Federal Insurance Administrator News Briefing

Washington September 23, 1999 -- The following remarks were delivered today as part of a satellite uplink news briefing from FEMA Headquarters, Washington, DC.

Good Morning

My name is Jo Ann Howard and I'm the Federal Insurance Administrator at FEMA. I'm responsible for the National Flood Insurance Program - the only real means that people in this country have to recover fully from the devastating losses from floods.

The flooding that Hurricane Floyd has brought to states along the entire East Coast is horrific…Our hearts go out to all the people suffering because of this disaster. We at FEMA want you to know that we will be there for as long as it takes to help you recover from these terrible losses.

The most heartbreaking thing about the suffering that is going on now is that way too few people - business owners and families - are covered by flood insurance.

Policies in force in affected areas:

North Carolina      76,713       New Jersey      21,510
Delaware             1,423       Pennsylvania    10,306
South Carolina     109,938       Connecticut     12,750
New York             5,341       Virginia        19,685

Approximately 7,200 flood insurance claims reported thus far (includes FL, MD & MA)

NFIP claims are paid within 30-60 days

We anticipate paying $300-350 million in flood insurance claims for Floyd over the past month from Florida to Maine

As the flood waters recede, we urge people with flood insurance who suffered damage to contact their insurance agent who wrote the policy.

Make sure to tell them where you can be reached, especially if you are unable to stay in your home.

Your insurance agent will move quickly to help you get back on your feet as soon as possible. He/She will assign your claim to an adjuster.

Your adjuster will advise you of the steps you need to take to file your claim and will also provide you with any required forms.

Talk to your adjuster about getting an advance on your claim payment.

We urge all flood victims to contact their local building officials to get building permits before starting rebuilding. This is important because local officials can provide guidance on rebuilding flood-damaged homes and businesses that will prevent damage the next time a flood occurs.

Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage can help pay the costs of bringing your building up to floodplain management standards. It can pay for elevating, floodproofing, demolishing, or relocating a structure that has been substantially or repetitively damaged by flooding

FEMA has a number of programs, including Project Impact, that provide advice and assistance to local communities to help them rebuild in a way that makes their homes and businesses more flood resistant to prevent damage.

So what lessons are we learning from this experience with Hurricane Floyd?

We're learning lessons that we've known all along - that we need to take preventive measures before disasters strike.

Since 1993, FEMA and the Clinton Administration have been working to put strategies into place that reduce, or avoid, flood and disaster losses.

Through FEMA's Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and our Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, we are changing the way America deals with disasters.

In the past six years, FEMA has purchased and relocated over 22,000 properties from flood risk areas around the country. We have moved homes, businesses and in some instances entire communities out of harm's way.

We are saving over $800 million every year because of flood losses that are being avoided as a result of our National Flood Insurance Program. This is happening because in exchange for the availability of national flood insurance, communities agree to adopt and enforce responsible floodplain management ordinances that regulate new development in flood hazard areas.

What this does is guide development away from high flood risk areas and promote safer construction techniques. We know that National Flood Insurance Program construction standards work. Structures built to these higher standards are more than 75 percent less likely to be damaged in a flood.

The National Flood Insurance Program is a partnership between 19,000 participating communities and the federal government. We are working together to make communities more flood resistant … and we are working to provide insurance protection to America's families in the event of a flood.

Through Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities, we are encouraging communities across the country to assess their risk, identify their vulnerabilities, and take steps to prevent disaster damage before disaster strike.

Here's an example of the kinds of steps we're talking about:

When Ernest Braxton moved his three-story house 10 years ago, he knew that the nearby Rahway River in New Jersey might flood his home. So he elevated it eight feet.

When Hurricane Floyd swept through the water rose seven feen in Mr. Branxon's neighborhood. Other houses in his area along the riverbank were devastated. Braxton's house was the only one among the homes by the riverbank that didn't flood. The efforts he took ahead of the storm paid off.

Rahway, New Jersey, is a Project Impact Community.

Mr. Braxton told us that he knew that no matter how high the water got, it would never get in the house. His four-bedroom house sits just yards from the Rahway River. His advice is that if you're going to stay in a flood area, raise your house above the 500-year-flood plain, not just the 100-year-flood plain. If you're going to do it, do it right.