Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Earthquake/disaster insurance

[Kay Argyle (kay.argyle]

Catching up on email after a week away -

Salt Lake lies on several major fault lines, producing 6.5+ magnitude quakes
about every 350 years over the past six millenia. The latest one is overdue.
http://quake.usgs.gov/prepare/factsheets/Wasatch/

I think our earthquake insurance premium is somewhere in the neighborhood of
$10,000. Our SIP construction is - in theory - supposed to be very
earthquake resistant. Given our location in the valley, we are probably in
more danger from liquefaction or seche waves than from shaking, in any case.


We are between a river (folks in most parts of the country would probably
giggle to see what Utahns call a river) half a mile away, and the surplus
canal across the street, which is used to divert excess water out of the
river and in the spring often runs high enough it submerges the bottom of
the bridge. We know (from unfortunate experience) that the SIP is very
vulnerable to water damage. Nonetheless, we don't have flood insurance.  

My understanding is that, if you don't live in an official flood plain, you
can't even get flood insurance.

Kay
Wasatch Commons