The water is rising, he thought. Towards morning, in the lower parts of the town, it will swirl through the streets and flood the basements and cellars, the sewer rats will come up to the surface, and amid the rain and the wind people will begin, dripping wet and cursing, to drag their rubbish to the upper floors...."
-- Feodor Dostoevsky in "Crime and Punishment"

More and more water is intruding into homes as homes intrude on the wilderness. A review of your insurance policy sooner than later is your first line of defense.

Flooding is a danger that takes many forms.
The intruding water can come in a huge rush, or in a trickle. It can come in through the roof, or through the door as a mud flow. In any case, the results can be devastating.

Michael and Sally Redding had lived in their upstate New York home for 10 years when a small manufacturing factory was built in the foothills several miles from their neighborhood. The company's operations used a great deal of water, and excess water was simply routed to a nearby hillside.

Naturally, the water ran downhill -- straight into the Redding's home. It began slowly, noticed by the Reddings only when their carpet began to moisten and mildew. Then kitchen floorboards began to swell and distend. The home soon was exuding a dank odor. Mold began to appear in odd places.

Once the Reddings discovered the root of their problem, they took the first, and most logical, step: They paid a visit to the company. However, polite conversations with, and requests to, the company bosses did not have the desired effect.

The Redding's problem was hardly unique. Many new and altered property developments can cause flooding for homeowners located down hill. Existing laws will determine if the down hill property owner has recourse. But there are some general issues that usually apply in all 50 states.

It is not lawful to trespass on another's property. This situation can be more inclusive than simply walking on someone else's property. For example, if you discard anything from your property, such as storm water runoff, and cause that water to flood a neighbor's property, that can be considered an unlawful trespass. A trespass is a "tort," like negligence. If a neighbor is committing a tort, an aggrieved homeowner may have an avenue of redress by taking the issue to court and suing for damages. Damages likely will include any cost of repairing that which has been ruined, as well as the cost of stopping the problem from re-occurring. If a homeowner should be forced to move, those costs could be considered to be compensable as well.

Intentional, or willful, actions by an uphill property owner may entitle the damaged party to "punitive damages." These are designed to punish a wrongdoer.

A homeowner might consider filing a "nuisance" claim. A nuisance occurs when one person's use of his property diminishes another person's use and enjoyment of their property.

If carelessness is the cause of the damaging circumstances, a homeowner may also be able to file a "negligence" claim. Negligence is defined as taking an action that a reasonable person would not take, or failing to take an action that a reasonable person would take. Local law often prohibits conduct that causes flooding in nearby areas. Thus, a police report or other kind of municipal complaint can be brought against the perpetrator. You won't get damage awards in this case, but it should stop and prevent the flooding. Monetary losses can be pursued in in court

For the Reddings, their problem was easily solved. A letter from their newly-retained attorney caused the manufacturing company to change their ways, and the flooding was halyed. The Reddings recovered enough to renovate their home and begin to recover from the emotional trauma they had suffered during the year-long ordeal.
Not all floods are individually sized. Many affect entire communities, often in ways much greater than necessary.

Flood-related damage is increasingly common because some people seem intent on putting themselves and their loved ones in harm's way. Oh, they would describe it in a different way. An owner might brag about his new riverside home, or his blufftop view, or his canyon cabin. What he's really saying is that he has stretched even more the limits of man's intrusion into nature. The rich can live pretty much wherever they want. If there are pesky local zoning ordinances, often these can be overridden by the mere expenditure of money.

Major construction defects often are ingrained into a home long before the first shovelful of dirt is moved, or the first nail hammered. They occur at the planning stage. More and more, it is (as real estate peddlers are fond of saying) a matter of location, location, location. Far too often, houses are built where they have no business being located.

As structures are erected in more aesthically-pleasing areas, the dangers of flooding and flood-generated erosion become disproportionately large when compared to properly sited housing developments.
Intruding water is the enemy of any house. And water is a most persistent and imaginative foe, seeping into building materials and wreaking havoc in myriad ways.
Flood damage can occur in numerous forms, the most common of which is a rising river or other body of water due to heavy rain or other atmospheric conditions.

Flood losses climb annually, averaging more than $6 billion. This represents a four-fold increase over the past century. Annual flood losses in the U.S. rose from $1 billion in the 1940s to $6 billion in the 1990s. But changes in the structure of society, more than increased precipitation, spurred the increase.

Shifts in population have contributed to the rapid hike in flood-damage costs in the United States over much of the past century. In order to accommodate the rapid growth and spread of population, people have altered rivers, estuaries, riparian areas and watersheds, disrupting and displacing vast floodplains and their natural functions. Short-term benefits have dominated long-term consequences -- a situation that has only been apparent in the latter part of the 20th Century.

John H. McShane, Acting Chair, of the Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task Force, said in 1999: "Rivers and their floodplains are dynamic and complex natural systems that can provide important societal benefits, both economic and environmental. By adapting to the natural phenomenon of flooding, rather than trying to control floodwaters, we can reduce the loss of life and property, protect critical natural and cultural resources, and contribute to the sustainable development of our communities."

Precipitation is only one cause of this surging problem. Population and national wealth figure heavily in the equation. Population growth alone accounted for a huge 43% of flood damages recorded during the years 1932-1997, with a much smaller effect from increased precipitation.

Climate scientists have recorded a rise in precipitation in some areas of the United States and elsewhere over the past century. Some scientists have predicted that a warmer climate might lead to eventual heavy-rain events. But population and national wealth -- the latter a factor encouraging less thoughtful planning of residential siting -- play a larger part than climate in catastrophic weather-related occurrences.

Floods killed more than 318,000 people between 1970 and 1995 globally, and left more than 81 million homeless. During the four-year period 1991-95, flood related damage totaled more than $200 billion worldwide. That's close to 40% of all economic damage attributed to natural disasters during those years.

Part of the reason for this is that people continue to live and invest in floodplains, ignoring the apparent risks and hoping that the concept of 'flood control' will protect them. Planners persist in issuing new construction permits for property that will be marginally protected, and may be a foot or more below the level of tomorrow's 100-year flood. Government officials spend little time considering that construction is contributing to more severe flooding conditions.

Flood specialists Larry Larson and Doug Plasencia, writing in a new policy statement entitled "No Adverse Impact," claim bad planning is at the root of huge flood damage loss increases in recent years.

"Policies of government at all levels and existing market forces contribute to more intense uses of flood prone lands throughout America. Perhaps less obvious is the potential damage brought about when a flood plain is developed or filled so that floodwaters are pushed onto other property, or when the watershed outside the flood plain is developed and the newly increased runoff is allowed to flow freely downhill.

"Contrasting these land use realities with economics, the argument can be made that the nation as a whole is better off as a result of these investments in flood prone development that flood losses are simply the price the nation pays for growth. Economic arguments such as this have become a key factor in establishing a federal government interest in flood control.

"The reality is that when floods hit, people are forced from their homes and businesses, and many never recover financially from the impact. Local, state, and federal officials are faced with rescue operations at great personal risk, there are housing needs for displaced people and immediate expense for the repair of infrastructure; dollars are diverted from necessary public efforts in order to pay for the emergency; and in the end we reposition to wait for the next flood.

"The nation has yet to come to grips with how to stop creating future flood problems caused by new development. Our extensive current efforts at flood control and modern flood plain regulation were intended to control flood losses, yet data suggests that losses are not being effectively curtailed."

INSURANCE FOR YOUR HOME

You need to check your own homeowner's insurance policy to determine if your coverage is adequate to handle unexpected and unwelcome flooding. A flood hazard area (FHA) is defined as an area subject to temporary partial or complete inundation of normally dry areas.

Flood insurance reimburses property owners that incur losses when their real and personal property suffer from serious water damage. Water damage might happen when normally dry land becomes soaked by large amounts of water, likely from accumulation of runoff surface water, from the overflow of inland or tidal waters, or from erosion caused by heavy runoff water.

Since standard homeowners/hazard insurance does not cover flood damage, flood insurance provides additional protection for your investment, which is also the lender's collateral. Flood insurance is available from various insurance agents.

The National Flood Insurance Program was created when Congress passed the Flood Disaster Protection Act in 1968. This program makes flood insurance available at reasonable costs through a joint program by private insurance companies and the federal government. This act was later amended to require that mortgage loans made by a federally regulated lender, government backed home loans (FHA, VA) and most mortgage loans that are sold in the secondary market have flood insurance protection if the property resides in a designated flood plain area. Home buyers are still encouraged to consider the benefits of flood insurance even if the property is not in a designated flood area.

Since 1973, federal law has required mortgage companies (for all federally funded, backed, or insured loans) to ensure that properties located within special flood hazard areas (FHA) are covered by a flood insurance policy and the insurance is required to be maintained for the life of the loan.

FHA is an area within a flood plain with a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year which is the equivalent of at least a 26% chance of flooding within the span of a typical 30 year mortgage. Mortgage lenders obtain flood certifications as part of the processing for all loan applications. A flood certification identifies whether the subject property is in a FHA as defined by FEMA's flood insurance rate maps. If the property is in a FHA the lender requires the borrower to obtain flood insurance (if available).

On average, over 300,000 people are forced from their homes by floods each year. Floods are the most common natural disasters and with the rate of land development, loss of meadows, forests, etc., floods are becoming more severe.

Basic homeowner policies do not provide coverage for flood damages. Therefore, property owners at risk of flood damage need to supplement their homeowner policies with the additional protection of flood insurance. Flood insurance provides coverage for damage to structures and contents from flooding, moldrelated erosion, and flood-caused mudslides. Homeowners can get up to $250,000 of dwelling coverage and up to $100,000 in contents coverage (also available to renters).

The U.S. has an extensive program to deal with flooding, which is overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA's Federal Insurance Administration runs the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This provides federally subsidized flood insurance to individuals who reside in communities which have adopted flood plain management regulations established by the NFIP. A flood insurance policy may be purchased from any licensed property/casualty insurance agent or an insurance company that is writing flood insurance under arrangements with the Federal Insurance Administration. NFIP sets the rates for flood insurance nationally; therefore, rates are consistent from insurance providers.