IW Blogger: In the Flood Zone: Changing Flood Maps Impact ...

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When it rains, it pours.? At least, that?s how many Americans must feel in the wake of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)?s release of new flood maps this past July.? With the newest maps come some changes in areas determined by FEMA to be at high risk for dangerous flooding and, because of this, homeowners with properties located within these high risk areas will be subject to costlier insurance rates.

FEMA issues new flood maps for different parts of the country at varying times and, usually, there is dissent among affected residents.? Parts of Massachusetts--where Insurers World is headquartered--were impacted by these new maps on July 17.

Dave Mendelsohn, a FEMA natural hazard specialist based out of Boston, disclosed to local paper the Taunton Daily Gazette that FEMA has ?more precise topography of what the land elevations are than [it] did before.?? New flood maps were drawn up in light of these determinate topographical findings and, as it turns out, a much larger amount of Massachusetts homes have fallen into the ?high risk? category.

?There are very few [homes] that have gone from high risk to low risk,? said Edward Flavin, president of Massachusetts-based Flavin and Flavin real estate and insurance agency, ?but there?s a lot going from low-risk to a high-risk rating.? Homes along the bay where there?s rising water and storms are getting fiercer, those people were not in a flood hazard [under older FEMA maps].? They were far enough away but they?re not far enough away now.?

And while area residents have to acclimate to living in higher risk environments, they also must come to terms with the fact that their homeowners insurance rates will be rising.? As the FEMA determines all flood maps and the government regulates rates for flood insurance, there is no choice for affected homeowners except to pay, as the government also mandates that those living in higher risk areas must purchase flood insurance as a precaution.
The changing flood maps are impacting more than just Massachusetts.? Oregon recently adopted new flood maps and insurance rates in Clark County, a low-lying community largely located on ?shorelines? which, according to OregonLive.com, are defined as marine waters; streams and rivers with a mean annual flow of more than 20 cubic feet per second; lakes 20 acres or larger; upland areas called shorelands that extend 200 feet landward from the edge of these waters; and wetlands and river deltas that are associated with marine waters, qualifying streams or rivers, qualifying lakes or shorelands. Wetlands within the 100-year flood plain also are considered shorelines.?
Much of the U.S. is currently in a historic drought so planning for future floods may seem, to many Americans, less than topical at this time.? But flood waters can rise in the proverbial blink of an eye and it?s not only practical but necessary to be prepared.? For the U.S. government, that means mapping out flood plans and insurance rates.? And, for citizens, it means being aware of risk ? and insured for anything that may come.

Source: http://insurersworldblogger.blogspot.com/2012/08/in-flood-zone-changing-flood-maps.html

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