As Austin Businesses Assess Flood Damage, Few Have Flood Insurance

As Austin-area businesses begin to assess the damage wrought by flooding that followed a weekend of drenching rain, there’s a good chance that some of them are up a creek without a paddle, as far as insurance goes. According to Jim Gavin, director of insurance information for the nonprofit trade association Independent Insurance Agents of Texas, relatively few property owners in Austin have flood insurance. "There are more than 600,000 flood insurance policies in Texas, and only 5,600 in the city of Austin," said Gavin in an interview. "For everyone without a flood insurance policy, this will be an uninsured event."