Ga. Residents Get Crash Course in Flood Insurance

David Bush had a sweeping view of the Chattahoochee River from his backyard. And when he returned to his house Tuesday, the surging river was in his front yard, too.

But he was fretting for another reason as he paced the banks along his street: He had canceled his flood insurance just a few months ago, frustrated with high costs and hopeful that the river would never reach his front door.

"It's never supposed to be this high," the 55-year-old electrical engineer groaned. "This never has happened."

Bush is one of countless metro Atlanta residents getting a crash course in flood insurance after a relentless deluge blanketed the region with several inches of rain. At least nine people have died as a result of raging waters in Georgia and Alabama. A man remains missing in Tennessee.

The federal government usually requires residents in flood plains to take out flood insurance, but authorities said many of the damage claims relating to high waters tend to come from homes where the coverage is optional.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said there were many residents who woke up to flooded living rooms who didn't have coverage.

"This is a fine example where you can think you're safe, but you never know what's going to happen," he said. "Especially with all the development — water has to have somewhere to go."

FEMA spokesman Clark Stevens said more than 91,000 flood insurance policies are in effect in Georgia, though it is unclear how many are in the affected area. According to the U.S. Census, there are more than 2.2 million homeowners in the state.

The worry doesn't just affect homeowners. Penny Freeman moved into a unit on the first floor of Atlanta's Peachtree Park Apartments just five days ago. She had barely finished unpacking before Peachtree Creek began creeping into her kitchen.

Eventually, the water in her one-bedroom apartment was more than a foot high, ruining her couch, a treasured full-length mirror and most of her cookware. Though she has renter's insurance, she's not sure it covers flood damage.