've ever been
through. He had to chainsaw
his way out his front door.
Cold, hard rain has local
creeks and rivers running high.
All this came underneath the doors.
What if the rain didn't stop?
A levee breaks now your
neighborhood is taking on water.
In Sacramento region alone,
there's over 514,000 people that
are protected by these levies.
Studies suggest that Sacramento's
actually one of the top ten in the
nation's most at risk for flooding due
to rivers. The most intense
atmospheric river storms are likely
to become significantly more intense.
And certainly this spillway incident
was one of those instances where
did not have time.
Are we prepared?
This is megaflood.
One of the things that we say at FEMA is
that all droughts are followed by floods.
Frank Manzel with FEMA public affairs
says they prepare for catastrophic
events like floods and try to get the
word out to residents on how to prepare.
Even with warnings, residents find
themselves left wondering what to do.
I don't know how many disasters
I've been at were people had no idea
what insurance policies they had,
bank account numbers,
all that stuff that you take for granted.
Is having you will likely have
it destroyed in a disaster.
So this begs the question,
are we really prepared?
Manzel works closely with experts with
the National Flood Insurance program.
He says many people think they're
covered with home insurance
and find out the hard way.
Flooding can happen anywhere it rains.
As they said, you can get St. flooding.
Levees are constantly under pressure.
There's always water flowing past them,
eroding at the base of the levy.
And levees do over talk.
And it's a nice system,
but it's not foolproof and it
doesn't offer 100% protection.
According to FEMA,
over 90% of flood insurance
policies are covered by the NF IP.
You can buy flood insurance through
your current insurance company who
participates in a write your own policy.
The NF IP allows your insurance company
to write and service government flood
insurance using their own brand name.
Premiums are assessed through flood maps.
Through a community gets its flood maps,
it also comes with a set of building
standards for that community.
And we assume that you as a homeowner
building after the flood maps Rd.
are going to build to that new standard.
You paid what we're called actuarial rates.
Those are rates that really reflect the risk.
The National Flood Insurance Program
has paid $72 billion in claims to
about 2,000,000 policyholders.
That's according to a statement by David
Maurstad, senior executive of the
National Flood Insurance. Program
to the Committee on Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs last year.
The largest KB hat is that FEMA
will not duplicate benefits.
So if if my home is damaged
significantly from a flood, for instance,
FEMA will pay you for everything
your flood insurance doesn't cover,
up to a total of about 35 to $40,000.
Flood insurance is beginning to gain
ground in sales as more tools and forecast
for flood zones becomes available.
Often private insurance can cost a bit more,
but can cover higher value homes.
Private flood insurance?
They're usually higher,
but not necessarily so.
You can shop around and compare prices.
You can also use private
insurance to augment your
national flood insurance program,
so if you thought your structure
was worth more than $250,000,
you may want to look at a private.
Insurers to cover
the balance. The biggest misconception
about flood insurance in California
is that you don't need it.
Sacramento is at the confluence of
two rivers. Some studies suggest
that Sacramento is actually one of
the top ten in the nation most at
risk for flooding due to rivers.
Flood maps around Sacramento Metro
area shows the regions near rivers,
lakes, dams, levees and canals
are definitely at risk.
Take Natomas pocket and sell Sacramento
surrounded by major water sources.
But it doesn't mean outlying areas are safe.
40% of our flood claims that we pay are for
structures that are not in a flood zone.
John Kane with the state Water
Resources Control Board continues
to advocate for public education
when it comes to our water channels.
Make sure you get flood insurance
even if you're protected by a levee,
because that levee could fail.
And having a community,
not just a few homeowners,
but the whole community of people,
to have flood insurance.
Really helps the community
build back from from floods.
Those emergency to go bags constantly
mentioned in earthquake scenarios
can also be used in floods.
Having a kit that's fully inclusive
of everything that they may need
including personal medications,
pet supplies, things like that that
can accommodate everybody within their
family. Levees and drainage canals like
this one can be inundated with water.
In a mega flood you and your family will need
to be ready to evacuate in a moments notice.
There's also some extra things you may need.
For that emergency kit that includes non
perishable food for at least three days,
including water, you're also going to
need maybe a first aid kit for yourself,
but also some important factors
that add on to this list aside from
those emergency kits you already
have for earthquake help is possibly
a whistle in case of an emergency.
You also want to waterproof some of those
documents in plastic bags or containers.
Another extra step,
making sure you have extra clothing from
areas that are inundated with water.
You want to have those.
Extra blankets, clothing,
anything protective to wear,
and another one on that list includes
some cash on hand in case of emergency
situations with power outages.
Right to the megastorm, as much as it would
apply to an earthquake or a wildfire.
Have an escape plan and a place to meet.
Now it's a race against time for our
infrastructure to meet the rate of
climate change due to our warming planet.
Being prepared is our best chance
at protecting our communities.
And Carly is with us now.
I mean, we really just saw a sliver
of the kind of damage we could
see if there was major flooding.
What have we noticed that homeowners
really need to watch out for
after with the storms that we just
saw? I mean, we just saw it all when we
saw all of the winds pushing everything
because these storms are one after the other.
So the inundation of the water and
the soil has caused a lot of those
trees to start bending and shifting.
So when they fall into your homes,
people don't think of it like that.
They just think, oh, well,
I'm far from a levee.
It's not going to affect me.
But your tree fell because of the. Water.
And then you have to think of the levees.
A lot of areas that do have
levees surrounding them.
It may be a false sense of security.
So they're easily able to fall
and break apart,
as we've seen for a lot of areas.
And big concern.
Yeah. And we know that President Biden,
he was just in Northern California
visiting all of that damage.
What is the importance of the
state really securing that
federal disaster declaration?
What does that mean?
It's very important.
I mean, when you heard about the insurance,
you can get private insurance.
You can get flood insurance through
the National flood insurance.
Policy and program,
but it's when it's declared a national
emergency or Federal Emergency,
you can start applying for
additional funds that would cover
you beyond what you already have.
So those are important for a
lot of places like hurricane
prone places when they get those
national disasters declared.
All right Carly, thank you.
And if you did miss any of our
four part megaflood series,
you can watch it all on abc10.com slash
to the point all you have to do is just
look for mega flood and it's on our
streaming services like ABC 10 + 2.