As we start to move out of the winter season little by little and temperatures start to rise again to welcome spring, some communities are facing big concerns when it comes to snow piles. One of these areas would be Weber County's Eden city in the state of Utah.

Snow Piling Up a Flood Threat for Northern Utah

In this article, we talk about what's going on in Eden, Utah, and why snow piling up is creating one of the biggest risks for flooding during this season.

NORTHERN UTAH FACES SNOW PROBLEMS

Residents and locals of Eden City, Utah face big concerns with the snowfall amount this week. According to one resident in the city, they received at least 3 feet of snow just this week. This rings true especially when you look start to look at the Snowbasin Resort which received 33 inches of snow in just 24 hours

For some residents, this winter is considered to be the worst. So, how does snow impact the potential for flooding the community of Eden?

Get A Quote

SNOW AND FLOOD

For some people, the spring season is the best season of the year. If you don't have allergic reactions to all the pollen and flowers blooming, this is generally the best season to go out. You can't even deny that once all those plants bloom again as they move out of the cold winter weather, it's definitely "Instagrammable".

If we look a few years back, we saw this type of devastating flood event during the spring season in Nebraska in 2019. What some would call "The Great Flood of 2019" caused about $1.3 billion in damages across the state and took three lives when the Missouri River Basin was overwhelmed with bomb cyclones and caused a lot of flooding across the Midwest. In Iowa, this event even impacted their access to fresh water.

Snow Piling Up a Flood Threat for Northern Utah

Why did this happen? Well, generally this is because of the rapid snowmelt and when the snow melts, it has to go somewhere. The important thing one should show about spring runoff is that it mostly happens under the condition that natural soil is already oversaturated with water and can no longer take in more. So the excess water goes into low-lying areas causing flooding to communities.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

One thing we highly recommend is keeping a safe distance from the foundation of your property or your home from the snowpack in your yard. It's easy to forget the fact that it doesn't really take that much precipitation and snow to create about two inches of surface water. Generally, we recommend a safe distance of about 6 inches to 1 foot.

It's important to ensure that you steer clear from snow in general because, during the spring season, we can expect spring thunderstorms and spring precipitation which only worsens runoff during this time. So things like heavy rain, storms, and atmospheric rivers can easily worsen the melting snow and produce more runoff.

Snow Piling Up a Flood Threat for Northern Utah

In Eden, Utah's case, 3 feet of heavy snow can be easily melted by a couple of inches of rain.

We always say that when things like this happen, it's important to be close to your smartphone, TV, or the news to get your weather forecasts ahead of time in order for you to prepare ahead of time.

You can access the National Water and Climate Center, National Weather Service, or your local news to get recent forecasts on the weather during this season.

FLOOD INSURANCE IN SPRING

The most important thing that can protect you and your property from getting taken down by flood damages and not being able to bounce back from flood loss is flood insurance. However, take this as a precautionary reminder that flood insurance may be hard to find during the spring season starting in the month of March, especially for private flood insurance.

Snow Piling Up a Flood Threat for Northern Utah

During the spring season, some private flood insurance companies would go on moratoriums which simply means that they won't provide insurance during that period. They will only cater to people who already have an active policy with them, so if you're applying for one, it may really be hard to find.

Buy Now

Getting into private flood insurance as soon as now can really help you resolve the concern of insuring your property because they only have a waiting period of 3 to 15 days.

Snow Piling Up a Flood Threat for Northern Utah

Although the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) don't really do moratoriums, you still should be aware that you might not get flood insurance from them immediately because of their strict 30-day wait period.

New call-to-action

If you are ready to take the next steps to get the right flood insurance coverage then there are three simple steps.

  • Fill out this form — Get A Quote
  • Talk with our flood education specialist.
  • Get back to the important things in your life.

Got more flood insurance questions? Visit our Flood Learning Center below to know more:

Flood Insurance Guru - Flood Learning Center

As we fast approach the hurricane season and go through the middle of Spring, we want to understand how this current weather can affect the risk of flooding throughout Colorado. We'll unpack the impacts of the recent snowstorms on flood insurance, flooding in general, and how the Spring runoff can impact these disasters.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Blog | Colorado Snowstorms: Impacts of the May Spring Runoff

As we end the month of April, Colorado has been facing a storm system that brings both rainfall and snowstorms across the state. The heavy precipitation brought about 1 inch up to 4 inches of rain in some areas and this is expected to go on as we move further into hurricane season. Since we're going into a warmer climate in the Spring season, this type of weather can really be very dangerous to residents of the state.

Spring Runoff and Spring Thaw

It's a common occurrence when it comes to the transition of seasons from winter to spring that the snow collected over the former season will start to melt and seep into the soil. This event is called a spring thaw. In turn, it saturates the ground make it less capable of draining water naturally. Considering how much snow is coming in Colorado, this definitely presents a more prominent spring thaw which will cause more flooding in the state if this weather keeps its pace.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Blog | Colorado Snowstorms: Impacts of the May Spring Runoff

As the melting snow seeps into the ground this also causes streams and river levels to rise. This event is called a spring runoff and if we look at the 30 inches of snow covering major parts of the state, this can mean that flooding can be more frequent even with a small amount of rain. When it comes to flood threats, a rising level of any body of water plus the less capable draining of the soil due to spring thaw is sure to bring flooding even in high-lying areas. 

Flood Insurance

It's important to note that this type of event can cause flood maps to be affected wherein properties might be moved into a high-risk flood zone. This is why despite being in a low-risk flood zone, we recommend property owners buy flood insurance to protect their property.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Blog | Colorado Snowstorms: Impacts of the May Spring Runoff

As flood is expected to be more frequent in the coming weeks, it's best to make sure that you're well protected with flood insurance.  Now, it's important to note that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be able to provide you a flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as long as you're in a participating community. So this may be a go-to solution when it comes to flood insurance.

FloodSmart | The National Flood Insurance Program

The NFIP provides coverage for property damage that maxes up to $250,000 for residential policies and $500,000 max for commercial policies. There's also a max of $100,000 when it comes to contents or personal property coverage. However, it should be mentioned that federal flood insurance generally has a 30-day waiting period before your policy takes effect on the property. So, if you're going with federal flood insurance, you should expect this waiting period and offset your plans on flood policies.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Blog | Colorado Snowstorms: Impacts of the May Spring Runoff

On the other hand, there's also private flood insurance. First, it's important to note that there may some private insurers who are going to pull away from these high-risk areas. Private flood generally offers more coverage compared to the NFIP and needs less time when it comes to the waiting period for the policy to take effect. It's important to note that the NFIP maxes out at the amount we mentioned previously.

This is different from private flood since they really don't have coverage limits which means you can get more than $250,000 in property coverage, more than $100,000 in contents coverage, and extra coverage such as additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Blog | Colorado Snowstorms: Impacts of the May Spring Runoff

So, if you have any questions on preparing for flood, flood insurance options, flood zones, or anything about flood reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to share this knowledge with you, so you too can be prepared when crap happens. Click the links below to call us, watch our daily flood education videos on YouTube, or get a quote for your flood policy to get started protecting your property from floods.

The Flood Insurance Guru | 2054514294    Get Your Quote from Flood Insurance Guru     The Flood Insurance Guru | Chris Greene | YouTube