The situation, as many see it, is that the Corps and other water regulating agencies had allowed the reservoirs along the Missouri and Platte rivers to fill to near capacity in May to get ready for the upcoming recreation season - fishing, boating, etc.
A large amount of rain in the western states in addition to heavy snowpack in the mountains has caused the water management agencies to now release huge amounts of water from the dams which in turn is causing major flooding downstream. At least one person I know of, and others are beginning to fear the same, is that their insurance companies are telling them the destruction of their houses is due to "water mismanagement" and not natural flooding. Therefore they will not be covered under flood insurance. The courts will probably be full because this is affecting thousands of people in at least six states.
Oooooooh. It shouldn't matter why the water goes through your house, just that it does and you have a flood insurance policy. It is not any fault of the policy holder.
What did the fine print say?
"Call your Congressman"
It is insurance. Like all the advertizements, one company can save you alot of money. they don't tell you that their insurance has some pitfalls that do not have coverage for every little detail as your more expensive policy will cover.
The flood insurance program is designed to be more affordable, just like your title insurance policy is. Neither one is what it used to be 25yrs ago. The total event coverage is not being offered. It exists and the underwriters simply will not sell that extensive of coverage because it would cost them too much. Today's policies are limited to their effectiveness (75% or less of what they used to be) and may actually pay out no relief at all. They are required by law and by financial institutes, yet they do not promise to pay in any day to day actual event, just the ones prescribed by law.
Mismanagement is caused by some branch of the Federal Government and what they do is certainly not guaranteed to be best for the public welfare.
"EXEMPT", the USA government has to agree to be sued or be liable for any action they may cause.
A similar philosophy (but the converse) popped up after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. A suit in Federal Court between homeowners and insurance carriers for HO-1 insurance was whether the flooding was caused by "natural" circumstances (Mother Nature alone) or by "man-made" circumstances (Corps of Engineers). Supposedly, if it was caused by "man-made" circumstances, the flooding would be covered by HO-1 homeowner's insurance to the tune of about $40 Billion Dollars.
The end result was that the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that "a flood is a flood." With that ruling in State Court, the Federal Court of Appeals (Fifth Circuit) ruled therefore that HO-1 insurance did not cover flood damage; only Flood Insurance would apply.
