Hurricane Preparation
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2023 • HURRICANE PREPARATION GUIDE • 17 up to $500,000 for the building and $500,000 for the building contents. Contents and building coverage are purchased separately, and there are always separate deductibles. Unless you have contents coverage, flood-damaged belongings are not covered. NFIP flood insurance has a policy term of one year. If your home has a federally backed mortgage and is within the Special Flood Hazard Area, flood insurance is required. The SFHA is also known as high-risk areas (Zones A, AE, AO, V, and VE). In high-risk areas there is at least a 1 in 4 chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage. Low-risk areas may be in jeopardy as well, because between 2014 and 2018, policy- holders in low-risk areas filed more than 40 percent of all NFIP flood insurance claims. To find your flood zone, visit venicegov.com, keyword search "flood maps." Flood insurance maps are different than evacuation zone maps. To find your evacua- tion zone, visit venicegov.com, key- word search "evacuation map." If you don't have flood insurance, the President of the United States must declare a federal disaster in the county where the flood took place for FEMA funds to be released. There are strict requirements for grants; for example, the home must be the primary residence or inac- cessible. Without flood insurance, relief from the government comes in the form of a loan for the cost of the damage. Flood insurance can offer peace of mind this hurricane season. If you have any questions regarding flood insurance, contact your local insurance agent. If you have any questions on flood zone maps or evacuation maps, call 941-882- 7412 or email crimes@venicefl.gov. Christina Rimes is Community Rating System coordinator for the city of Venice. From FLOOD | 16 We are still recovering from Hurricane Ian, yet a new hurricane season is fast approaching. Although there is much that we would like to forget about Ian, there are some valuable lessons that we can take away from such a storm and the impact it had on our city. First, we learned that even if we don't live in a flood zone as desig- nated by FEMA, we can still have flooding issues. This is why it is a good idea to consider having flood insurance even if you are not in a designated FEMA flood zone. Next, we now know why it is important to have a plan. One of the major impacts that Ian had was the loss of communica- tions. It was very hard to reach anybody for an extended period of time. Having a plan and sharing it with your family and friends is a good way to let them know what you are doing. They know what your actions are going to be, and where you are going to be located if they are not able to get in touch with you over a period of hours, days or weeks. Additionally, the value of helping our neighbors when they need it the most is an activity that not only benefits us all during our time of need, but also establishes a newfound bond between individuals and families as we struggle together to address all of the hurdles that are thrown our way. Nobody likes to face hard times, no matter how temporary, by themselves. Just knowing that somebody is there to help provides a tremendous sense of relief. This is one of the great strengths that we have in North Port. When everything else fails, we know we have each other. We truly are a Community of Unity. One of the issues mentioned be- fore was the fact that we lost much of our capability to communicate. However, this does not mean that we were totally without any com- munication whatsoever. If we had portable radios, we could still stay informed about what was going on. Although it wasn't perfect and did have some loss of functionality, portable radios were able to be used to help keep us informed and provided us with regular updates so that we could at least get a good idea of what activities were taking place and services that were being offered to help us recover. Finally, when it comes to having a kit and supplies on hand just in case another storm comes our way, remember that we now plan to be on our own for seven days and not three. For many of us who were here during and after Ian left, we know that just having three days of supplies would not have been enough. We have a great team of partners here in the city who work extremely hard to get services restored as quickly as possible. But the fact of the matter is, it takes time to get systems back up and running. Ian left us with more than 30 million cubic yards of debris to remove. Some of that debris prevented many of our residents from getting some of their services re- stored quickly. Thus, having seven days of supplies is a good target to aim for. While we have many threats that we face as a municipality each and every day, Ian showed us why the threat of a hurricane is the one that gathers the most attention. As such, we make every effort to help our residents, visitors and busi- nesses take the steps necessary to ensure that their actions are guided by facts and not fear. Ian left its mark and will not be forgotten for a very long time. However, it did not defeat us. We came out the other side of that historic storm as survivors, not victims. While we would rather not have to go through another storm like Ian, if we do, we will be ready. Michael Ryan is emergency manager for the city of North Port. By Michael Ryan PHOTO PROVIDED BY CITY OF NORTH PORT North Port's Warm Mineral Springs sustained significant damage due to Hurricane Ian on Sept. 28. IAN SHOWED why it is important to have a plan