Focus shifts to flood insurance after the water begins to recede - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

In the aftermath of yesterday's floods, comes the process of restoring water damaged homes and businesses.  For those who do not have flood insurance, those repairs can be extremely costly.

Damage from wind and trees would be covered in a homeowners policy, but if it involves water and flooding, that's a different story.

Some businesses and homeowners don't learn that their insurance policy does not cover flood damages until after the damage is done.  And depending upon where a home is located, flood insurances is not always required. 

Many people say it's an extra cost they can't afford, while others think they'll never need it.  But flooding is the most frequent severe weather threat and the costliest natural disaster facing our nation.  And about 25% of flooding happens in moderate to low-risk areas.

Flood victims say that even with flood insurance, the clean up following flood is a big challenge.

Some in Selma say that in addition to restoring their homes and businesses, they're also working to see if parts of the city qualify as a designated floodplain, which will open up additional funding.

Leaders with Concordia College say that they did have flood insurance, but they do not know if they are in a floodplain.  In addition to cleaning up and trying to get back to normal, they are working to see if they need to take extra precautions in the future.

Dexter Jackson, CFO of Concordia College says, "we spoke with our risk management department and it never occurred to me until this happened.  And that was conversation that I had to see if this indeed qualifies as a floodplain.  The number one concern here is our students.  If we are part of a low lying flood area, we would need to make the necessary arrangements and adjustments to our campus to ensure that this doesn't happen again.  We have confidence that our insurance will do the best to accommodate our needs."

Insurance agents say they can't stress enough how important it is to look over your policy.  Your insurance agent will probably know if you live in a floodplain.  That will determine if you need flood insurance or not.

In the wake of Isaac, tens of thousands of people in Gulf Coast states have filed flood insurance claims.  Some economists estimated damages could cost in the billions of dollars.

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