investigators

with only the generosity of state, federal or private aid to help rebuild

Generosity of the state or federal government? It is easy to be generous with other people money - the tax payers.

Sorry - flood insurance is relatively cheap considering the amount it protects. It doesn't matter if someone else suggested you don't need it - get it.

Lack of foresight on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine. If you live near water, it will flood. It's not if, it's when. This isn't rocket science. How flood insurance is not mandatory for people living near streams and rivers is beyond me. At the very least it should be mandatory once a property has been flooded once.

No longer in a high-risk area for floods? What changed? Nothing. Even if they put in a floodwall or dike it should not have changed his home's status. This homeowner should have known better and kept his insurance.

Poorly written article. The fact is that for the type of floods that MN gets, flood insurance covers very little. What would have been helpful is for the person in the article that has $100,000 in losses, how much would flood insurance have covered. Most likely not much. The only thing in the basement that is covered is if the foundation is destroyed; sheetrock, insulation, carpeting, appliances are not covered. Further, the flood insurance has a low cap on typical water damages in the home. The insurance is designed for West Virginia, where floods wash homes away, not for water infiltration, which is the type of damage most common in MN.

FrankL Items in basement that make a house habitable are also covered, i.e., heater, hot water heater, etc.

Flood insurance is very limited and while it is better than nothing, given the average price of a home in MN, most people would not be able to get their home replaced. Also, there is a max of $100,000 for "contents" and only those above ground level.

The psychology of all this ...simply escapes me. Why does flood insurance need to be "mandatory"? Doesn't the prospect of being left with -60℉, outside, with no-clothes ...teach anybody "anything" anymore?? Why does there "need" to be any law for people to use their brains? And another thing ...people have commented that flood insurance will not completely replace a house. If part of a house is "un-insurable" ...why even grumble?? ....why not simply not buy the house at-all??

I live on a lake and choose not to get flood insurance. I understand that I am taking a risk and if it floods, I do not expect to be bailed out by the government. The people in southern minnesota should live by the same philosophy if they also choose not to purchase flood insurance.

Flood Ins, a joke! I doesn't cover basements, it's expensive and it is ran by FEMA.

Flood insurance is quite pricey and like other posters have said, its coverage is limited. One of the problems in 2007 in SE Minnesota is that many flooded houses would never had expected it to happen.