UTICA, Mich. (WXYZ) — Flood insurance: it's something you don't think you need, until it's too late. Life along the water for people like neighbors living next to the Clinton River can be peaceful until the skies open up.
Heavy rain there often means high water and rising frustrations.
Watch Evan Sery's report below
As they say, when it rains, it pours, and that's especially true in this part of Utica by the Clinton River. Folks who live here have been dealing with significant flooding every time it rains, and they certainly feel it.
That calm Clinton River sure sounds peaceful, but Bernadine Musielak, who lives by it, isn't so romantic about it.
“We got a lot of problems with the river," she told me.
Musielak has lived on Davis Drive in Utica for 18 years. In her backyard is the Clinton River, a catalyst for all sorts of issues when it rains here.
“All of this down here was all flooded," Musielak said, pointing out areas near the river.
We were there a little less than two weeks ago, when heavy rains caused flooding nightmares for Utica homes, parks, and streets.
Watch our previous coverage
Rain, low-lying streets, and rising river levels make for the perfect recipe for problems for your property.
Richard Barney is the general manager of H20 Pros, based in Westland. He's dealt with thousands of insurance claims, many of them flood-related.
“If you have a mortgage on your home, you have to carry flood insurance if you're in a high-flood area," Barney said. “If you have regular homeowner's insurance and it floods, say we have two days of floods, a big storm comes in, water comes in from outside the home, and into the basement, you would not be covered unless you have flood insurance.”
Musielak is required to have flood insurance because of her location in a flood plain. She says she pays about $3500 a year for it.
“It's kinda stupid cause we’ve never had to use it, the whole 18 years we’ve lived here, but yeah, we have to pay for it," she told me.
The average cost for FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program is around $700 annually. It's not cheap, but according to Barney, it's necessary.
“I've walked into too many homes and had to make too many phone calls to a carrier to know that, unfortunately, this person’s claims are not covered because they do not have flood coverage," he said.
“If it's absolutely necessary to have it, I agree with it, but if you don't really need it, like we don't really need it, but we still have to pay for it, it depends on where you live and how much flooding really happens where your area is," Musielak said.
