Have flood insurance? What you need to know after heavy rain devastates North Sound homes

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — Many people in Snohomish County are cleaning up their homes and businesses after rivers in the county reached record levels, flooding several areas.

“There was about two and a half, three feet of flood everywhere,” Paul Izotov, who owns Elite Metal Works in Silvana, said. “A lot of my tools got damaged even though I have water-tight boxes. The thing is they floated and they flipped on the side.”

Izotov said he’s waiting to see if his tools still work after they dry before calling his insurance company.

“I’m just hoping that my big tools that are super expensive hopefully they still work and if not then I have insurance but a lot of the little tools like saws and grinders and whatnot are a couple of hundred bucks here and there but hopefully they work,” he said.

Kenton Brine is the president of the Northwest Insurance Council and said many people aren’t aware that their standard insurance policies do not cover floods.

“Floods from outside the property from a rising river or lake are not covered by that standard homeowners or business policy and you have to buy separate coverage from the NFIP or from a private insurer that sells the coverage separately,” Brine said.

He said if your was damaged, however, you should be covered.

“If you have comprehensive insurance coverage which most people purchase when they get their liability insurance policy, that comprehensive policy does provide coverage for your vehicle,” Brine said.

He says that comprehensive insurance coverage is kind of a no-fault policy unless you did something intentionally.

“It’s whether you’re negligent or do something accidentally, you drove into the water certainly intentionally but you didn’t know it would be that deep so that policy will cover that regardless of how that occurred.”

Flood insurance tips from PEMCO:

If your home is damaged in a flood, after the water recedes it’s important to start drying things out as quickly as possible. While some of your personal belongings may be damaged beyond repair, there are steps you can take to protect your home’s structure from long-term water damage or mold.

Consider hiring a professional service that has experience in water damage mitigation. These services will often open up the walls of a home and use fans and dehumidifiers to dry things out as thoroughly and as quickly as possible.

Standard homeowner and renter insurance in the U.S. only covers the kind of flooding caused by a burst pipe or washing machine hose, not environmental flooding. In most cases, policyholders must purchase separate flood insurance to be covered in the case of a flood.

Flood insurance can be purchased through the federal government or specialty private insurers. Talk to an agent who can refer you to the right resource.

Talk with your insurance agent if your vehicle is damaged in a flood. Water damage may be covered by comprehensive insurance coverage.

Flooding can compromise computer systems, wiring, and interior accessories and it damages everything from airbags to dashboard displays, making it unsafe to operate the vehicle.

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