Wolf Administration stops in Westmoreland County to encourage emergency preparedness
The county was recently hit by flooding; officials said only four families had flood insurance
The county was recently hit by flooding; officials said only four families had flood insurance
The county was recently hit by flooding; officials said only four families had flood insurance
Gov. Tom Wolf's administration stopped in Westmoreland County Monday encouraging residents to prepare for natural disasters and other emergencies during National Preparedness Month.
State officials said it all comes down to preparing for the worst.
“There are so many folks that just don't think it is going to happen to them, and unfortunately, time and time again, it does,” Pennsylvania deputy insurance commissioner David Buono said.
“If it rains where you live, there is a chance today that it can flood where you live,” PEMA executive deputy director, Jeffrey Thomas said.
Officials said most people don't realize that regular homeowner's insurance usually does not cover flooding, and some Westmoreland County communities learned that the tough way over the summer when they lost everything.
“Areas were flooded that were never flooded before, or in some cases, it’s been 70 years before that last flood happened,” Westmoreland County Director of Public Safety, Bud Mertz said.
Officials said out of 82 homes impacted, only four families had flood insurance.
“It's a hard lesson. It's a lesson you don't want to learn at the last minute. Check into it now. Talk to your providers,” Thomas said.
Thomas said that over the past five decades, there's been a 74% increase in heavy rain events in the North Eastern part of the United States.
“It rains harder in shorter periods of time than it ever has, and with our aging infrastructure, we just don't have the infrastructure that handle that deluge of rain because we never built things for that,” Thomas said.
And if you don't have flood insurance, officials say there is a reason not to wait.
“You always want to be careful to wait right before something is coming because sometimes, like flood insurance, it doesn't start right away. There may be a little bit of a delay like 30 days before the policy goes into effect,” Buono said.