Texans rushed to buy flood insurance last year as the impacts of the Hurricane season of 2005 continues to be felt in the Gulf coast states, according to new research.

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) reported that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) records show that the number of flood policies sold in Texas jumped more than 24 percent in 2006.

The council said there were now over 600,000 federal flood insurance policies are in effect with a total liability exceeding $126 billion. The rapid increase in the number of federal flood insurance policies that have been sold is due to losses inflicted by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005 it said.

FEMA paid out $16.4 billion for flood claims associated with these storms. These claims as well as additional flooding in 2006 have put FEMA $17.3 billion in debt. Congress is considering legislation that will erase the debt.

"Flood insurance policies remain one of the smartest buys on the insurance market, especially since homeowners insurance policies don't cover losses from floods," said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. "I also think consumers are finally realising that flood waters are a very real threat and a flood policy will give them the total protection they need."

Statistics provided by FEMA show a home has a 26 percent chance of being damaged by a flood during the course of a 30-year mortgage, compared to a nine percent chance of fire.

Nationwide, the number of federal flood insurance policies jumped more than 13 percent. Mississippi had one of the largest increases with 61 percent, Louisiana had 26 percent and Florida had a 10 percent increase.