The storms that blew through the county last month left thousands of dollars worth of damage in their wake that may not be covered by homeowner’s insurance.

As many homeowners already have found out, most homeowner’s insurance does not cover flooding unless it is caused by something like a broken water pipe.

Lynda Tallent found out after her home was invaded by a lake created by an overloaded storm sewer in her backyard March 29.

“We’ve always wanted to have lakefront property but -” she said, finishing the thought with a wry laugh.

It’s been a week since Tallent had five inches of water in her kitchen and living room, and she’s able to joke about it some, but she is still living with the effects. She and her husband Gary have no heat after the heat pump was partially submerged, and none of the plugs in the living room work after being shorted out by the water. There is mold growing in her pantry, and the floors in her kitchen and living room are bubbling and warping because of the moisture.

Her insurance agent told her that the damage wasn’t covered because flooding wasn’t covered by her homeowner’s policy.

“If it comes down from heaven, it’s covered,” Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said. “If it comes from the ground, it’s not.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency does offer a solution - the National Flood Insurance Program.

Until a couple of years ago, only people in a floodplain could buy the insurance, but that is no longer the case. The program is open to anyone who lives in a participating area, and Carroll County does participate.

The insurance is available from local insurance agents, but is a separate policy from the homeowners’ insurance policy. The average policy sells for a little more than $400 a year and would cover the furnace, air conditioner, water heater, floor coverings and cleanup - all the problems the Tallents are dealing with. However, many people don’t buy the insurance because they don’t think flooding is an issue for them.

“People assume: I don’t live near a river, I don’t need to worry about it,” Oxendine said. “A lot of these dry creeks or little gullies that generally have little or no water in it, if you have major thunderstorms, those little dry creeks can actually get very wet and start flooding.”

In addition, the likelihood of an area flooding can change over the years, Oxendine noted.

“The flood maps that FEMA puts out are grossly out of date,” he said. “Those maps were built years ago when Carroll County was all farm. Well now Carroll County has a lot of concrete and asphalt, and that concrete just pushes the water somewhere else, and by pushing it somewhere else, you’re concentrating it in certain areas and making the community more likely to flooding.”

For instance, downtown Atlanta is prone to flooding because all the concrete doesn’t allow the water to soak into the ground. It collects on the surface, Oxendine said. With the growth in many communities in Carroll County, the construction has altered where flooding is likely.

“If you are in an area that could flood, I’d strongly recommend (having) it,” he said.

However, Oxendine warns that the program is a federal program; there is no state oversight and no place for consumers to appeal if they feel they are not getting fair treatment.

“We hear a lot of complaints about the way FEMA handles the flood claims,” he said.



Because the program is run and overseen by the same agency, there is no one to appeal to, he said. However, because homeowners’ insurance doesn’t cover flooding, it is the best choice for those who have the risk of flooding.

As for the Tallents, they’re spending their evenings upstairs, where they still have electricity and can watch television, and they’re trying to see the silver lining in the clouds.

“I try to look at it as, this is something that can be fixed,” Tallent said. “We haven’t lost anyone.”