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This is national Flood Safety Awareness Week, a week during which individuals should be made aware of the dangers of the most deadly type of weather there is – an average of 100 lives are taken annually by floods.

This year, it is important to be sure you are covered with homeowner’s flood insurance if your home is located within a flood zone or an area that is low lying and susceptible to flooding.

According to National Weather Service, flooding is forecast to continue throughout spring in areas of the Midwest. The El Niño influenced winter has also left the South and East portion of the States soggier than usual and more susceptible to flooding.

Currently, more than a third of the U.S. has above average flood risk with the highest threats in Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas. Crests along the Red River Valley may approach the record-setting levels of last year.

Imminent Midwest flooding is evidenced by a snowpack containing in excess of 10 inches of liquid water in some areas. Cold temperatures limited the melting of snow and its runoff until early March. In addition, the Midwest experienced four times above average December precipitation, ground frozen as much as three feet below the surface, and above normal stream flows.

Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator says, “As the spring thaw melts the snowpack, saturated and frozen ground in the Midwest will exacerbate the flooding of the flat terrain and feed rising rivers and streams. We will continue to refine forecasts to account for additional precipitation and rising temperatures, which affect the rate and severity of flooding.”

The Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting wetter-than-average conditions in the Southeastern coastal regions; warmer-than-average temperatures throughout the western third of the U.S. including Alaska; and below-average temperatures in the extreme north-central and south-central portions of the nation.