FEMA urges burn area residents to get flood insurance a month before the next storm

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - The Cave Fire last week and the Thomas Fire two years ago left burn scars that are still at risk for flash flooding and mudslides.

Montecito Mudslide survivors remember flooding in unexpected places.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the administrator of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that is urging residents living near wildfires to purchase flood insurance.

FEMA claims an inch of rain can cause $25,000 damage to the average home in the United States. That amount is likely to be much higher in Santa Barbara County.

Santa Barbara County Flood Control engineering manager Jon Frye said people need to be prepared for the next rain related emergency.

Frye said the Marcillac family was the first family to rebuild.

Jacques Marcillac said his family moved into their new home on Olive
Mill Road in early August.

"Everything was destroyed. In rebuilding our home we had to elevate our home four and a half feet, and with that we put in flood vents and worked with flood control in the county, and I feel very safe now," Allison Marcillac said.

For more information, click here or call 1-800-427-4661. You can also follow FEMA region IX on Twitter.