FEMA: 149,000 Flood Claims So Far

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has received 149,000 claims on government flood insurance policies covering homes in the three states affected by Hurricane Katrina.A FEMA spokesman told MortgageWire that there are 270,000 flood insurance policies covering homes in the area. But many homes had no flood insurance, mortgage executives told MW. One mortgage insurance official said he learned from his research that "if a home is protected by a levee then it doesn't need a flood policy." Meanwhile, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Donald Powell said Monday that 95% of bank branches in the affected area are "up and running." He also said he does not anticipate any liquidity problems for banks operating in the area, including small community banks.