Use of ‘100 Year’ and ‘500 Year’ Flood Terms Misleads Insureds, Say Officials

July 2, 2008

  • July 2, 2008 at 3:00 am
    joe says:
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    a flood plain means you should be taking your chances on the likelyhood of flooding. why did our tax dollars fund the corps of engineers constructing all of those levees if there wasn’t a good chance of flood?
    quit fighting Mother Nature and learn to cope with it, and build in the appropriate places.

  • July 2, 2008 at 3:11 am
    wudchuck says:
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    so this sounds like a familiar saying…so you probably will say that whomever is in office, it’s their fault..um…when did the presidency have a pact w/mother nature? and do you blame all previous incidences to the whitehouse? (i wonder, is this ROSIE?)

  • July 2, 2008 at 3:45 am
    whydoyoucare says:
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    The presidency may not have a pact with mother nature but is it possible they started an unjustified war, spending and wasting billions of dollars, large amounts to companies like Haliburton, then give Congress budget proposals with -0- money to rebuild levees and bridges and other infrastructure ? so that when Nature did strike, the old structures weren’t able to handle it ? I haven’t researched this, maybe this isn’t the case, just asking the question. I know there is a levee project in my area that the Feds had ageed to pay to complete but funds have dried up so now city/state govt is looking to issue bonds to get it done.

  • July 2, 2008 at 4:07 am
    Ed says:
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    There are plenty of places to build and live in the USA that you don’t need to put yourself, your family, and your property at risk by settling remotely near a water source that COULD flood.

  • July 2, 2008 at 4:48 am
    Eric says:
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    Ed, you have an intelligent yet simple point. It is hard to swallow when people who choose to live in places that are susceptible to flood complain when the inevitable happens. For the blame-Bush whiners, get a life… I don’t read history books that blame all rations and etc. on WWII. Rather there was a spirit of USA vs. the enemy. Now I feel like we are sleeping with the enemy. too bad people won’t choose to rally around our country and face the real foes together with bravery and support for our country and its leaders. I am wondering if the US can still rightfully be labeled ‘home of the brave’… Now, back to the flooding, Cedar Rapids, IA and Iowa City, etc. were hit with a terrible and historic flood event which expanded well beyond any imaginable flood plain. I can understand why many of those people not only chose to live there, but did not have any type of flood insurance. I am told that every ins. policy excludes flood coverage.

  • July 2, 2008 at 5:20 am
    Interested says:
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    Hey, does anyone know how United Fire in Cedar Rapids is really doing? They took over 10 feet of water in their office, website was down for a few days, now they say they have a temporary office set up in Norway, IA.

    Are they getting things done? Am surprised that they were shut down for so long, glad I did not accept job from them earlier this year or I’d have been out of work for a while.

  • July 3, 2008 at 8:14 am
    Fred Hilpert says:
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    Liberal Arts versus Engineering/Science Degrees/Farmers

    During the 60’s a lot of educators were convinced engineering students were shallow because we did not have enough liberal arts exposure. Thus we were forced to take liberal arts courses.

    Which is a good idea, I have now been exposed to liberal arts. I only wish liberal arts students would have been forced to take one or two courses of engineering, science, or agriculture. Maybe then terms such as “100-year” would be as understandable as The Planets op. 32 by Gustav Holst is to me.

    I include farmers as part of engineering and science because they understand which end of horse to approach, how rain works, and crop insurance.

  • July 3, 2008 at 9:41 am
    Southern Plains Farmer/Agent says:
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    Fred,
    Thank you for recognizing that to be a Farmer you need an education including basic engineering. Other topics now stressed are advanced mathmatics, economics, professional gambling, insurance,enviromental sciences, computer science, polictical science, sociology, and of course agriculture courses. You also need to have a love for the land and be truly concerned with protecting it.

  • July 3, 2008 at 12:24 pm
    Snatty says:
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    UNited Fire is up and functioning, business as usual. They are operating from a temporary location as their building is being readied for normal occupancy, their website is up and doing business as usual, but with a few hiccups due to bandwidth limitations at the temporary location.I heard that some employees are already back in the home office hq building.

  • July 7, 2008 at 11:54 am
    Bill says:
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    Yes, since NFIP was formed back in the mid-1960s, every homeowners policy has excluded flood (surface water). In most policies it is not difficult to see that it is excluded.
    The one thing that seems to go unnoticed is zoning laws that allow us to continue to build in flood plains. If you are building behind a levee that is holding back any river, why would you be surprised when the levees don’t hold? Why wouldn’t you have flood insurance, whether or not your mortgage company requires it?



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