Flood insurance in Las Vegas

Why Las Vegas property floods

Flooding here is not a river problem, it is a runoff problem. Rain lands on desert ground and pavement that absorb very little, then moves fast through washes and down streets toward the valley floor.

Late summer storms do most of it, and a storm sitting over the mountains can put water through a neighbourhood that stayed dry. The Regional Flood Control District has spent decades building detention basins and channels for exactly this, which helps, and still leaves plenty of property outside a mapped high-risk zone taking on water.

• Washes and street channels carry the water, so being far from open water means little
• Storms upslope can flood ground that never saw the rain
• Outside a high-risk zone the price is lower, which is a reason to buy rather than to skip it

Your property policy excludes it

Homeowners, condo, renters, landlord, commercial property and most business owner’s policies all carve out water that rises from outside the building. That is true in Las Vegas the same as everywhere else, which is why flood is bought as its own policy. A waiting period normally applies, so buying once a storm is forecast is usually too late.

Nearby: Henderson, Summerlin. Or see flood insurance generally.