[RayB]

I have lived in Florida for twenty three years. (mostly in the Tampa area before moving to TV). I would never own a home in Florida without the very inexpensive federally underwritten flood insurance. Here is why: In the state of Florida the Insurance companies are allowed to sell you house insurance with a high deductable to cover hurricanes. You can pay extra to lower that hurricane deductable down to a reasonable level. Hurricane insurance usually does not insure you on water damage. If a hurricane strikes your house, the insurance company only insures you for wind damage caused by the Hurricane. Perhaps you may have heard about those poor people in Louisiana and Mississippi during the Katrina Hurricane which found themselves without insurance because the insurance companies informed them that the damage was caused by water and not the wind of the Hurricane. I understand litigation is still going on over this situation. I ask you, have you ever heard of a Hurricane which did not have water involved in the storm? Yet, that is what the insurance companies claim to avoid paying. Fortunately those who had both flood insurance and Hurricane damage insurance were covered for both water and wind damage. This may not be the case in other states but this is the way it is in Florida. I sometime think the insurance companies can do just about anything they want in Florida and the State Legislature will go along with it. That is why most people with experience in hurricanes in Florida will have Flood insurance regardless wheather they on in a flood plain or not. Since the flood insurance is underwritten by federal govt and only administered by the insurance companies, it is so cheap. It is foolish not to have it. I suspect the Insurance companies do not push flood insurance as there is not much profit in the sale of such an insurance policy and because it gives them an excuse not to pay on hurricane damage. They have lost a lot of money in Florida over the last ten years because they have paid out so much in hurricane damage. I sometimes think they will stop at nothing to prevent paying for hurricane damage. Please get flood insurance for your peace of mind. You won' regret it when the next threat of a hurricane is upon us here in The Villages.