Why were all the RV's left in the flood?

Not sure insurance is going to cover a "flood" loss unless you have Federal Flood Insurance. We learned this during Katrina on a time share in Gulfport. Could be a major problem for home owners as well. The federal flood plain maps may not indicate a flood area for a 500 year flood! Lenders are prevented by federal law to loan on improved property in a flood zone without Federal Flood Insurance. It could be years in court to prove what caused the loss, wind or flooding. Been there done that as a property owner and banker.

minnow wrote:
Hopefully, insurance will cover the losses. I've already heard that residents homeowners insurance will deny coverage because it was an event caused by mother nature. People needed federal flood insurance. Even people with federal flood insurance will find it takes years and years to get s settlement.
People in Houston and Louisiana are in for a long and frustrating period of time I'm afraid.

Floods are covered by flood insurance.
Just because "it was an event caused by mother nature" isn't the reason. Plenty of events caused by mother nature are covered.

> My RV is always my plan B in case of emergency

Mine too. No matter where you wind up in one, you have a place to sleep, food to eat and a way to prepare it, and a bathroom to take care of necessities. We were under an evacuation order several years ago because the experts thought a dam was going to break. (Many, many fewer people than Texas, probably 20k max.) Kids and pets went into the motorhome and we hit the road, me driving the RV and DH driving the car. (He hates driving anything big and I'm a better driver than he is anyway. lol) The dam didn't break but I'd rather be safe than sorry every time. I keep the motor home loaded with bedding and staples so in an emergency, all we have to do is get in and go. We might be living on canned soup and mac & cheese for a while but I bet there are plenty of people in Texas right now who would consider that a feast.

I'll say it again for those who refuse to listen.

Almost all the pictures of flooded RVs I see are in places which have NEVER EVER Flooded. Many are in places where a home owner could not buy flood insurance because it is not a flood plain.

RV owners were actively discouraged from getting out and clogging up the evacuation routes.

The supposition that people were using this to some how work the system is wrong.

For those that don't live in potential Hurricane evacuation areas it is hard to grasp the scale of a hurricane's potential path. Note the eye of Harvey passed within 5 miles of my house today as a tropical storm, I am currently in my motorhome in Texarkana on the way home from Wyoming.

Most hurricane warnings are very general, in the case of Harvey, the target area had been narrowed down to about 400 miles of coastline 3 days before the storm hit. Then of course Harvey wandered around, and did not take the usual inland and dissipate route. If you were an RV owner in the area what would you do with less than 96 hours or notice, knowing millions of people will be on the roads, that wind gusts of 40-50 miles an hour may occur 24-36 hours before the storm hits? Assume you also have a house, and family to deal with, plus the RV may be stored miles away, perhaps closer to the coast, and getting to it against the flow of evacuees might be nearly impossible.

NJRVer wrote:

minnow wrote:
Hopefully, insurance will cover the losses. I've already heard that residents homeowners insurance will deny coverage because it was an event caused by mother nature. People needed federal flood insurance. Even people with federal flood insurance will find it takes years and years to get s settlement.
People in Houston and Louisiana are in for a long and frustrating period of time I'm afraid.

Floods are covered by flood insurance.
Just because "it was an event caused by mother nature" isn't the reason. Plenty of events caused by mother nature are covered.

It's not that simple man. NJRV er is right. Afaik, federal flood insurance is the only "commercial" insurance available and it has some serious limits. Had to get it on a house once, after Katrina, and it was capped, at like 2 or 300k. I forget.

Several Katrina refugees worked for me after that hurricane and the similar theme was they lost everything and even flood insurance didn't cover.

Edit, these are past experiences, may not be the same now.

But on another note, my RV would be the last thing I'd take. It's insured and even if it wasn't, it wouldn't make the cut unless I was on my 3rd or 4th trip......

Flood insurance that isn't required can be very expensive. I was required to have it before our levies were fixed. My cost was $485 year. A coworker wasn't required to have it but wanted it due to a creek behind her house. Her cost was over $2000 per year. That could be a lot more than many people can afford.

isn't 'flood insurance' something for Property that can't be moved
a stick or brick home, a business

the topic was/is about RV's
you get vehicle insurance you get comprehensive / collision etc.. maybe even include an add to your home owners, but I Don't think you buy flood insurance for an RV, i recon for a TT or 5vr your home owners comprehensive for personal property gives coverage

TNGW1500SE wrote:
I understand that sometimes you can't move an RV when the water is coming up

You answered your own question. Put yourself in their shoes - what would be more important to you "when the water is coming up"? Your family/life or your RV?

Oh and I'm sure that lots of people saw an opportunity to collect on insurance - yea right...

MrWizard wrote:
a lot of those nice pretty 5vrs, belong to seasonal snowbirds
they went north to the stick house, when the weather got hot,
they werent there to move it

2x

There may be the stray person playing the insurance game but especially along the coast and the RGV, the owners are likely a 1000 miles or more away.