Business flood insurance rare - Most shops raise wares and supplies off floor to deal with regular occurrences instead of paying

FLOODING IN FIVE POINTS

For many merchants in Five Points, cleaning up after a heavy rain is nothing new, yet few businesses consider flood insurance.

"I don't think Moses could have helped," Roger Patton, co-owner of The Blossom Shop, said Tuesday about the downpour Sunday that flooded many stores along Saluda Avenue and elsewhere.

As is the case with many of his neighbors, Patton knows to expect to find boxes floating near the door, where they tend to collect as the water recedes from his shop.

Call an insurance agent to make a flood claim? Nope, Patton said he did not think flood insurance was cost effective.

Patton said collecting would be tough, and the occasional Five Points floods cause more of a hassle than actual damage.

He has plenty of company among business owners.

As of April 30, only 5,637 flood insurance policies were written for commercial properties -- about 3 percent of the total number of flood insurance policies in South Carolina.

Unfortunately, most people away from high-risk zones such as the coast do not think about floods, said Allison Love, an insurance industry analyst.

Annually, about one-quarter of all flood insurance claims come from policyholders in low to moderate risk zones, Love said. Five Points, according to the National Flood Insurance Program, is considered a moderate to low flood risk.

In Columbia, there are 688 flood insurance policies -- for both residential and commercial properties -- according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In contrast, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, together, have 20,635 policies.

Out of six Five Points business owners contacted Tuesday, all said they have decided against flood insurance.

Dennis Hiltner, president of the Five Points Association and owner of The Gourmet Shop, summed up the sentiment of most of his members.

"I sort of self-insure in that I keep everything off the floor," Hiltner said.

Judith Roberts, owner of the Portfolio Art Gallery, said it took just one flood to learn the lesson of avoiding water. All of her supplies are kept in cabinets she has raised off the floor.

Sunday night, Roberts' gallery was safe. It was her basement at her house a couple of blocks away that flooded.

Perhaps this is why she has become somewhat philosophical about Five Points' beautification.

"I think we should have dug canals, like they have in Venice."

While Venice was not exactly on the mind of Debbie McDaniel, owner of Revente, she was concerned about a common problem in that low-lying and flooded city -- wake.

Standing or encroaching waters are bad enough, but McDaniel said the most damage is caused by people driving their SUVs through the flood.

Dean Ellison, owner of Gentleman's Closet consignment shop, simply considers himself fortunate. Most of his inventory is kept off the floor. His carpet was soggy, but he was thankful the Fire Department helped squeegee the water out.

"You might as well have a good attitude," Ellison said. "A bad attitude doesn't do anything. It doesn't put money in the bank."