Dear Karl A Mueller,¹

The best locks, the strongest doors and sophisticated burglar alarms won't protect your home from invading floodwaters. As much as you try to make your home safe and secure, it isn't when it comes to America's #1 natural disaster.

When the foul smelling water gets inside, it gets into everything you own. It ruins your floors and carpets. Most of your walls will nedd to be replaced. Furniture, clothing and anything else the flood touches will have to be thrown out.

After the water recedes, it's just as bad as the flood itself. Left behind is a stinking mess of muddy and sometimes contaminated slime.²

Even a small flood of only a few inches can cost thousands of dollars in cleanup, replacement and repair costs. And who will pay for the damage? You will.

Your homeowners insurance won't protect you.

Homeowners insurance policies cover many things —fire, other natural disasters, theft, —but not flooding.

Without flood insurance, your home is unprotected.

Don't count on disaster assistance.

The President must first declare a disaster before assistance is made available. The stark reality is not all floods are declared disasters.³

If disaster assistance is available at all, it's usually in the form of a loan you'll have to pay back ... with interest. It will likely take you years to pay off the loan.

Think you're safe from flooding?
You're not.

Floods happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone.⁴ Don't tell yourself a flood won't happen to you. It can and does.

Nearby new construction can dramatically change water runoff patterns turning dry neighborhoods into potential flood areas. Sudden severe weather can cause unexpected flooding even in the flood areas.

The risk is real. Up to 25% of all flood claims come from people living in low to moderate flood-risk areas. If you live in a high-risk area, there's a 1 in 4 chance that you'll experience a flood over the life of a 30-year mortgage.

Without flood insurance, how will you manage?

There's no easy way. If you don't have flood insurance, the financial burden of a flood will rest squarely on your shoulders.

Maybe you'll only have to use all your savings to pay for the thousands of dollars in flood damage. But more than likely, you'll also have to take out a loan or a second mortgage while still paying off your original mortgage.

It could take years before you've finally paid for all the damage. What plans will you have to put on hold or give up?

With flood insurance,
your home and your future are protected.

On average, flood insurance costs around $500 a year. That's not much to pay to know that your hopes and dreams won't be washed away.

Maybe floodwaters will never invade your home, but with flood insurance —if the worst happens... you'll know your're protected.

Call your insurance agent today and ask about flood insurance.

Sincerely, David Maurstad
Director, FEMA Mitigation Division and Federal Insurance Administrator

P.S. Flood insurance comes with a 30-day waiting period. Don't wait for a flood to threaten your home and contents —by then it will be too late.

¹Note that this was addressed to me, though my wife and I are co-equal owners of the house. Good job, bible college graduate who drafted this pitch! Maybe my pregnant barefoot wife can fetch me cookies while I read it.

²The way they lay out graphically what a flood actually is reminds me of the hard-sell by credit card companies trying to get you to use their high-interest "convenience checks." In those pitches, credit card companies routinely remind you what one can do with money.

³Note the use of the phrase "not all." Personally, I've never heard of a flood that cost anyone any money that wasn't part of what was to be declared a national or state disaster.

⁴I suppose. But in some of those place you're more likely to be hit by a meteorite.

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