HILO >> Virginia Aragon-Barnes stood outside her flooded Kaumana City home on Friday in tears. “Nothing’s going to help,” she said. “Nothing.”
Aragon-Barnes and her husband, David, are the careful kind of people who board up their windows when a hurricane approaches, and she had hurricane insurance in place when Hurricane Lane advanced on Hawaii island on Aug. 22.
But after the tropical cyclone dumped nearly 50 inches of rain on Hilo, a State Farm insurance company representative broke the news to Aragon-Barnes that her “hurricane coverage” does not cover flooding from the torrential rains that Hurricane Lane brought to the island.
She was stunned, and she is not alone. County officials so far have identified more than two dozen residences that suffered major flood damage or were destroyed by Hurricane Lane, and that type of damage is not covered in ordinary homeowner’s insurance or hurricane policies.
Flood coverage generally must be purchased from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program, and it can be pricey. Homeowners generally don’t buy the extra coverage unless they live in an identified flood zone.
Margaret Almada Collins, another State Farm customer, had to be rescued by Hilo firefighters after a nearby drainage channel clogged, sending water racing over the banks of the ditch and across a road to flood her Piihonua home in the late evening of Aug. 22.
Water rushed into Collins’ carport and carried her car down her driveway. Two feet of flood water poured through her house and a river of runoff swept around the home with so much power it stripped away the dirt and rocks under the structure, undercutting the foundation.
The damage, which Collins estimated will cost more than $100,000 to make right, is not covered by her hurricane policy either.
Keaau resident Mark Spain, a county firefighter who was on the job when his home flooded Aug. 24, has a different insurance company but a similar story.
Water from a neighboring pasture reached nearly 3 feet up the back of his house in the Keaau Agricultural Subdivision and then leaked into his bedrooms and bathroom. Six inches of water accumulated inside, and “I had to open up the front door to let the water out the house,” he said.
His carpet, flooring, drywall, cabinets, appliances, beds, furniture, television — “whatever was sitting on the ground got wasted,” he said. Spain, his wife, Deanna, and their two children have lived in the house for 13 years.
“I always thought that my house was up on a hill, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything, but this was a freak event, I guess,” he said.
On Monday Spain talked with a representative of his insurer, American Reliable Insurance Co., and “basically she told me right off the bat that I’m not going to get covered because we don’t have flood insurance.”
An insurance adjuster later told Spain the same thing without even looking at the house. “I explained to him that it was a proclamation by the governor and the mayor, a hurricane emergency, it was the result of a hurricane and not flooding,” Spain said. “In a roundabout way he said I’m not going to be covered.”
Spain always figured that water damage from a hurricane would be covered by his hurricane policy. “You assume that, because that’s why you get coverage, right?” he said.
COVERAGE CONFUSION
Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito said it is understandable that people who buy hurricane coverage expect it to cover flood damage associated with a hurricane, but FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program is what covers that.
While hurricane policies might cover wind-driven rain, they don’t cover flooding, he said.
“We understand the tremendous amount of rainfall the Big island and Maui and Kauai received from Hurricane Lane, but again that’s coverage that covered under the NFIP policy, that’s the flood insurance policy,” Ito said.
“We urge people to understand what’s covered and not covered. Personally, it’s heartbreaking when people do sustain a loss and ultimately find out there’s not coverage that they assumed.”
A spokesman for State Farm said in a written statement the company will not comment on the specifics of any claim to protect clients’ privacy. However, the company said its “base insurance policy” does not provide coverage for storm damage caused by a declared hurricane.
Limited coverage for storm damage is available through the company’s “Hawaii Limited Hurricane Windstorm Coverage,” but damage from flooding or earth movement such as landslides is not covered by State Farm’s base homeowner’s policy or its hurricane coverage endorsement.
‘IT FEELS HELPLESS’
Collins said she has been touched by the outpouring of support from the Hilo community but unimpressed with the way she was treated by her insurer.
“We talk about the aina and everybody being part of the family, I don’t think this is being part of the family,” she said.
Aragon-Barnes said her home above Hilo is not in a flood zone, and she was told when she and her husband bought the house nine years ago that they didn’t need flood insurance.
On Thursday, an insurance company representative visited Aragon-Barnes’ home to inspect the first-floor flood damage and told her it wasn’t covered by her hurricane policy. “So I said, ‘This is rain that came from a hurricane. We felt like we paid you guys. We never missed a payment,’” she said.
The State Farm representative explained that if a hurricane had punched a hole in the wall or broke a window and allowed rain to pour in, that would be covered. But the floodwater from the hurricane that poured in her back door from the slope above her house was not covered.
“She said she doesn’t know of any insurance company that would cover any of this type of flood, not even with flood insurance,” Aragon-Barnes said. “That means everybody’s exposed, and why don’t we know this?”
Now the flooring downstairs needs to be ripped out and the rooms must be sanitized to prevent mold. Aragon-Barnes and her husband both work and they have two young children. They moved the family upstairs and work on the cleanup during their free time, from 8 and 10 p.m.
They have been placed in the list for an inspection by FEMA representatives, but don’t know when that inspection will happen or what will come of it.
Crews are currently doing assessments to determine if Hurricane Lane did enough damage to qualify Hawaii homeowners for individual assistance under FEMA guidelines. It is not clear yet whether federal assistance for homeowners will be available.
“It feels helpless because I always try to be prepared,” Aragon-Barnes said, crying. “I had my (hurricane) kit, I pay on time. It’s hard because we don’t know how we’re going to take care of it.
“Insurance companies can claim that they’re going to help you, say that they have this insurance that you have to pay into — and you do — and if they can find any little way to get out of it, they will, and they’re allowed to do it,” she said.
The Kaumana house is their first home, but despite the hardship, they know others who suffered worse damage in the flood are in the same situation.
“I feel like we need to have our lawmakers look into it and see, is this really OK? Is this really something that’s helping their constituents? It’s harming people,” she said. “I don’t see where else to go but to ask our governor and ask our lawmakers to look at this. Help us.”
House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee Chairman Roy Takumi and Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health Committee Chairwoman Rosalyn Baker did not respond to requests for comment Friday. Their committees have jurisdiction over the insurance industry in Hawaii.
According to a statement from the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, people who have any damage should contact their agent or insurer, but “homeowners, hurricane and renters insurance generally do not offer protection against flood losses like flooding from an overflowed river or stream.”
“Policies and insurers vary, so check policy exclusions,” DCCA said in the statement. “It will probably be listed under ‘water damage,’ or ask your agent or insurer for clarification on coverages.”
Consumers who encounter difficulties during the claims process can contact the state Insurance Division at 586-2790. Resources such as the state’s “My Insurance Doesn’t Cover What?” booklet and other information are available at cca.hawaii.gov/ins.
Collins and Spain have established GoFundMe accounts to help with their recovery. Aragon-Barnes asked that any donations be directed to the nonprofit All Hands and Hearts, which is helping her family strip out the flooring, walls and baseboards on the bottom floor of her home.
