How to protect your home in this new era of extreme flooding

Hurricanes Helene and Milton proved disastrous for not only the states directly affected, but the entire country, sounding alarms for people who thought living inland mitigated their risk.

Communities once perceived to be at low risk of damage from natural disasters, specifically flooding, may have to reconsider their status. The common misconception that only coastal communities are at risk of serious hurricane flooding was proved incorrect with Helene’s devastating and unexpected impact on rural communities in the mountainous regions of North Carolina — far from the coast.

Disaster is not only striking far from home. In July, extreme rainfall across Vermont washed out roads, flooded homes, and caused hundreds to seek relief and rescue. In September 2023, the Worcester County city of Leominster faced extensive damage from flash flooding after a storm brought 11 inches of rainfall in under five hours.

Across the seven states Helene hit, only 0.8 percent of the homes in inland counties had flood insurance. Here in Massachusetts, more properties are at risk now amid an increase in heavy rain events, and many are uninsured for it.

We asked Samantha Montano, an expert in emergency management and an assistant professor at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, about natural disasters and how to protect yourself:

(This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.)

What is the truth about the inland danger of flooding? Why should homeowners consider flood insurance?

If you live under the sky, you can flood. When most people think about flooding, especially climate-related flooding, they think sea level rise or storm surge from hurricanes, which are coastal problems. But anybody can flood. Climate change is bringing more intense rainfall. One of the best things you can do is get flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. Everybody should have flood insurance, even if you are not in a flood zone where it’s required.

What happens if your home floods and you don’t have flood insurance?

If your entire house is destroyed in a flood, and you do not have flood insurance, you’re going to have a really hard time finding the money to rebuild. You have a couple of options: Maybe you are independently wealthy, but if not, you have to turn to FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency]. You could get up to $42,500 from FEMA for housing repairs, but most people don’t get that full amount, and even if you do, that’s not enough to build a new house. Your only other option is a loan, but the problem is it’s a loan — you have to pay it back.

If you do have flood insurance, you will be much more likely to get enough money to rebuild. Flood insurance is not an end all be all. There are examples from previous disasters in which people have not gotten as much from insurance as they expected and deserved, but it is the biggest source of potential funding that isn’t a loan.

Should we expect more disasters like what happened in Vermont and Leominster?

Absolutely. Climate change is going to bring more events like inland flooding. Hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires are [also] things we need to be focused on. It’s important to make sure our state and local emergency management agencies have the resources that they need to prepare for and mitigate the effects of these events.

What are some of the measures local and state officials should be taking?

Each town has a stormwater management system, but those were not designed with climate change in mind — our capacity to absorb intense rainfall usually isn’t there. Those systems need to be reevaluated and updated through infrastructure funding.

In Massachusetts, most of our emergency management agencies at the town level have only a part-time emergency manager. There’s a pretty urgent need in Massachusetts to grow our emergency management capacity at the local level, and we need to see a budget to accommodate that.

What advice would you give someone building a new home?

Think about where you are building it. If you build directly on the water, you are at a much higher risk. I would build farther inland and up. It’s less common in Massachusetts, but on the Gulf Coast, houses are raised. You can also think about the construction materials you’re using, so if it does flood, it costs less to repair. You also need to think about costs — if this floods, is the expensive stuff away from the flooding?

What else should New Englanders do to prepare for this new high-risk era?

I really hope that folks in Massachusetts and New England are internalizing what has happened in Asheville, N.C., in terms of thinking it was a place that was safe from climate change. I’m worried that in New England we have that same mind-set, and it just isn’t true. The most fundamental thing that needs to happen is acknowledging what our risk is. I encourage folks to take a look around and make sure you have understood the risk around you, and then take action to try to minimize the risk as best you can.