Homeowners and flood insurance are extremely important and if you’re old enough to remember the tropical storm Agnes which stalled over the Susquehanna Valley and the Lackawanna River Valley in June of 1972, you understand their impact. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey alone, nearly 44,000 structures were either destroyed or significantly damaged in that storm. And when it was over, Agnes had killed 128 people and caused $2.1 billion in losses in North America.

The thing about Agnes was that it dumped so much water on the East Coast over such a long period of time, places that had never flooded before were under water. We are seeing this played out again today as Hurricane Harvey ravages the Texas gulf coast. Texas, especially the Houston area, is seeing flooding at historic levels and it’s estimated that much of the damage from flooding will be to homes and businesses in areas that aren’t known for flooding.

It’s for situations like this you want to be fiscally prepared and that means making sure your home insurance is in order. So, what kind do you need? The answer may surprise you.

You will need both homeowners insurance and flood insurance. Flash floods can happen at any elevation, even if you are not in a flood zone. And because FEMA has made several changes in the flood zones over the past few years, you may be living in a flood zone and not even know it. So let’s look at both of these insurances.

Homeowners insurance pays for damage caused by high winds as well as rain that comes into your home. Keep in mind that when a major storm is approaching our state, insurance providers will no longer write or even change homeowners policies.

Flood insurance will pay for damage caused by rising water – whether it comes from a lake, stream or ocean, or simply torrential rain that becomes a flood. Flood insurance is a federal program, but it has a 30-day waiting period before the policy takes effect.

This is why you need to have both types of policies in place well in advance of a storm. By the time you know a major storm is on its way, it will be too late to change or add to your insurance policies.