High-Risk Areas Lack Federal Flood Insurance Coverage

Yalobusha County is one of three counties that does not particpate in federally-backed flood insurance, despite having a high risk for flooding.

One of six acres in the state of Mississippi lies in a flood zone. But not everyone has the option of flood insurance. MPB’s Cari Gervin explains.

Property insurance doesn’t cover flooding – you have to buy a separate flood insurance policy if you want coverage. And if you don’t live in a community that has federally-backed insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program, the extra coverage is prohibitively expensive.

Last week the tiny town of Coahoma, directly in the Mississippi River floodplain, joined the program. But 20 other communities in the state – all in high hazard areas – still haven’t.

And that’s a problem, according to Al Goodman of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

“We have a high risk of flooding in Mississippi. And a lot of it – 25 percent of the flooding actually occurs outside of the mapped flood zone, which is due to stormwater, flash flooding, things like that.”

Most of the towns that have not signed up for the federal plan are tiny ones like Coahoma, with just a couple hundred residents. But three counties – Franklin, Lincoln and Yalobusha – also have chosen not to participate.

John Crow is the attorney for Yalobusha County. He says that the county has discussed joining the national program a couple of times. But in the end, the board decided it was too expensive.

“You’re looking at someone that would have to monitor this program, and that each time someone built a house in the flood zone would have to come to the county first. And it was just an extreme amount of red tape.”

MEMA is in the process of updating the floodplain maps of every community across the state. They hope to finish sometime next year – and they hope at that time the holdout communities will come on board with flood insurance.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin.