As the flood cleanup begins in parts of Arkansas where the waters of the White River have receded, some residents are realizing they don't have the flood insurance they need to pay for repairs.
One reason could be that--depending on where flood victims live--there community is not part of the National Flood Insurance Program.
There are a total of 74 jurisdictions statewide that are not in the program. And, in some cases, a city or town may be covered, but the county is not. Or the opposite might be true.
In Stone County, people who live within the Mountain View city limits can have flood insurance—but people who live outside of Mountain View cannot.
As a spokesperson for FEMA (web|news) explains, one reason jurisdictions may opt-out of the federal program is cost.
(Donetta Blalot, FEMA) “The program requires they enforce an ordinance. Therefore, they have to have a building permit program, building inspectors. A lot of rural areas don't have that setup in place."
To view a list of Arkansas communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, click here.
To view a list of Arkansas communities NOT participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, click here.
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