"Few Puerto Rican Households Had Flood Insurance. They Can’t Afford It"

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- One of the most eye-opening statistics in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s roar through here is that there were just 5,675 federal flood insurance policies on an island with nearly 1.57 million housing units.

That means less than one-half of 1 percent of the commonwealth’s homes were covered. Many will instead try to tap low-interest federal loans to rebuild.

The dearth of flood policies in Puerto Rico means the federal program will be required to pay little of the perhaps $85 billion in privately and federally insured losses from Hurricane Maria; the total includes not just homeowners’ flood claims, but also, for instance, property damage. most of the losses occurred in Puerto Rico."

Tim Johnson And Kevin G. Hall report for the McClatchy Washington Bureau October 12, 2017.