Hurricane Irene's massive size dwarfs the Bahamas on August 24, 2011.

Photo courtesy of NASA

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are preparing for what Hurricane Irene may bring this weekend.

Because of her path along the heavily populated East coast of the United States Irene is forecast to affect as much as 1/5th of our nation’s population.

For those of us fortunate enough not to be in that path, it’s important that we take this time to check our own preparations. Hurricanes can cause:

  1. Flooding from storm surge along the coast,
  2. Wind damage both along the coast and inland, and
  3. Flooding inland from heavy rains.
  4. Damage from trees blown down and on to the house.

Texans who live in “Tier 1” (coastal) counties need a special wind coverage policy from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (also known as TWIA or “the Texas Windstorm Pool”). All other Texans have coverage for wind automatically on their Homeowners insurance policy.

No Homeowners insurance policy includes flood coverage, though. So if you want or need coverage in case of flooding, contact your independent insurance agent about a flood policy. These are very easy to purchase and, in most cases, very reasonably priced.

If you would like, we’d be happy to refer you to a great independent insurance agent who can make sure you have the coverages you need.

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