Flood Insurance Uptake Low in Louisiana Areas Hit by Mid-August Deluge

It’s estimated that more than 60,000 homes were damaged by the record flooding in south central Louisiana in mid-August. Twenty parishes were impacted in the severe weather event that resulted in major property damage, significant business interruption and 13 deaths.

But flood insurance is relatively scarce in the impacted areas, according to catastrophe modeling firm RMS. Around 12 percent of businesses and homes in East Baton Rouge Parish and Tangipahoa Parish are covered by flood insurance. In Ascension and Livingston parishes approximately 23 percent of properties are covered by flood insurance. Only 1 percent of property owners in St. Helena Parish hold flood insurance, RMS said.

There’s a likely reason for that, according to Dr. Hemant Chowdhary, principal scientist at catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. “Many of the areas that flooded were outside the 100-year floodplain and were not considered at high risk,” he said.

A preliminary analysis released by the local Chamber of Commerce (BRAC) of the nine parishes in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area shows that the area of flood impact covers more than 1,000 square miles in the capital region, AirWorldwide reported. This area alone contains 110,000 homes, 31 percent of which are located in areas that were flooded.

Additionally, according to Air-Worldwide, BRAC estimates the value of properties in these flood affected areas at $20.7 billion; 66 percent of them were owner-occupied, 22 percent were rented and 9 percent were vacant. The capital region flood-affected area also contains an estimated 7,364 businesses.

Nearly 120,000 Louisianans had registered for federal disaster aid as of Aug. 26, according to the Associated Press.