The Director of Emergency Services is encouraging people to purchase flood insurance after most of the people, who filed claims last year, did not have any.
Felicia Cummings lives along Ironbark Drive. Her home did not flood the past few days, but part of the road in front of her home did. She piled sandbags in front to try to protect her home. Last year, her bedroom flooded. She has renter's insurance, but not flood insurance.
"I've got five kids. I'm a nurse. I work a full-time job, but I don't have money to replace my stuff if anything ever happened to it," Cummings said.
Cummings said she worries about her home and her family every time it rains.
"You figure it's going to flood. It's going to flood, and it's going to flood bad, and you're going to have to take your kids somewhere else," Cummings said.
Lynne McChristian with the Insurance Information Institute said nationally only 14 percent of homeowners have flood insurance. She said people in Florida need to take a look at their situation.
"The fact is, if there's not a mortgage company forcing them to get flood insurance, they think flood insurance is optional, but in Florida, it's a really good idea to seriously look at getting flood insurance," McChristian said.
McChristian said the only way to protect yourself from flood damage is with flood insurance.
"The cost you pay for flood insurance depends on your risk. So, if you live in a low to moderate flood zone, flood insurance will cost you about $430 a year, and that is a really fair price to pay for peace of mind," McChristian said.
If you would like to know how much flood insurance would cost you, go to floodsmart.gov.
