Hurricane Ida recently made landfall on Louisiana with catastrophic winds of 150 mph. Ida was initially a tropical cyclone as it makes its way through Cuba last Friday, August 27. However, Ida immediately escalated to a Category-4 hurricane as it travels across the Gulf of Mexico and bound to Louisiana. As soon as Hurricane Ida made landfall, there was an immediate drop in temperatures, storms, and heavy rain was dumped on Louisiana, and communities were left without power.

Today, we want to talk about how hurricanes like Ida are impacted by climate change and what it's changing flood insurance.

Climate Change

It's important to note that climate change impacts how extreme weather events can become. We were able to discuss this on our previous blog which you can read by clicking here.

This devastating climate event is also changing how what was used to be minor hurricanes, now becoming more catastrophic and overnight tropical storms can transform into major hurricanes as we've seen with Ida. Generally, this is due to how it's directly impacting the weather, overall sea level, and surface temperatures of water from our oceans.

In 2019, Hurricane Dorian hit the country with the second strongest landfall with 185 mph. In 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall at 180 mph and Hurricane Maria also had 165 mph when the hurricane made landfall in the same year. This is generally due to rising ocean temperatures that fuel stronger North Atlantic Hurricanes.

You see, as our climate becomes warmer, minor tropical storms also get powered by this heat and you can even say that it's like turning it up to eleven. Additionally, warmer waters also create more frequent and consistent heavy rainfall as water vapor is easily condensing into rain clouds due to that extra heat. As we've seen just this year, heavier rainfall and torrential rains can easily create devastating floods.

Earlier this year, we've seen areas like Baton Rouge in Louisiana, Nashville and Waverly in Tennessee, Monett in Missouri, and multiple areas in Alabama get about 7 to 15 inches of rain at a given time only to cause massive flooding and, at most time, deadly flash floods in these areas. 

Flood Insurance Impacts

When it comes to flood insurance, especially federal flood insurance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), these types of considerations aren't made until the coming Fall season this year.

in the current version of the NFIP, one of the big determiners of flood risk and rates are mostly things such as flood zones, elevation, and history of flood data like claims. Honestly, this doesn't really address the actual flood risks of property owners and the overall population. Let's say that Property Owner A is not in a flood zone and Property Owner B is in a flood zone.

This creates a massive confusion between these two property owners as the former would not get insurance thinking that they won't need it "because they're not in a high-risk flood zone". However, we have proven true that these zone designations will never represent the overall flood risk of a property.

You can be outside of a flood zone, but if global warming suddenly melts all the snow from winter and starts to oversaturate the ground, rainwater will have nowhere to go other than these low-lying areas. Even small amounts of rain in given this type of situation, that water from precipitation — heavy precipitation or otherwise — can be enough to cause floods.

Sometimes since these floods have strong currents due to it naturally wanting to flow into low-lying areas, the flood damage is all increased significantly. Yes, even low-risk flood zones will be impacted.

The NFIP Risk Rating 2.0

This changes with the new Risk Rating 2.0 program which measures flood insurance rates based on the flood risk score. The Risk Rating 2.0 will easily measure how these types of flood risks from the ever-changing climate since it will start to look into the types of floods your property is receiving, how frequent floods happen in your area, and distance to any body of water.

The Risk Rating 2.0 program will also focus on flood insurance data that your property has when it comes to determining your rates or premiums. All of these will fall into what's called a flood risk score. Here are the things that are staying the same and the new things that will determine your rates with FEMA and NFIP:

Things that are staying the same:

• Flood zone designation in Flood Insurance Rate Maps — used for regulatory standards whether or not you'll be required to carry flood insurance, but will not impact your rates.
• Distance of the insured building from a body of water — before this was only measured from the coasts, but Risk Rating 2.0 will look into any closest body of water like lakes, creeks, streams, or rivers.
• Prior flood claims — also known as flood claims history which will stay mostly the same except that you will be rated based on your flood claims variable score. Read more on the claims variable blog by clicking here.
• Policy assumption/transfer and grandfather rule — you can still transfer or assume a policy from FEMA and the NFIP. Mostly the terms, conditions, and process of this will stay the same.

The new things that will come with the Risk Rating 2.0 are as follows:

• Types of floods that your property experience. This can be either a pluvial flood, fluvial flood, and coastal flood.
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure. A new feature that determines your flood risk score is the distance between the ground (grade) from your first floor or the first habitable floor of your property.
• Flood Risk Mitigation Measures made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

The impacts of climate change are something that we will never control and is already irreversible. However, we shouldn't focus on the things outside of our control, but on the things that we have power on such as preparing ourselves from these impacts on floods, tornadoes, tide storm, storm surge, hurricane strength by protecting ourselves from these impacts.

If you want to know more on how to get flood insurance, what is the Risk Rating 2.0, what your flood risk score is, click below to reach out.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on August 29, 2021, the same day 16 years ago that Katrina made landfall. The storm just might throw another vicious punch at the Ohio Valley area as it looks to bring flooding to an already heavy hit area.

We've already talked about the possible results of Hurricane Ida on Louisiana and what approaches the state and the federal government made sure they did to ensure that something like Hurricane Katrina won't happen this year. If you want to read on that blog, click here so you can know more about this hurricane.

Today, we want to focus on the threats of Ida to western Tennessee and Kentucky, not only when it comes to flood, but also the general impact of this weather event on the two states.

Tennessee

The Volunteer State is in the hot seat — should we say wet one — when it comes to this type of weather event. Not a week ago, a small town in Humphreys County was devastated with a huge amount of flooding due to continuous rainfall and this caused a lot of troubling numbers to come up. At least 17 inches of rain was dumped on Humphreys County and Waverly alone. This easily led to very grim results as, unfortunately, this took the lives of at least 22 people and about 50 are still missing.

Earlier this year, we also saw Nashville find itself in shambles during the Spring season overwhelmed the city, and caused flooding due to torrential rains. Franklin had at least 9 inches of rain throughout the two-day period of the heavy rain. The floods were caused mostly by pluvial factors where the already-oversaturated soil was no longer in shape to suck in more water and lead to immense flash floods. You also have to take into account the rising of the Cumberland River due to the continuous heavy rainfall. Sadly, this flash flood event also took 9 lives in its wake.

At the time of writing, News Channel 5 reported that a lot of threats of flash flooding will be brought about by this Storm Level 5 weather event across Tennessee. This immediately prompted a flash flood watch that was issued earlier today and will expire on Wednesday, September 1st. Aside from flash floods, you also have to watch out for possible catastrophic wind gusts and tornadoes as Ida continues its course.

It's not absurd to think that what happened back in March will repeat itself. We're expecting a very strong hurricane with Ida and it's important that you have the right protection against floods, tornadoes, or even strong winds if you live in Tennessee. If you are inclined to evacuate, make sure that you don't leave your property unprotected and ensure that you take only the safest routes as we overcome this storm.

If you want to know more about flood insurance in Tennessee especially concerning the new National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0, CLICK HERE to check out our blog for it.

Kentucky

Although news and other reports say that when it comes to Kentucky, Hurricane Ida would have already lowered its intensity in comparison to the Category-4 hurricane that the state of Louisiana had to face this week. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood warning in place as a preparation for the cold front that central Kentucky, areas like Lexington, and Louisville because once that rain starts, there's no stopping it even for a minute until the hurricane has passed to the East.

We've seen this film before and no one liked the ending when it comes to continuous rainfall and you might even feel safer than anyone just because you're not in a flood zone or a high-risk flood zone. However, this doesn't really exempt you from any threats of flash floods. Always remember that when there's a huge amount of rain and water is no longer going in the ground, most of the time this will runoff to low-lying areas and even low-risk flood zones.

Kentucky, especially its central areas, can expect persistent showers of rain starting today up to Wednesday, September 1st. Keep in mind that even though reports would say that there are only about 2 - 5 inches of rain that the state can expect to receive, floods due to runoffs aren't out of the equation.

If you want to know more about flood insurance in Kentucky especially concerning the new National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0, CLICK HERE to check out our blog for it.

Hurricane Ida

Ida immediately escalated to a Category-4 after leaving Cuba on Friday and made landfall on the 16th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina at Louisiana and the New Orleans area specifically. Sustained winds of 150 MPH with gusty winds that go up to a Category-5. The hurricane was so intense that officials from Louisiana weren't able to order a mandatory evacuation for residents.

At the time of writing, the forecast of rainfall is significantly lower as Ida moves to the eastern coast of the country. Rainfall totals aren't expected to go higher than 6 inches as the hurricane is rapidly weakening as it goes through its course. 

Regardless, it's always better safe than sorry as even relatively small inches of rainfall can be as devastating as the heaviest rainfall. If you have questions on how to prepare and protect yourself and your property from this type of event, what your flood insurance options are in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky, or anything about floods, click below.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, avoid getting blindsided by weather events, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long term. You can use the links below to call us, email us, or get a quote from us.

We have covered most of the changes with federal flood insurance in Illinois however that episode is mostly focused on Illinois as a state, not its respective cities. We want to help you understand the specifics of the impact of these changes especially since we're gearing ever closer to the update on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Today, let's talk about Naperville, Illinois, home to Bulls, the Millennium Park, and The Bean, and how residents are going to be impacted by the upcoming Risk Rating 2.0 changes with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA.

Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes, and higher-valued homes or expensive properties will cause a big headache for the property owner. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables from expansive flood studies. There are things that are staying and changing when it comes to calculating your flood risk score.

The remaining features are as follows:

• Zone designation in the flood insurance rate map (e.g. special flood hazard areas (SFHA) or preferred flood zones)
• Distance to a body of water such as a river, lake, or even the coastline
• Prior flood insurance claims or flood claims made with the property
• Policy assumption and grandfather rule

The new things that will come with the Risk Rating 2.0 are as follows:

• Types of floods that your property experience. This can be either pluvial or the accumulated water due to heavy rainfall, runoff of collected water that flows from higher areas, storm surge and coastal erosion, dam/levee damage or overflow, and even a combination of these things.
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure. A new feature that determines your flood risk score is the distance between the ground (grade) from your first floor or the first habitable floor of your property.
• Flood Risk Mitigation Measures made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of DuPage County.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 40.4% or 1,037 National Flood Insurance policies in force in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 601 or 25.6% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 371 or 14.8% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 2,201 or 54.3% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in DuPage.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 106 or 2.6% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 83 or 2% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see few DuPage residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 24 or 0.6% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Illinois is about $1100, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000.

There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Naperville, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Maybe it's not nature that causes our issues with natural disasters. Sometimes we have a hand on it too.

For the last 15-20 years Alabama has been known as tornado alley. It's known for one of the deadliest tornado days in history during the April 2011 tornado outbreak. This super outbreak lasted for 3 days, 7 hours, and 18 minutes with the highest winds that went to more than 200 mph on Hackleburg and Phil Campbell, Alabama. The damages of this outbreak surpassed the $10 billion mark and unfortunately took more than 300 lives and 3000 injuries.

As you can imagine tornado awareness and preparation have been very crucial and is the flavor of the hurricane season so much that flood threats were sidelined, if not fully benched at the back of people's minds.

However, a question we have been getting a lot lately; what should we all be asking too, is flooding in Alabama increasing? If so, then why is it happening?

In this article, we're going to take a look at some recent flood events throughout the state and see why these events might have occurred. We are also going to look at some things that might be contributing to flooding in Alabama.

Alabama and Flood

In order to understand to answer these questions, we want to look at the recent data we got on flooding across the state from the last 3 years as these historic floods can really show the changes happening to flood in Alabama.

2018

May 2018, the United States was ravaged by Tropical Storm Alberto even before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. This disaster event caused both Alabama and Florida to be in constant flash flood warnings due to how strong Alberto was. Now, this was one of the biggest storms that the country faced, but for this article, we want to focus on its impacts on Alabama.

Alabama faced more than 3.5 inches of rainfall and in Cloverdale, this even went up to more than 8 inches. Ever since the storm started to cause heavy rainfall to the country, Alabama faced a lot of issues when it comes to floods. This caused a lot of flooding and winds that we've seen strong enough to have localized tree damages within the state. 

September 2018, Alabama faced another headache through Tropical Storm Gordon. Eight counties were in a state of emergency during this period. Brighton faced about 4 inches of rainfall and the state also saw a number of floodings during the storm event. Dauphin Island faced a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet causing minor flooding. Further inland, we've seen rainfalls going up to 8 inches which caused a lot of streets to seem like rivers, dirt roads being washed away, and flooding in several rivers.

October 2018, Hurricane Michael caused catastrophic $25 billion in damages across the country, but to Dothan, the strong winds and heavy rainfall were just the beginning. Farmers faced a lot of trouble on their livelihood as their expected great batch of cotton crops was turned to nothing. Orange Beach was also flooded due to the Hurricane.

2019

In July 2019, Hurricane Barry dumped more than 8 inches of rainfall in Fairhope city. Mobile County also saw most of its roadways underwater due to coastal flooding and torrential rainfall overwhelmed the sewer systems that it spilled over 80,000 gallons of floodwater into the streets.

In December 2019, Tennessee and Alabama faced huge flash flooding after a record rainfall where the former saw 2.5 inches of rainfall. This, unfortunately, took two lives, one for each state. Lauderdale saw its roads also submerged with this flood.

2020

February 2020, strong to severe storms was expected to go through the state. This caused power loss for about 5,000 people at the time, damage to Highway 43 and County Road 54, and sadly taking one life.

This storm also saw water coming over banks that evacuation efforts needed to be done in Crescent of Lakeshore Apartments in Homewood. The same apartment saw cars with only the top of it above water. The overflow in Shades Creek also saw Lakeshore Trail look like a river during the storm.

September 2020, Hurricane Sally dumped 30 inches of rain in Orange Beach, Alabama. This caused storm surge flooding to occur in Dauphin Island. We also saw flood damage in Spanish Fort where one gas station was completely destroyed after being inundated with water. This was also enough to have some sewer systems overflow contaminating Dog River and Rabbit Creek. Overall damages from this disaster were well over $300 million and took two lives in its wake with one missing.

For years Mobile and Baldwin counties have been known as the main flood areas. These are Alabama coastal areas that can receive flooding from tropical systems.

Simply put, these counties are ones that experience much stronger storms due to coastal storms they experience and deeper floods since one of the known coastal flood risks are facing that water level rise significantly due to heavy rains.

Are Floods Increasing?

Now, we've seen how progressively worse flooding has been changing throughout recent years. This is also the same when it comes to the cost of flooding when it comes to damages to properties. This immediately answers the question, but the more important is the follow-up: Why?

It's important to acknowledge that storms, weather patterns, extreme heat, and extreme rain events are results of climate change and we've already covered this in our previous blog. Today, we want to focus on a more unnoticed contributor to flooding across Alabama: development efforts.

The United States has been consistently becoming more urbanized, this means that most of the areas where there is natural vegetation, trees, and flora are being removed, graded, and then these efforts will simply build a drainage system that generally streams into natural bodies of water like lakes or in this case with Alabama, creeks, rivers, and coasts.

Generally, an untouched area where the flora or plants aren't interfered with can collect 90% of the rainfall as a resulting impact of storm systems. However, due to these types of developments, it can go down to only absorbing 10% of it.

In 2003, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) researched on this and found that heavily urbanized areas, including ones that are still being developed, saw a 100% increase in large floods and a 200% increase in smaller floods. The depth of flooding is also impacted as we are experiencing more overflows due to channels like drainage or sewer systems being overwhelmed by floodwater. This type of issue puts low-risk properties at risk of facing floods that they've never experienced before.

The research also found that floods in areas where developments cause sediments to somewhat clog water channels and as we've discussed before with Flood Zone AO and causes of flooding in low-risk flood zones, the water is being redirected to another area and mostly ones that are heavily populated.

The chance of flood is also directly impacted by these developments if we're not putting the right channels for water to naturally flow. Once this type of water, which should be scattering and being sipped by the soil, starts to rapidly flow into communities. What was before shallow flood events can easily become biblical flood events for those who are impacted.

This research shows future projections of what we can expect in the near future if we're not careful. This is why it's always important to understand flood maps and check with flood risk modelers to understand how a development project can cause problems for the natural flow of floodwaters.

If you have questions on flooding in Alabama, how to utilize your flood insurance policy to protect yourself, what are your flood insurance options, or anything about flood, reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help you understand flood risks through education and awareness in flood insurance and preparedness.

We're getting closer to the major federal flood insurance changes with the Risk Rating 2.0. A lot of things will be looked into by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). These flood risk factors are the fingerprint of your flood insurance since it will determine whether or not you'll get a rate increase or decrease on your policy on the Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in.

In today's episode, we want to talk about pluvial flood and understand its cause, give some examples, and see why FEMA and the NFIP would count this in as well as other flood types for your insurance. Be sure to also watch the video below for this blog:

Pluvial Flood

pluvial flood or pluvial flooding is generally a flood event an area experiences due to rainfall. This pertains to the collective amount of rain that was dumped into an area creating a pool and flooding the community. We've seen this happen in recent times when the lands of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia,  and North Carolina were flooded after getting heavy rainfall for a short period of time.

Now, I've mentioned that a pluvial flood is due to rain and we can see this in two forms. One is the less dangerous surface water flooding and the more devastating flash flood. Looking at the affected areas in the recent Southwestern flooding saw a lot of urban flash flooding. Generally, you'll see these types of flooding when the urban drainage can't handle the surface water floods.

This creates a ripple effect to the water: some would seep into the ground, some would flow into low-lying areas which is what's called a "runoff", and even worse creating a fluvial flood or river flooding when they flow into these bodies of water.

We'll cover more on fluvial flooding in a future episode.

One of the biggest problems with a pluvial flood is that flood warnings can last at an unexpectedly long time since sometimes the flood just won't recede. Why does this happen?

Pluvial Flood Risks

When it comes to pluvial flood risks, this is one of the situations when we say you don't need to be in a flood zone A in flood risk maps to be flooded. Pluvial flood is one of the proofs that even low-risk flood zones get flooded and why FEMA always reports that at least 25% of flood insurance claims come from these areas.

Another important thing to note about pluvial flood risks is that one moment it's just still surface water or groundwater flooding, but can escalate to rapid moving torrents which causes massive flood damage, flood losses for heavily developed areas. This is why urban flooding is becoming a big issue across the country since one heavy precipitation can create flooding from surface water.

If you have questions on how to best protect yourself from pluvial floods, what type of flood your area or property experiences, or anything about flood insurance, click below to see your flood risk score.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand your flood risks, flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

We've been doing a lot of updates for you when it comes to the changes on flood insurance rates per state and per city in those states. In those blogs, we've mentioned a lot about what stays and what changes in federal flood insurance once the new program kicks in.

Today, we'll do a deep dive on these changes with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies itself, how it works, how you will be rated, and understanding how flood insurance will work with the new Risk Rating 2.0.

We want to talk about the specifics of how Risk Rating 2.0 or NFIP 2.0 will impact the coverages in flood insurance for both residential and commercial policies. So how will flood insurance coverage change with the new Risk Rating 2.0 program?

Risk Rating 2.0

First, let's discuss what this new program is all about. The Risk Rating 2.0 is a new setup for federal flood insurance under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that aims to provide policyholders across the United State a rating structure that eliminates any rating disparities and get people more accurate flood insurance rates with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

This new program is equity in action and will consider a lot of old and new rating factors when it comes to flood insurance. These factors and conditions are the things that the Risk Rating 2.0 will consider and can also help you determine if you're going to get a premium increase or rate increase just by looking at your property details. We'll talk more on the specifics in our future blogs on this, but to give a brief preview here are the things that impact your rate which will stay with the Risk Rating 2.0:

• Flood zone designation based on community flood maps.
• Distance of the property to a body of water.
• Prior flood insurance claims or history of flood claims made with the property
• Policy assumption and policy transfer.
• The grandfather rule.
• Pre-FIRM subsidies or Pre-Flood Insurance Rate Map discounts.

The new things that will also impact your rates. These things are more focused on individual properties, so there's a fingerprint of flood risk when it comes to the Risk Rating 2.0. This is to say that your rate won't be the same as your neighbors:

• Types of flooding that your property experience.
• Flood frequency impacting the community and your property.
• First-floor height or distance of the first livable area to grade (ground).
• Elevation of the structure or the property itself.
• Flood Risk Mitigation Measures made on the property.

Again, we'll talk more about these in future episodes, but for now, we want to focus on the impact on flood coverage so that property owners and insurance agents alike can get an understanding of this. One step at a time.

Flood Insurance Coverage 2.0

Now, we get to the hot stuff, what changes when it comes to flood insurance coverage with the National Flood Insurance Program under the Risk Rating 2.0?

Well, I have to break it to you, but so far nothing changes. Which doesn't mean that they won't change in the future. There's a lot of things coming into play when it comes to coverage amount or limits — I mean we're still going through a pandemic.

Generally, this means that residential and commercial properties will still get that coverage for flood damage on dwelling and contents. By dwelling, this means the insured building or your house itself whereas contents will be the things that are inside the dwelling. Let's get down to specifics for everyone's awareness.

Dwelling coverage from FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will cover the flood damage to the construction impacted by the flood like walls, ceilings, roofs, fences, floor surfaces, water heaters, furnaces, air-conditioning systems. This coverage will also include everything that goes into the cleanup and debris removal. The coverage for dwelling on residential properties is maxed at $250,000 however for commercial properties, this coverage is $500,000 maximum.

Contents coverage on the other hand is more concerned with the personal property you have within the insured dwelling or building. This means that you will get covered for a maximum amount of $100,000 for clothes, washers, dryers, television, furniture, and other personal belongings that were impacted by flood damage. This amount will be the same regardless if you're carrying a commercial or residential policy.

What's important to note about coverage is that there's still the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) which can make you legible for additional flood insurance coverage the NFIP. Quick disclaimer, you and your community will have to apply for this one in order to make sure that you're legible to get it. So what's this coverage you ask?

Increased Cost of Compliance

One of the things that won't change with the NFIP as the Risk Rating 2.0 kicks is the ICC or Increased Cost of Compliance. This coverage is something we can call additional since this is mostly provided at $30,000 maximum for policyholders and is intended to ensure that you will reduce the impact, if not the overall risk of flooding on the listed property. Generally, this involves flood mitigation efforts such as the installation of flood openings and the labor that goes into making that happen.

When Will Risk Rating 2.0 Happen?

It's important to know this information before you move into federal flood insurance or move to the private market. This new Risk Rating 2.0 program will change flood insurance policies across the United States starting this October 1st, 2021 for new business or new policyholders.

On the other hand, if you're going to have a renewal, you can choose to not adapt until April 1st, 2022 since this is the date the FEMA aims to have the new program take full effect on all flood insurance policyholders.

For now, we wait for updates with the coverages, but this is just one of the things that really won't change with the Risk Rating 2.0. If you have any questions on coverages in flood insurance, your flood risk fingerprint, or anything at all about floods and flood insurance, reach out to us by clicking below.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

We have covered most of the changes with federal flood insurance in Hawaii however that episode is mostly focused on Hawaii in general. We want to help you understand the specifics of the impact of these changes especially since we're gearing ever closer to the update on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Today, let's talk about one of the most famous getaway places when talking about unmatchable coastlines, glowing beaches, and dazzling sunsets, Honolulu, Hawaii, and how residents are going to be impacted by the upcoming Risk Rating 2.0 changes with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes, and higher-valued homes or expensive properties will cause a big headache for the property owner. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables from expansive flood studies. There are things that are staying and changing when it comes to calculating your flood risk score.

The remaining features are as follows:

• Flood zone designation in the flood insurance rate map (FIRM). This includes identifying if you're in the special flood hazard areas (SFHA) or preferred flood zones.
• Distance to a body of water such as a river, lake, or even the coastline
• Prior flood insurance claims or flood claims made with the property
• Policy assumption and grandfather rule

The new things that will come with the Risk Rating 2.0 are as follows:

• Types of floods that your property experience. This can be either pluvial or the accumulated water due to heavy rainfall, runoff of collected water that flows from higher areas, storm surge and coastal erosion, dam/levee damage or overflow, and even a combination of these things.
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure. A new feature that determines your flood risk score is the distance between the ground (grade) from your first floor or the first habitable floor of your property.
• Flood risk mitigation measures were made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of Honoluluwick.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 7.3% or 2,897 National Flood Insurance policies in force in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 1,030 or 26.1% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 371 or 9.4% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 33,725 or 84.7% of the policies in Honolulu itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Honoluluwick.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 1,382 or 3.5% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 1,688 or 4.2% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see Honolulu residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 148 or 0.4% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Hawaii is about $700, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Hawaii, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Today, we dive deeper into more specific territories and discuss the changes coming with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 to Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia.

We've already covered the state of Georgia and the changes that it will get when it comes to the average cost of standard policies from the NFIP through the Risk Rating 2.0. This new program is something that both federal and community officials have been working on to make sure that they will level your flood insurance investments depending on your individual risks.

We want to talk about major counties in Georgia, just like Fulton County which is the home to Atlanta-Fulton Stadium, the Braves, and awesome street arts, and really understand the impacts of the new Risk Rating 2.0 from FEMA.

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes, and higher-valued homes or expensive properties will cause a big headache for the property owner. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables from expansive flood studies. There are things that are staying and changing when it comes to calculating your flood risk score.

The remaining features are as follows:

• Zone designation in the flood insurance rate map (e.g. special flood hazard areas (SFHA) or preferred flood zones)
• Distance to a body of water such as a river, lake, or even the coastline
• Prior flood insurance claims or flood claims made with the property
• Policy assumption and grandfather rule

The new things that will come with the Risk Rating 2.0 are as follows:

• Types of floods that your property experience. This can be either pluvial or the accumulated water due to heavy rainfall, runoff of collected water that flows from higher areas, storm surge and coastal erosion, dam/levee damage or overflow, and even a combination of these things.
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure. A new feature that determines your flood risk score is the distance between the ground (grade) from your first floor or the first habitable floor of your property.
• Flood Risk Mitigation Measures made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Atlanta, Fulton County. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of Atlanta.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 35.5% or 1,401 National Flood Insurance policies in force in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 1,030 or 26.1% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 371 or 9.4% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 2,374 or 60.1% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Atlanta.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 92 or 2.3% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 74 or 1.9% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see few Atlanta residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 7 or 0.2% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Georgia is about $700, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000.

There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Georgia, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Today, we dive deeper into more specific territories and discuss the changes coming with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 to Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA.

Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables which includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Designation in the flood zone maps.
• Type of floods in the area. Is it from the coast? Is it pluvial or collected water from a storm?
• Flood claims made with the property
• Flood hazard determination, floodplain devolvement, and impact of flooding
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure.
• Mitigation efforts on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Brunswick, Glynn County. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of Brunswick.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 27.2% or 3,731 National Flood Insurance policies in force in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 2,720 or 19.8% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 1,011 or 7.4% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 8,973 or 65.4% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Brunswick.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 707 or 5.2% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 282 or 2.1% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see few Brunswick residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 19 or 0.1% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Georgia is about $700, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Georgia, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Today, we dive deeper into more specific territories and discuss the changes coming with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 to Fort Lauderdale City in Broward County, Florida.

It's no secret that the coastal city of Miami has been had its fair share of floods throughout history and this is the same for Fort Lauderdale especially if you look at how Middle River cuts on some of its areas. The state as a whole itself is no stranger to different types of floods. You have these floods that come from the coast, one that's collected throughout a long period during a storm, and runoff from higher places.

If you want to read more on the Florida Risk Rating 2.0 update, click here!

So today, we want to discuss how the new Risk Rating 2.0 will impact your flood insurance policy with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and see if these changes to flood insurance premium gives the federal flood insurance to the more popular private sector which offers replacement cost.

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes, and higher-valued homes or expensive properties will cause a big headache for the property owner. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables. There are things that are staying and changing when it comes to calculating your flood risk score.

The remaining features are as follows:

• Flood zone designation in a flood map. Are you in the preferred zone or the special flood hazard area (SFHA) like the 100-year floodplain? This lets mortgage lenders know if you are required to buy a flood insurance policy for your home.
• Distance to a body of water such as a river, lake, or even the coastline.
• Prior flood insurance claims or flood claims made with the property.
• Policy assumption and grandfather rule.

The new things that will come with the Risk Rating 2.0 are as follows:

• Types of floods that your property experience. This can be either pluvial or the accumulated water due to heavy rainfall, runoff of collected water that flows from higher areas, storm surge and coastal erosion, dam/levee damage or overflow, and even a combination of these things. This also takes into account flood frequency in Fort Lauderdale.
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure. A new feature that determines your flood risk score is the distance between the ground (grade) from your first floor or the first habitable floor of your property.
• Flood Risk Mitigation Measures made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

These changes are best handled with your flood insurance agent in order to get your flood risk score. If you need help in knowing your flood risk score, click the link below.

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Fort Lauderdale. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of Fort Lauderdale.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease on average rates can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 22.2% or 42,740 NFIP-insured properties in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 39,294 or 20.4% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 3,446 or 1.8% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 141,284 or 73.2% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Fort Lauderdale.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 5,806 or 3% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 1.4% will experience. Now, when talking about a percent this number seems so small however it's important to note that we're still talking about 2,800 properties in Fort Lauderdale. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see a good number of Fort Lauder residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 334 or 0.2% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Florida is about $600, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance cover damages to a dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Florida, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Today, we dive deeper into more specific territories and discuss the changes coming with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 to Miami City in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

It's no secret that the coastal city of Miami has been had its fair share of floods throughout history. The state as a whole itself is no stranger to different types of floods. You have these floods that come from the coast, one that's collected throughout a long period during a storm, and runoff from higher places.

So today, we want to discuss how the new Risk Rating 2.0 will impact your flood insurance policy with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and see if these changes to flood insurance premium gives the federal flood insurance to the more popular private sector which offers replacement cost.

If you want to read more on the Florida Risk Rating 2.0 update, click here!

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes, and higher-valued homes or expensive properties will cause a big headache for the property owner. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables. There are things that are staying and changing when it comes to calculating your flood risk score.

The remaining features are as follows:

• Zone designation in the flood maps (e.g. Flood Zone AE, Flood Zone V, Flood Zone X)
• Distance to a body of water such as a river, lake, or even the coastline
• Prior flood insurance claims or flood claims made with the property
• Policy assumption and grandfather rule

The new things that will come with the Risk Rating 2.0 are as follows:

• Types of floods that your property experience. This can be either pluvial or the accumulated water due to heavy rainfall, runoff of collected water that flows from higher areas, storm surge and coastal erosion, dam/levee damage or overflow, and even a combination of these things.
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure. A new feature that determines your flood risk score is the distance between the ground (grade) from your first floor or the first habitable floor of your property.
• Flood Risk Mitigation Measures made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Miami. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of Miami.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 22.2% or 77,092 NFIP-insured properties in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 70,074 or 20.2% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers a 7,018 or 2% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 246,303 or 71.1% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Miami.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 13,797 or 4% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 8,461 or 2.4% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see few Miami residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 1,015 or 0.5% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Florida is about $600, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Florida, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Today, we dive deeper into more specific territories and discuss the changes coming with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 to Fort Lauderdale City in Broward County, Florida.

It's no secret that the coastal city of Miami has been had its fair share of floods throughout history and this is the same for Fort Lauderdale especially if you look at how Middle River cuts on some of its areas. The state as a whole itself is no stranger to different types of floods. You have these floods that come from the coast, one that's collected throughout a long period during a storm, and runoff from higher places.

If you want to read more on the Florida Risk Rating 2.0 update, click here!

So today, we want to discuss how the new Risk Rating 2.0 will impact your flood insurance policy with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and see if these changes to flood insurance premium gives the federal flood insurance to the more popular private sector which offers replacement cost.

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes, and higher-valued homes or expensive properties will cause a big headache for the property owner. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables. There are things that are staying and changing when it comes to calculating your flood risk score.

The remaining features are as follows:

• Flood zone designation in a flood map. Are you in the preferred zone or the special flood hazard area (SFHA) like the 100-year floodplain? This lets mortgage lenders know if you are required to buy a flood insurance policy for your home.
• Distance to a body of water such as a river, lake, or even the coastline.
• Prior flood insurance claims or flood claims made with the property.
• Policy assumption and grandfather rule.

The new things that will come with the Risk Rating 2.0 are as follows:

• Types of floods that your property experience. This can be either pluvial or the accumulated water due to heavy rainfall, runoff of collected water that flows from higher areas, storm surge and coastal erosion, dam/levee damage or overflow, and even a combination of these things. This also takes into account flood frequency in Fort Lauderdale.
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure. A new feature that determines your flood risk score is the distance between the ground (grade) from your first floor or the first habitable floor of your property.
• Flood Risk Mitigation Measures made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

These changes are best handled with your flood insurance agent in order to get your flood risk score. If you need help in knowing your flood risk score, click the link below.

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Fort Lauderdale. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of Fort Lauderdale.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease on average rates can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 22.2% or 42,740 NFIP-insured properties in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 39,294 or 20.4% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 3,446 or 1.8% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 141,284 or 73.2% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Fort Lauderdale.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 5,806 or 3% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 1.4% will experience. Now, when talking about a percent this number seems so small however it's important to note that we're still talking about 2,800 properties in Fort Lauderdale. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see a good number of Fort Lauder residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 334 or 0.2% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Florida is about $600, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance cover damages to a dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Florida, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

The hurricane season is showing more of its damage everywhere in the country and how it can contribute to escalating flood damage for property owners. Today, let's talk about the upcoming changes to federal flood insurance for residents of the small city with a big heart, Milford, New Haven, Connecticut.

We've already talked about the overall changes to federal flood insurance rates and premiums for the state of Connecticut in our previous blog, so today we want to give more specifics to get why and how these changes came to be.

Connecticut had been through a rough patch recently due to tropical storm Elsa. All that rain caused flooding that took two weeks for some homeowners to bounce back from. A lot of people also didn't expect the amount of water that flooded them and damaged buildings. This instance is one of the proof that understanding the risk of flooding in your property is very crucial especially in a time where hurricane activity can bring devastating damages due to floods, strong winds, and sometimes even tornadoes.

A lot of participating communities will be seeing massive changes to rates for the good and the bad when it comes to rates, and these changes will be taking effect from none other than the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the new Risk Rating 2.0.

Risk Rating 2.0

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables which includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Designation in the flood map. What flood zone are you in?
• History of flood incidents, flood damage, and flood loss
• Type of floods that the property receives
• Flood claims made with the property
• Flood hazard, flood plain devolvement, and impact of flooding
• First-floor height and elevation
• Mitigation efforts made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Milford City, Connecticut. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

Let's start by covering this update with the good stuff coming with the Risk Rating 2.0. These are good changes as generally, this means that homeowners get to protect their homes and properties through a decreased flood insurance rate from FEMA and the NFIP.

In total, 3,244 or 35.4% of the FEMA policies for Milford homeowners. They will get this immediate decrease in flood insurance rates once the Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in. It's important to note that 1,674 or 18.2% of the policies in force will be getting a decrease that ranges from $0 to $50 (up to $600 per year) and about 1,570 or 17.1% of the policies will be getting a decrease ranging from $50 to more than $100 ($600 - >$1200 per year).

This type of change can really help a lot of these people get protected from the damages of flood, specifically coastal flooding where even the largest building is also a part of the flood-prone homes. Considering that Connecticut also has the second most expensive rates and premiums on the national average, this type of decrease can make the national flood insurance more affordable for more people.

The Bad

Now that we've covered the good things, we have to move into more changes that many people won't like. Starting with the bad change which represents a slight increase in flood insurance rates for policyholders of the NFIP.

This bad change will impact the largest chunk out of Milford since about 4,476 or 48.8% will be getting the increase. This means that flood insurance rates will go up from $0 to $10 per month ($0 - $120 per year).

Now we've already mentioned that the state is already the second most expensive flood insurance in the United States and if you're talking about getting that premium to more than $1500, a lot of homeowners might find it hard to get flood insurance. We'd like to remind everyone however that this isn't the end and you can still go through the private market.

The Ugly

Now, let's move into the ugly changes. We divided this change into three different parts which we call the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest. Let's talk about them.

First, the ugly change will still be about an increase in rates with FEMA when it comes to flood insurance, but we turn the notch up a bit. This will impact about 685 or 7.5% of the homeowners with an NFIP policy and you'll start to see that the increase will now range from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year).

Next, the uglier change will impact 668 or 7.3% of the policies in Milford. The increase we're talking about will start at more than $10 up to $50 per month ($120 -$600 per year). As you can notice, we're starting to see a higher increase as we move further down the line which brings us to the ugliest change.

Lastly, the ugliest change will impact 102 or 1.1% of the policies in the city. This time around the increase in rates will be more drastic since we're talking about more than a hundred homeowners that will get an increase of $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Regardless of what FEMA and the NFIP pull on your flood risk or what we call the fingerprint of your flood risk when you're impacted by this change you can expect to face more than $1500 premium and some can even go to $3000 premium. 

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Connecticut, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Today, we dive deeper into more specific territories and discuss the changes coming with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 to Milford City in Sussex County, Delaware.

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In turn, the NFIP and FEMA make sure that you will get accurate flood insurance rates for your policy.

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables which includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Zone Designation in the flood insurance rate maps
• Type of floods in the area. Is it from the coast? Is it pluvial or collected water from a storm?
• Flood claims made with the property
• Flood hazard determination, floodplain devolvement, and impact of flooding
• First-floor height and elevation of the structure.
• Flood mitigation measures on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Milford, Sussex County. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to the residents of Milford.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 39.4% or 8,728 National Flood Insurance policies in force in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 7,056 or 31.9% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 1,672 or 1.3% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 11,084 or 50.1% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Milford.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 1,906 or 8.6% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 383 or 1.8% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see few Milford residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 25 or 0.1% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average flood insurance rate across Delaware is about $750 according to Value Penguin, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Delaware, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

Colorado is a state known for its diverse landscapes ranging from deserts to rivers and each presents flood risks to properties across the state. We've already covered the statewide increases and decreases in flood insurance premiums with the Risk Rating 2.0.

Today, we dive deeper into more specific territories and discuss the changes coming with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 to Denver, Colorado.

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables which includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Designation in the flood zone maps.
• History of flood incidents, flood damage, and flood loss
• Flood claims made with the property
• Flood hazard, flood plain devolvement, and impact of flooding
• Risk of flood in the area, the chance of flooding, and flood frequency
• Mitigation efforts made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let floodwaters through?

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Denver, Colorado. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of Denver.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 46.8% or 533 National Flood Insurance policies in force in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 363 or 31.8% of the policies will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 170 or 14.9% of the national flood insurance policies in force. The immediate decrease ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 481 or 42.2% of the policies in the city itself. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest percent out of the population in Denver.

Now that we're facing increased climate risks, it's hard to ignore that the risk of flooding in areas that sit near the coastline is safe from the damage from floods.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 36 or 3.2% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 69 or 6.1% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see few Denver residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 21 or 1.8% of properties in the city. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 to >$1200 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from floodwaters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across Colorado is about $930, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to get private policies.

The National Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000. There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes. The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Los Angeles, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.

We've covered the gist of the upcoming changes to federal flood insurance under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As we dive deeper into the hurricane season and closer to the date of these updates, we want to prepare for what's to come to Sacramento.

We've covered the changes happening in each state and today, we dive into more specific territories and talk about the changes coming to federal flood insurance in Sacramento City, California.

The National Flood Insurance Program

For this new series of content, we will focus on the major cities in all major counties that are going to receive the bulk of the impact of the upcoming changes with flood insurance with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), but first, let's refresh our memory and see why these changes are happening.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the answer of the federal government when it comes to flood concerns. This program was established ever since 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is currently working as the federal or government agencies' flood insurance for the United States and its residents. FEMA and NFIP always look into analyzing and studying floodplain devolvement, flood model management, flood insurance, and disaster assistance. So, what does the NFIP cover?

First, it's important to keep in mind that flood insurance is a separate policy from your usual homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies. This means that if your house gets inundated during a flood event, it won't be the homeowner's policy that will give you flood coverage.

Now that we got that out of the way, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverages for the flood damage that your property will sustain. The property will involve both the dwelling or the building itself — either residential property or commercial — as well as the contents or the personal property that's inside the insured home. NFIP flood insurance will provide coverage for the dwelling that maxes to $250,000 and contents that maxes to $100,000.

There's also additional coverage that comes in when you're a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which can be enjoyed through the Community Rating System (CRS) and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC).

It's important to note however that the National Flood Insurance Program didn't have any major changes in the last thirty years until now which will be in the form of the Risk Rating 2.0.

What is the Risk Rating 2.0, you ask?

Risk Rating 2.0: What Changes?

This is what FEMA calls equity in action when it comes to making the cost of flood insurance policies fairer per policyholder. This simply means that when it comes to flood insurance rates, a lot of things will start to change with the NFIP and FEMA. Generally, this is because property values for each individual property will be accounted for when finalizing your quote and flood insurance premiums with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

It's important to note, however, that this won't mean that the cheapest flood insurance will go automatically to lower-valued homes. It's equally important that we take into account, just like FEMA does and the private flood insurance industry, what's called flood risk variables which includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Designation in the flood zone maps.
• History of flood incidents, flood damage, and flood loss
• Flood claims made with the property
• Flood hazard, flood plain devolvement, and impact of flooding
• Risk of flood in the area, the chance of flooding, and flood frequency
• Mitigation efforts made on the property. Is the lowest floor above the base flood elevation? Are there enough flood openings to let flood waters through?

Now that we've covered the NFIP and the Risk Rating 2.0, let's talk about its impact on Madison County and its seat, Huntsville City. We'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to the residents of the city.

The Good

When we're talking about these changes, we want to emphasize that this will solely involve flood premiums changes or updates from FEMA and the NFIP. Let's kick this off with the good changes coming to residents of the Big Tomato, Sacramento.

The good changes will involve an immediate decrease in flood premiums with FEMA. This decrease can go up to more than $100 (>$1200 per year) and will impact 28.8% or 15,143 National Flood Insurance policies in force in the city. We divide these changes into two parts.

The first covers the decrease in flood insurance rates or premiums that ranges from $0 to $50 per month (up to $600 per year). About 12,853 or 24.5% of the policies in Sacramento will be impacted by this change.

On the other hand, you have a better deal with the second part of this good change since it generally covers 2,290 or 4.4% of the national flood insurance policies in force. This means that about 4.4% of the populous in Sacramento will get an immediate decrease that from $50 to more than $100 per month ($600 - >$1200 per year).

Considering that the national average when it comes to premiums is about $1000 across the United States, this can really help a lot of people get flood insurance through FEMA especially when we're talking about coastal zones where flood risks can be extremely high and get the bulk of the damages from natural disasters.

The Bad

If there are good changes, there are also bad ones. This change from the Risk Rating 2.0 will get increase your flood insurance costs when it comes to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The increase will range from $0 to $10 per month (up to $120 per year) and will impact about 37,162 or 70.8% of the policies in Sacramento. Now, this increase may seem so small, but you have to consider that this takes the biggest chunk out of the population in Sacramento.

The Ugly

Now, let's move deeper and into the ugly changes. For this part, we want to emphasize that we divided this into three parts: the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest change. Let's dive into specifics.

First, the ugly change will be covering about 109 or 0.2% of the policies. The reason why this falls under the ugly change is that the increase is now noticeable since it ranges from $10 to $20 per month ($120 to $240 per year). 

On the other hand, you have the uglier change which is something that about 70 or 0.1% will experience. This time around, the increase won't be bearable since it ranges from $20 to $50 per month ($240 to $600 per year).

Lastly, you can also see few Sacramento residents fall on the ugliest side. This mostly involves about 7 policies that FEMA has in force in Sacramento. Although it's a very small number of people, you have to realize that the increase ranges from $50 to $60 per month ($600 to $720 per year in annual premium).

This can really make it difficult to go into federal flood insurance and even a harder experience if the private flood insurance market is not available to protect you from flood waters. Regardless of where you fall on these three, considering that the average premium across California is about $850, this type of increase can really hurt your budget and we won't even blame you if you want to move to another insurer.

When Will It Happen?

The Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will take effect starting this October 1st, 2021. It's important to note however that you really don't need to immediately adopt these new rates once Fall comes.

The NFIP will allow you to adopt these new rates on your renewal, so if you just renewed your policy with FEMA last April then you can move into the new rates in April 2022.

At the end of the day, we're still subject to extreme weather events, and our friends in coastal areas are more prone to the dangers of these disasters. It's best to know where to get a policy best because we've seen that even without floods, a lot of people still drown due to these expensive insurance premiums.

If you have questions on your flood insurance options in Sacramento, your flood risk score, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand flood risks, your flood insurance, and mitigating your property long-term.