Flood insurance covers direct physical loss caused by
flood. In simple terms, a flood is an excess of water on land that normally is
dry. The official definition used by the
NFIP is “A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of
two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties (at
least one of which is your property) from:
overflow of inland or tidal waters;
unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface
waters from any source;
mudflow*; or
collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a
lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by
waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in
a flood as defined above.”
*Mudflow is defined as “A river of liquid and flowing
mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a
current of water. Other earth movements such as landslide, slope failure, or a
saturated soil mass moving by liquidity down a slope, are not mudflows.”