Nearly $10B In Hurricane Debby Damage Was In Areas Without Flood Insurance

"Hurricane Debby left billions of dollars of damage in its wake as it moved across the southeastern U.S. last week — losses made all the more devastating because so many of them may have been uninsured.

More than three-quarters of the houses damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Debby were in regions where flood insurance isn’t required, a new report from nonprofit First Street Foundation has found.

That’s because nearly $10 billion of the slow-moving storm’s estimated $12.3 billion in damage happened in regions outside the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) designated Flood Zones.

FEMA’s flood maps dictate where homeowners are required by law to purchase flood insurance — a financial protection that is becoming increasingly necessary to shield families from crippling losses as flood risk worsens around the country."

Saul Elbein reports for The Hill August 13, 2024.

Source: The Hill, 08/15/2024