Residents Left Stranded Without Flood Insurance

By Stan Miller, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Chisholm Creek is getting back to normal after Monday's torrential rain, but not before it left unbelievable damage in its wake. Now numerous residents are beginning their clean up without flood insurance.

Dozens of residents in low-lying areas in The Valley are trying to clean up and salvage what they can. Many of those residents do not have flood insurances and are trying to figure out where to go from here.

Chad Sampley said he is doing all he can to save money and hoping his house will dry out enough so that he won't have to re-drywall.

He said crews want $12,000 just to clean up, but he said a total re-do would probably run upwards of $50,000. Like most of his neighbors, Sampley said he has no flood insurance.

"It's expensive. You didn't think you needed it, and to be honest, I thought our homeowners insurance would cover something until I found out yesterday, they basically told us you're on your own," Sampley said.

Experts said a lot of people mistakenly believe homeowners insurance covers flooding. The only thing Sampley lost that was covered was his car.

Sampley said he checked to see if his house was in a flood zone, and it wasn't. He said he then checked the 100 year flood map, and still there were no floods. He said since they weren't required to buy flood insurance, they didn't.

Now Sampley and hundreds like him want to know what to do about flood insurance.

"In fact you can buy flood insurance even if you don't live in a flood plain, and that's one thing that's really important to understand. Many people think that, I don't live in a flood plain. I don't need insurance. People in Edmond don't live in a flood plain. In reality 25 percent of flood claims come from low risk to moderate risk areas," said State Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland.

But Sampley said he'll be fine. The flood didn't take away what really matters most.

"Part of life. Main thing is my boys were fine," Sampley said.

Find out if your home is at risk for flooding and get an estimate on your cost for flood insurance.