FEMA Flood Zone Insurance!?

12 years ago

We just had the Fema maps drawn up last year and my street is in a flood plain area. However I am the only one that is directly in the Flood Plain Zone by only a few feet from a bird eye view. I have contacted my town and fema and it looks like I have to a get a surveyor to get an elevation plan done. (to complete my LOMA). Sad fact is I donÃ¯Â¿Â½t think I am going to be above (which would get me out of paying ins.) the established Base Flood Elevation which a nearby neighbor just had done for her property! I am wondering what my next step is going to be to try and convince FEMA (to lower the FBE) and my mortgage company that we are not in a flood zone! This area has never flooded for the last 100 plus years!

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Comments (9)

two25acres
12 years ago
Your not going to be able to convince FEMA and the sooner you get the surveyor the better. The surveyor will determine your elevation and from there the premiums will be determined. Your mortgage company, depending on the company will aggressively pursue you on the flood insurance and if you don't get it, they will and you'll pay more for it. Sorry, I see this daily.
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12 years ago
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Forgot to mention I live on a lake and that there is a newly built dam with a natural flood overflow spill on top! They show the old one in the flood maps but due to the fact they did not incorporate the newer design and it also has a manual gate that I know they will not consider into the scheme. But they should consider the natural overspill! I was told I need to contact a higher up engineer at FEMA not the folks answering phones. They are giving me the runaround.
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Here in the Pittsburgh, PA. area, we have lots of flood plains, and pains. There are many major streams flowing down thru numerous valleys, into the 3 rivers that meet in Pittsburgh. This past September, when the hurricane came here, we didn't feel many effects from wind, but the rains soon overwhelmed the area,s streams, and quite a few towns got major damage from flooding! This was all within a 10-20 mile radius of PGH.! In the immediate suburbs, the creeks had been hemmed in by walls, and close channels. Low bridges made dams when debris closed off the stream beds! After all was over, there was considerable damages done to everything! And, it was surprising how many families and home owners either didn't have flood insurance, or had let it lapse! Most who didn't, lost it all! The State and the U.S. Government sent fact finders in to help out! Some folks were offered loans to get back on their feet! At high interest rates! Some got nothing! And, what was their excuse for not having flood insurance? "Oh, it hasn't happened in these areas for as long as we can remember! And, flood insurance is too expensive!" This mindset kind of reminds me of those folks who rent an apartment or store front, move in all of their worldly possessions and then, the place burns down! Along with everything they own! And the owner of the property? His insurance covered his stuff, but not the renters! I live on the highest hill near Pittsburgh! If any flood ever gets up to me, the rest of you folks had better have an ark! So, i'll take my chances and not buy flood insurance, but if the flood ever reaches my home, it won't matter much! There won't be any reason to save it---- And, if you live near a river, lake, crick, stream, or canal---you'd better have insurance, no matter how much it costs! Remember--there's always the first time for everything! by: Rustyj
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I've done a lot of research on this because of the impact of the Biggert-Waters Act next month. First, flood insurance is handled through various insurance companies but is all (mostly) under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). FEMA manages NFIP. The maximum coverage is $250K for the residence and $100K for contents. As with most insurance, you can raise your deductible to lower your premium. New policies in flood zones will all require an Elevation Certificate (EC) by a surveyor to determine your BFE and level of your home (explained later). The Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) determines if you are in a flood zone and the amount of risk. The FIRM maps are always being re-drawn, so you might be out of a flood zone one year and in the next. The result after FIRM is that building codes change to reflect the zones, so in "new" flood zones we have older, pre-FIRM homes built lower than newer post-FIRM homes. As you've figured out, you do not have to be anywhere near the water to be in a flood zone, and you can be right on the water and not be in one. (Really - a good friend has a waterfront home on Tampa Bay but is X, although his pool is VE). The amount you will pay is based on two main things - Base Flood Elevation (BFE) which is how high someone has determined your spot will flood. Mine is 11 feet. The variable is how high the top of your bottom floor is. Example: My house is a one-story pre-FIRM slab, so my tile floor is the top of the bottom floor at 8 feet. The raised, post-FIRM houses are only garages and rec rooms on ground level (no liveable space), and their "top of bottom floor" is at least 8' up. My "minus 3" from my EC is what determines my rate. Obviously, a "zero" or better (+) is going to have the lowest rate. The biggest question is where the BFE comes from. My neighbors are all upset because it has never flooded here in 40 years since it was built, even a little bit, through many, many tropical storms. Remember that is what most of the Sandy victims said, too, only many of them were there even longer. Also, keep in mind that 30% of claims every year are NOT in designated flood zones. I seriously doubt that all the homes being inundated in Colorado right now are in flood zones. I won't get into the impact that the Biggert-Waters Act will have on many homes unless someone asks, but the bottom line is that it's going to affect many of the communities that are still recovering from the BP Oil Spill and the recession in general. People just started going back to the gulf beaches this past summer and now all those businesses that were built before the FIRM maps were in place are going to get hit with a big insurance bill that could put them under and will stall our recovery. Hope this helps you understand a bit about flood insurance. It can be pretty scary, but it's managable for the most part.
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Over 25% of flooded homes in the US are not in the high risk flood zone. Flood insurance not only covers river flooding and hurricanes, it covers above ground water inundation of two acres or more or covering two properties. A summer cloudburst or even a large water main break can get covered. Homeowners plans do not cover any of these items. Just because you are on higher ground does not mean you will not flood. Check out Duluth MN. Most of the city is on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior. They got heavy rainfall one summer and the houses on the bluff and in the streets going down the bluff were flooded out. Rain just has to fall upland from you and collect around you. I live in Fargo ND. My old home is on one of the highest points in the city. 95% of the city would have river flooding before my house would get wet. However, in 2000, there was a 6" rain in 1/2 hour. Run off from the streets crossed the yards and went straight down your window wells. Most people in my neighbor got wet (and we LIVE in our basements here-most are totally finished.) Who would have figured? A co-worker's house got flooded by a water main break. 6 houses on her side of the block got 6" of mud and water in their basements. Cost her over $25K to clean up the mess. She was glad she only paid $450.00 a year in premiums!
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I lived in Texas many years. I was born there--6th generation; we came with SFA's second group--and still have many friends and all relatives but one there. We are from the Houston area and have watched as the houses across the street from my parents' house, which back onto a field, went from 2' of the backyard in the 100-year floodplain to the entire property and up to the center of the road being in the floodplain due to two major construction projects in a 3/4 mile radius. The core neighborhood itself is about 40 years old. One neighborhood was added nearby without issue, but farther out, other properties vastly increased the water run off. My grandparents were considering a house across the street, but my grandfather, a title lawyer, absolutely refused when he found out the one tiny corner of the lot was in a floodplain. I thought he was being silly. 20 years later, the house is worth a lot less because if the change in flood plain, and they fight water coming in the back door and garage. This has happened to a lot of other neighborhoods we are familiar with, too. Flash flooding is common pretty much everywhere in Texas. In Central and East Texas, it's because rain storms can be so incredibly heavy. I've now lived and visited many places. I have only ever seen rainstorms like you get on the gulf in a literal rain forest. What people in the Midwest and East Coast call a terrible storm is just a regular rainstorm. When I moved from Texas, I was amazed at these "storms" that did not completely soak you within three seconds of stepping outside. They would sound like storms, and they would look like storms, but they wouldn't have that much rain. Living in dryer areas, like the Panhandle or West Texas, flash flooding is an issue because the hard ground doesn't absorb that much water. We've got relatives-by-marriage who lost a chunk of their cattle herd that way. We now live in a state that is militant about water runoff. It's a bit insane because it goes beyond not increasing the natural runoff though contruction to containing all runoff within a development. But it's better than having your house turn into a floodplain.
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two25acres
12 years ago
Good luck on that. FEMA's funds are running low. I would still get the survey done and soon. Your mortgage company will start their process soon and it's best if your ready. The first thing they will do is send you a letter confirming the recent map changes and they will direct you to purchase flood insurance by a specific date, if you don't, they will purchase it for you and charge their own administrative fees on top of it. The insurance may not be as bad as you think and the certificate of elevation can help to reduce your premiums.
Billl
12 years ago
Just to point out the obvious, but you are in flood plane. They commonly refer to them as 50 year, 100 year etc planes for a reason. It might not have flooded in 100 years, but that might just mean you are "due". Nobody likes paying for insurance, but I'm sure you wouldn't like losing everything you own either.
katsmah
12 years ago
Has your mortgage company sent you notice that they are requiring flood insurance? As others stated the only way to get the mortgage company to make a ruling is through an elevation survey.

My street is in a flood plane, and a portion of the property closest to the river is in the 100 year flood plane. My house is in a 500 year flood plane. Based on that, my mortgage company decided I didn't need flood insurance. My neighbor's mortgage company didn't require it either but when they switched mortgage companies during a refi, the new bank wanted it. If you do have to buy flood ins, check out what is covered closely. There are different levels covering structure and content.
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
12 years ago
I am wondering what my next step is going to be to try and convince FEMA (to lower the FBE)
What is the FBE?

Honestly, if I was anywhere near a flood plain, I would want to have my home and possessions covered by flood insurance.

Do you have any idea what flood insurance would cost? Something to be considered is covered at the link below. Areas that had never been flooded before were flooded in 2008. I remember reading of the Columbus Indiana Hospital being evacuated and out of commission for several months.

I carry earthquake insurance because I would much rather pay the little bit for insurance and be 'safe' rather than maybe be sorry sometime if the future.

Here is a link that might be useful: 2008 Flood in numerous states
feedingfrenzy
12 years ago
billl

Just because FEMA says you're in a flood plane doesn't mean you actually are. The maps are drawn very broadly and with little regard to the details of the local terrain. Our mortgage company had required us to buy flood insurance ($1000+ per year) so we had an elavation survey done which showed our house to be above the 500 year flood plane. On that basis, we filed for and received a LOMA, thus relieving ourselves of the requirement for flood insurance. Money very well spent.
marie_ndcal
12 years ago
For additional information, go to Flood-2011 Minot ND. They are still arguing with FEMA over this mess, and it is years from being settled. They had a 500 year flood, with 11,000 people out of their homes, over 4000 homes damaged/destroyed and FEMA trailers all over the place. Yes they are hurting because they had to winterize them (ND conditions), deal with broken pipes, delays in delivering etc It is still a mess. They change the rules on a daily basis and it depends on the people in charge. I don't know who determines who is in the flood plain or not, but check with your building dept.
maifleur01
12 years ago
You need to know that most insurance will not cover damage from moving water. This includes the water from a heavy downpour. You do not need a stream near you to have flood damage, just water.

FEMA Flood Zone Insurance!?

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two25acres

Flex Design LLC
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FEMA Flood Zone Insurance!?

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