(Source: AIR Worldwide)įigure 3 shows the percentage change in NFIP limits of Davidson County (impacted by the 2010 floods) and Humphreys County, one of the worst hit counties from the August 2021 floods. Yearly change in the NFIP Insured Limit in U.S. This increase in NFIP policies was due to the large increase in policies written in Nashville and the surrounding areas in Davidson County. But in Tennessee there was a big increase in NFIP written policies and hence insured limits in 20-possibly due to people recognizing flood risk after the devastating floods of 2010 in Nashville.
have been stable over the years with some increase observed after the floods due to Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and Hurricane Florence in 2018. and Tennessee (Figure 2), the NFIP Limits for the U.S. If we look at growth in the Insured Limits by NFIP as a percentage over the years for the U.S. The NFIP policies published by FEMA through the OpenFEMA resource contain NFIP insured limits and risk counts by county, state, and other disaggregations. This raises the question: “Did these counties have low NFIP penetration and is their level of penetration normal?” To answer this, lets take a look at how NFIP penetration has evolved over the past decade for these counties and if that looks different from the rest of Tennessee and the U.S. The reluctance of communities in these counties to enroll in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and its implications given the severity of flood damage observed have been highlighted in media reports. If those homes were insured through the NFIP program, they would have been covered for up to USD 250,000 for building damage and USD 100,000 for contents. Soon after the flooding FEMA declared a disaster in the four most affected counties (Humphreys, Dickson, Houston, and Hickman), enabling individuals to apply for disaster assistance for debris removal and repairs however, the disaster assistance covers only a portion of the repair and rebuilding costs. Many houses were dislodged from their foundations and a great number of vehicles saw severe flood damage mostly due to the floodwaters and debris carried by them. According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TEMA), approximately 700 homes were flooded during the event and several roads and bridges were washed away. There were widespread reports of power outages and interruptions of telecommunications, water, and other utility services. Most of the flood damage was seen in the City of Waverly and neighboring parts of Humphreys County. Observed precipitation on August 21,2021, in Tennessee. The sustained intense precipitation and river overflow prompted NWS to issue flash flood warnings for five affected counties. The river gauge at the Piney River level rose from 3.3 feet to 31.8 feet in less than 10 hours on August 21, recording the river well above its Major Flood Stage of 24 feet.
On August 21, 2021, Middle Tennessee experienced record-breaking rainfall owing to a combination of intense thunderstorms initiated along a decaying frontal boundary, record high humidity levels throughout the atmosphere, and a weak spark in the upper-level flow.Īccording to the National Weather Service Forecast Office, Nashville, TN, ( NWS), Humphreys, Dickson, Houston, and Hickman counties experienced more than 15 inches of precipitation in 24 hours and some locations received as much as 17 inches (Figure 1). Parts of Middle Tennessee-a region comprising 38 counties east of the Tennessee River and west of the Eastern Time Zone boundary-lay in Ida’s forecast path and were placed on a flood watch while still recovering from flooding after record-breaking rainfall that had fallen only the week before.
Catastrophic flooding in the U.S., most recently Hurricane Ida–related, has dominated the news lately.
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