The torrential rain brought mudslides. Rocks and boulders damaged homes and property.
The first thing you think of is calling your insurance but then you get hit with more bad news:
“Standard homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flooding,” says Janet Ruiz from the Insurance Information Institute.
For this type of damage you need a separate flood insurance policy. It’s a necessity for people in states such as Florida where flooding is a major issue, but Californians worry more about earthquakes and fires.
“When water comes from the ground up that’s considered flooding and usually it’s water mixed with mud and debris flowing through your house,” says Ruiz.
The latest FEMA data shows only about 191,000 properties in the state are covered by FEMA flood insurance policies. That’s only about 1.52%.
For all of LA County, the most populous in the country with 10 million people, there are only 14,580 policies.
Omar Ochoa, an attorney and storm insurance expert, says “There is only so much that you can be covered for. For homes, it’s up to $250,000 in total coverage, for businesses it’s $500,000 total coverage. It might not be enough to cover all of the damages in a disaster zone but it is coverage that’s available for you.”