No major floods in La Crosse, but flood insurance prices could rise

Louisiana, Iowa floods could impact homeowners in La Crosse

While La Crosse hasn’t been an area hit by floods recently, massive flooding in Louisiana and Iowa may impact the city anyway.  

That’s because those with federal flood insurance making claims will invariably drive up the cost for everybody who has flood insurance. That includes hundreds of property owners in La Crosse’s floodplain, according to city floodplain engineer, Doug Kerns

“Ultimately those that have the insurance and make the claims – like any other private insurance company – once you start running in the red, in the negative, you have to raise your insurance rate,” Kerns said. “If they’re running a deficit, which they are, those have to be dealt with. If the Louisiana flooding is going to make the deficit greater, that money will have to come from some place if the insurance fund is not enough.”

Floodplain insurance rates have already been steadily yet quickly increasing as subsidies disappear. Congress is scheduled to review those rates next year.  

Kerns believes the whole program seems unsustainable and will have to be changed eventually in the face of increasing high water events. 

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago, federal flood insurance subsidies began to be eliminated, meaning those with flood insurance had to pay ever increasing premiums. Those premiums now can be hundreds a month for the hundreds of homeowners who live in La Crosse’s floodplain areas and are forced to buy the insurance.