With property losses estimated to total nearly $2 billion, the majority of Colorado flood victims face vast financial hardships ahead, according to an article by USA Today.
Only 22,000 homes and businesses in Colorado have flood insurance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Boulder County, one of the 17 counties hit hard by record-breaking flooding last week, has 4,779 flood insurance policies, FEMA says. That's only a small fraction of the 77,000 detached single-family homes in the county, according to Census data.
"These are rare events so people think, 'It's not going to happen to me,'" says Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America. He estimates that 10 to 25 percent of Colorado homes in high-risk flood areas have coverage.
Read more: Most Coloradans Lack Flood Insurance
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