What to do if your home floods in a rainstorm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — It’s been a summer full of rain storms and flooding across Southern New England, and for many homeowners that meant cleaning water out of their basement on at least one occasion.

But once the rain has hit and your home is left with water the question that now remains is, are the damages covered?

For most people: the answer is no.

The percentage of Rhode Islanders with flood insurance on their home is small, and as Thomas Dicarlo of East Providence Insurance broker Starkweather and Shepley describes, after several flood events this summer and Hurricane Lee seemingly making its way up the east coast the need to be protected now may be more important than ever.

“We’re seeing more and more of those losses,” DiCarlo said. “We saw some through Hurricane Ian last year… [but we] typically see single digit take up for flood insurance.”

If your home ends up flooded, the first thing you should do is contact your insurance company immediately. But even before the storm hits, there are some steps you can take to be prepared.

“Take photographs of the interior of your house. Hopefully, you’re removing the contents of the basement to a safer, drier area, or one of the upper areas of your home,” said Sheryl Faria, senior vice president of personal insurance at Starkweather and Shepley.

But what may come as a surprise to many is that most homeowner insurance policies don’t include flood insurance, and most people who don’t live in high-prone flood areas aren’t covered.

But as recent storms have displayed, flooding can hit anywhere when several inches of rainfall in a short period of time.

“The people in those areas have never even looked at purchasing flood insurance. A lot of people figure that water damage is automatically covered under their homeowner policy,” Faria said.

If you’re not prepared for a storm or aren’t sure if you are, it may be best to contact your insurance company and find out if you have flood insurance.

But if you don’t have it, you likely won’t be able to get coverage in time for this weekend’s impending storm, as it takes about a month for the National Flood Insurance Policy to kick in.