This is no longer current law as updated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) which amended IRC §165(h)(5) to say "In the case of an individual, except as provided in subparagraph (B), any personal casualty loss which (but for this paragraph) would be deductible in a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, shall be allowed as a deduction under subsection (a) only to the extent it is attributable to a Federally declared disaster (as defined in subsection (i)(5))." A Link to this statute is below.
IRC §165
