By Brenda Showalter, The Republic
bshowalter@therepublic.com
Furniture Plus owners thought their store in Eastbrook Plaza would escape flood damage - even though Hawcreek ran nearby under National Road and 25th Street.
They also thought their storage building on Hope Avenue in East Columbus would be safe since it sat on higher ground than its neighbors on North Mapleton Street.
Both were flooded on June 7, destroying close to $300,000 in inventory.
"We kind of looked at that as our retirement," said Ron England, who owns the store with his wife, Patty, and her sister and brother-in-law, Kathy and Duane Knapp.
Without flood insurance, the Englands and Knapps do not know how they will recover. They have applied for loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration - but they are starting from scratch as business owners.
They still have a three-year lease at Eastbrook Plaza and plan to re-open after remodeling. They figure the sooner they can start over the better since area residents who had homes flooded need furniture and bedding.
Based on risk
Like many other business owners and residents in Columbus, the Englands and Knapps never gave much thought to flood insurance. Many were not in a floodplain or floodway and were not required to have flood insurance by their landlords or mortgage lenders. Others no longer had a mortgage and chose not to buy flood insurance.
Thomas Weintraut Jr., senior planner at the Columbus Bartholomew Planning Department, said flood zones are determined based on flood risks.
An area classified as a 100-year f oodplain, for example, has a 1 percent chance a year of being flooded. Federal Emergency Management Agency encourages all businesses, homeowners and renters to understand a property's flood risk and the options to financially protect themselves from potential damage.
Anyone can purchase flood insurance if the community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. Columbus has participated since 1982.
Steve Chapman, who lives with his wife, Kellene, in Everroad Park West, said he did not consider buying flood insurance because he didn't think his home was in a floodplain. He never expected floodwaters to fill his house and ruin many of his household items, including his furnace and kitchen appliances.
"I walked my 72-year-old mother down a staircase in waist-deep water," Chapman said. Other family members were ready to climb onto the roof for safety when they were rescued by boat.
Learning too late
After the June 7 flood, Indiana's Department of Insurance issued a consumer alert to provide facts about fl ood insurance. The information is available at www.in.gov/idoi.
Roberta Satterfield, whose home is on Pleasant Grove, had flood insurance when she purchased her house 29 years ago. When she refinanced her mortgage seven years ago, Satterfield said she was told she did not need the insurance.
The 66-year-old machine operator preparing to retire this year now has about $10,000 left to pay on her mortgage for a home in which she cannot live.
William Ragan, who lives on nearby North Mapleton Street, said many of the area residents have lived in their homes for decades.
Ragan is fighting to have the city ease its rebuilding requirements. He wants more people without flood insurance to be able to repair their homes without having to pay for expensive improvements, such as elevating the dwellings above flood level.
For many of the low-income residents in the area, the decision to bypass flood insurance meant saving money and came from a belief that flooding was highly unlikely, Ragan said.
"I've never seen anything like this before," he said, looking down a long row of damaged houses that have been gutted to the wooden frames.
Even those with flood insurance are finding that they did not completely understand their insurance policies.
Jewel Followell, who lives on Reo Street, had flood insurance, but learned after the flood it covered only the dwelling - not the contents.
Her car that was submerged in floodwaters, however, was covered by her auto insurance.
Furniture Plus owners have two trucks sitting in Eastbrook Plaza's parking lot. Both are destroyed. One had comprehensive insurance coverage and will be replaced. The other had only liability coverage and is not covered.
Ron England said he has learned a lot about insurance in the past two weeks. He said he would have been covered if the business was destroyed by a fire or tornado or other catastrophe. "Everything but a flood," England said.
FEMA recommends once residents get through this disaster that they prepare for the possibility of a future disaster.
FEMA suggests learning a home's or business' flood risk and talking with an insurance agent about insurance options and costs.