April 2022 Flood Map Updates: Walworth, Wisconsin

Risk Rating 2.0 is a new tool developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to determine whether communities are at risk from flooding.

This tool uses a combination of data sources to identify areas where flooding is likely to occur and the same data will also be the basis for your premium rate.

One of the biggest things that this new rating system won't take into account when it comes to premium rates is flood zones. How will this impact these new flood map updates?

Walworth, Wisconsin

Walworth, Wisconsin experienced significant flooding in 2018 and 2019. The floods were caused by a combination of heavy rains and melting snow. The 2018 floods damaged homes, businesses, and infrastructure, and forced many residents to evacuate.

The 2019 floods were even more destructive, causing nearly $2 billion in damage and resulting in the death of one person. In response to the floods, the State of Wisconsin has implemented a number of flood mitigation measures. These measures include constructing levees and floodwalls, dredging rivers and streams, and creating wetlands.

However, it is unclear whether these measures will be sufficient to protect against future floods. In 2022, Wisconsin experienced another series of devastating floods. These floods caused $4.5 billion in damage and resulted in the death

This type of history with flooding is only bound to expect to see major flood map changes. Today, we want to talk about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly changes coming to flood maps of Walworth County, Wisconsin this April 6th, 2022.

The Good

When it comes to the good changes in flood map updates, this generally falls into the "in to out movement". It's called this way because a property that's in a high-risk flood zone will be moved out to a low-risk flood zone like Flood Zone X.

This is a good thing for 151 property owners impacted by this movement in Walworth County. This simply means that your property is being removed from the special flood hazard area (SFHA). This is a significant number because generally, we see fewer properties moving out from a high-risk zone whenever there are new flood insurance rate maps.

This also means that due to the lower risks, your mortgage company will no longer require you to carry flood insurance on your property.

Although we'd love to tell you to cancel that policy, get your refund, and save more money by removing flood insurance from your expenses, it's still a bad idea to not have flood insurance.

The Bad

Now, let's move into the bad changes which are coming in form of the aforementioned "out to in movement". This change is expected to impact only 75 properties in Walworth, Wisconsin. Think of it as getting mapped to a Flood Zone A when you were previously in a Flood Zone X.

Although this doesn't really impact premium rates directly, it's important to note that Flood Zone A generally means that the area doesn't have a base flood elevation.

Being part of this change can still hurt your premium rates regardless of whether you're doing a National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policy or a private flood insurance one.

Properties in Flood Zone A, SFHA, or any high-risk zone are also required to carry flood insurance always.

The Ugly

Lastly, we have the ugly change or "in to in movement" which covers the largest impact on this flood map update for the county. At least 2,063 properties will retain their flood zone. This means that if you're in Flood Zone AE, you will stay there until the next flood map update. Think of it as moving from a Flood Zone A to a Flood Zone AE. 

If you're staying in your flood zone this means that you will also retain the same flood insurance rates since your risks stay the same. On the other hand, if you fall into being moved deeper into the SFHA, which indicates that you're facing a higher risk for flooding, you will also see your premium rates increase significantly.

Now, let's talk about your flood insurance options in Walworth County. Watch the video below to know the difference between the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Private Flood Insurance market.

Flood insurance is important now more than ever as we face higher risks for floods. You don't want to be blindsided by all that floodwater and find yourself in a lot of losses.

If you want to learn more about flood insurance in Wisconsin, flood mitigation, or anything related to flood insurance, click below to go to our Flood Learning Center:

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