Today, let's talk about the flood map changes coming to Roseburg and some other major cities in Oregon. To better understand this, we're going to cover the good, bad, and ugly changes for the residents, the history of flooding in the area, how it's going to impact your insurance policy, and your flood insurance options.

History of Flood

Oregon has experienced its fair share of flooding throughout history. Although most of these flooding events were before recent time, it shows how much impact the state can endure when natural disasters as such hit.

To give an example, since Oregon, specifically Douglas County has one prominent river in its vicinity, the threat of flooding can really become high and its impact equally devastating. In 1996, we've seen how the Umpqua river engulfed most of the state with flood water for weeks. This includes major areas like Roseburg, Jerry Redfern, and southwest Oregon. This event, unfortunately, caused 3 deaths and insurmountable property damage. The West Coast Flooding of '96-97  is within the same year of the Willamette flood known to cause over $500 million in damages and eight deaths in late January up to mid-February. This specific event however was due to unusual weather patterns and heavy snowfall which rapidly became snowmelt as February came in.

Generally, Spring Thaw, wherein melting of snow and ice from the previous winter starts to seep into the soil and some excess water get redirected to certain areas happen in mid-March to late-May before the Summer season which wasn't the case. In retrospect, this same event can happen in Roseburg knowing how climate change has affected the weather patterns in our country throughout the years. 

Flood insurance rate maps (FIRM) or flood maps are updates from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to show the current changes in flood risks, floodplain devolvement, and more explicitly the risk premium zones and special flood hazard areas (SFHA). This gives residents and the government an idea of how much flooding can occur in a certain area. Creating FIRM is a carefully long process since the federal government has to collect all the data on flood damage, flood loss, and flood claims coming into the communities involved throughout the years.

Lucky for Douglas County, Oregon, and Roseburg city, you won't really have to wait long since FEMA published an update on this early this March. So, let's talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly changes this flood map update may bring to the residents of Roseburg.

The Good

When it comes to the good changes, this would show as "In to Out" because generally properties impacted by this change will be moved from inside a high-risk flood zone and out to a low-risk flood zone. This may show up in maps as your property now being marked as Flood Zone X when previously it's in a Flood Zone A. This means that the 31 Roseburg homeowners will be getting lower flood insurance and won't be required to carry flood insurance on their property.

A quick disclaimer, we really discourage not getting flood insurance even if you are mapped into a low-risk area. It's important to mention that FEMA found that most flood claims come from these zones and there are also multiple reasons why it can flood in low-risk flood zones. You can check out our podcast on it below:

This change also means lower flood insurance rates on the affected properties. Oregon's rates average at around $912, so let's say you're paying a $950 premium in your previous flood zone, you can expect this to go down to maybe around $700 to $800 depending on the structure of your property.

The Bad

When it comes to these changes, it's basically the exact opposite of the good change. About 590 Roseburg properties are being moved from outside the low-risk areas to a high-risk area of flooding. This change is written as "out to in" in these FIRM updates.

Generally, if you're part of this movement, you were previously in Flood Zone X and now you're mapped into Flood Zone A. This can mean a huge impact on your flood insurance premiums since generally, this is going to be around a five to fifteen percent increase from your previous rates.

Consequentially, this means that your mortgage and FEMA will require you to carry a flood insurance policy with the property being that it's expected to experience more flood. Flood Zone A, also known as the 100-year floodplain, may experience a major flood once every one hundred years. Note, this is just a rough estimate since we've seen how unpredictable and unusual weather patterns can affect how much flood you may get.

The Ugly

Now, let's talk about around 780 properties and Roseburg property owners who are going to get an ugly hand with this change: the "In to In". This generally means that your property is already mapped in a high-risk area, maybe you're closer to the river compared to other properties and is already mapped into Flood Zone A, then you might be one of the 780 property owners who are going to be moved deeper into the high-risk area and what's generally considered as the special flood hazard area (SFHA). This will show up as your property's marked under Flood Zone AE. 

This means even higher premiums and what might be the highest one in the city. This number is highest in the flood map update since, generally, Roseburg's perimeter is inside the Umpqua River. If you'd look at the map itself, we have the South Umpqua River that goes through the city and Roseburg North is directly south of the North Umpqua River. 

If the average premium for the city is around $912, you should have your wallet ready since it is most likely for this to go up to $2000 depending on the exact location of your property relative to any body of water and its overall construction and structure. Requirements for flood insurance may also take effect as federal flood insurance sometimes asks homeowners to produce an elevation certificate and additional documents in order to approve the flood insurance purchase.

You also ought to be more careful and make sure you, your property, and personal items are prepared and protected when flooding happens because this can also mean that your general area might receive a much worse flood damage impact compared to those who are in Flood Zone A and especially Flood Zone X.

Flood Insurance Options

We always have two general options when it comes to insurance companies from where you can get your flood insurance policy from The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) under FEMA or the federal government and the Private Flood insurance market. Let's go over each option, so you know what you can get from them.

The NFIP

When it comes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), it's important mentioning that your community, Roseburg, is one of the participating communities in the NFIP. This means that the city and the federal government already reached an agreement on helping improve flood plain management regulations and reduce flood risks in the area. 

A participating community in the NFIP gets direct access to their flood insurance policy, disaster aid, and grants. This also means that you're going to have the Community Rating System (CRS) which scores Roseburg when it comes to flood mitigation. Depending on your CRS score, Roseburg might receive up to a 40% of discount on flood insurance premiums. This means that if you can lower your $912 rate to $547.

The NFIP offers coverage for properties (buildings, structures, houses) $250,000 maximum if we're talking about residential properties. This can only go up to a max of $500,000 if the policy's written as a commercial building. This is with a $100,000 max coverage for contents or personal items. The NFIP won't provide additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs with the flood policy. The only time that additional living expenses and loss of use will be covered is if there's a presidential declaration for the areas affected by flooding.

Your community may also file for the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage that goes up to a max of $30,000. This will be used for flood mitigation efforts on your property and is only eligible for properties that are in severe repetitive loss condition or substantially damaged by flood. Repetitive loss means that your property had two or more flood insurance claims in the last ten years. Substantially damaged properties on the other hand mean that your property's total flood loss is worth forty to fifty percent of its market price. If you aren't able to meet either one of these conditions, then you can't really be part of the ICC coverage.

Flood insurance purchase in the NFIP may take up to 30 days before the policy takes effect on your property, so if you're looking to get your insurance from the NFIP and FEMA, you want to file this ahead of time just to make sure.

The Private Flood

Roseburg residents may also get flood insurance from the private market or private insurance companies. Now, this option offers the same coverages and more compared to the NFIP.

First, property coverage can go up to $10,000,000 since there's no max limit when it comes to private flood policies. This goes the same for content coverage which you can get up to $1,000,000. This is why if you have a large property or an expensive one, you might want to go through this option. If you own $350,000 worth of residential property and you go through the NFIP, that means that you're going to have to let go of the $100,000 on the property and might cause some downgrades on your part.

Private flood also provides additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs coverages on top of your standard flood insurance policy with them. Flood insurance requirements won't be asked too even if you're in the higher risk zones.

ICC coverage is also included with your property coverage since most of these insurance companies also want to make sure that you experience less flood loss, so they won't have to pay you a bigger amount on flood claims.

Private flood insurance purchase is significantly quicker as well. This means that you get to have your policy take effect within 15 days or less depending on the company you're getting your flood policy from.

At the end of the day, having any form of insurance is better than no insurance. The choice of where you'll be getting it really depends on you. Roseburg's geographical location can really be threatening when it comes to flood considering how rivers are in your general area all the time. Let's keep rose-colored glasses when looking at the future starting here.

So, if you have questions on flood map updates, flood insurance options, and coverages, or anything about flood, please reach out to us.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to share this knowledge with you, so you can also be prepared when crap happens through flood education and awareness.

       

Today, let's talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly changes for residents of Cheyenne in Roger Mills County. How it will impact your flood insurance rates, your flood insurance options, and the answer will you still be okay when these changes take effect in OK?

Sooner State

Historically speaking, Oklahoma hasn't had much flooding compared to other states. This more noticeable when you look into Roger Mills County. Cheyenne hasn't had a major flood disaster in the last 10 years and this is despite having been close to some form body of water. Importantly, the community is still doing efforts in making sure that flood mitigation and flood prevention are intact. This shouldn't be a reason to be complacent on things since we've seen how much damage a natural disaster can be especially last year where we had multiple hurricanes landfall across the United States.

It's worth mentioning that most of the residents here don't secure a flood insurance policy as the March 2021 report shows that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) only detected one policy in force. Maybe this is due to the fact that there's no flooding in this area. This doesn't mean that you're going to be safe since 25 percent of flood damages actually occur outside of the Special Flood Hazard Area.

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) changes are a result of FEMA's effort in flood study to help property owners be prepared in flood scenarios. This generally includes flood hazard determinations, flood insurance rate changes under the federal government flood insurance, and the risk of flooding in an area. Let's talk about the changes on these flood maps for Cheyenne and see why you would need more policy than your standard homeowner's insurance policy.

The Good

When we say that the 112 residents will be experiencing a good change from the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), this means that the property owners' house, building, and structure is moved from in to out of the high-risk flood zone. Some would call this a move from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone X since the property is going to be removed from the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).

You can expect some of the properties across the county to be moved into the low-risk flood zone from a high-risk flood zone. This generally means lower flood insurance premium rates and no mandatory flood insurance policy to be required. However, we really discourage not getting flood insurance as we've seen in the past few months that certain areas across the country which doesn't generally flood experience flooding. Having this good change doesn't mean zero floodings moving forward since we've seen redirect of floodwater and changes in floodplain create devastating floods over at low-risk areas.

The Bad

Now, we're going to discuss a movement that's considered a bad change for about 990 homeowners since they're moving from out to in. Out to in means that you're originally from a low-risk area before the flood map update, but your property's now being moved into a high-risk area. Most people would call this a move from Flood Zone X to Flood Zone A.

Now, if you're not doing flood insurance with FEMA through the National Flood Insurance Program or Private Flood, you might want to prepare your wallet since being moved into these high-risk flood zones mean that the federal government and mortgage will require you to carry a flood policy with your property. When it comes to flood insurance purchase it's important to note that there will be higher premium rates if you're in a high-risk area like Flood Zone A and this can really be shocking if you're not financially prepared since, unlike other insurance, flood policy's mostly paid upfront.

If you already have a flood policy in place and you're part of the out to in properties being moved, then you can expect that your insurer will move your premium to a higher price as well. This can mean that a premium of $700 can go up to $1150 after this movement. Being in a high-risk zone also means that you might be asked by FEMA through the NFIP to provide additional documents as a requirement since the property's in a high-risk zone now. These documents may include an elevation certificate which can cost you as well from $600 to $1000. 

The Ugly

This change is what's called an "in to in" movement since the property was already in a high-risk zone before being moved into a higher-risk flood zone. This is what 1228 of the homeowners will experience once this flood map update takes effect. Some would see this as a move from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone AE or the 100-year flood zone. This means that FEMA determined that the area or the property has at least one percent chance of flooding every 100 years.

Now, this doesn't mean that the property will experience a flood only once every 100 years since this is just FEMA and NFIP showing the bigger picture of flood risks. We've seen in the past few years how certain things can influence a devastating flood like redirection of water, snowmelt increasing the water levels of surrounding water formations like lakes, rivers, and basins, and also consistent rainfall over the course of few days. This change also means that higher insurance premiums will be in place especially for those doing a policy with FEMA and the NFIP.

Change can be a process that we all partake with, but in this case, you can fight the changes and we'll tell you how.

Flood Insurance Options

Now, you should know that regardless of your loan or mortgage, you can start your flood insurance purchase from either FEMA or federal flood insurance or through private market flood insurance. Let's cover how they can benefit you and their differences.

The NFIP

When it comes to federal flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and FEMA, you should know that flood insurance purchase isn't immediate. You will have to follow a process that can take up to 30 days before your policy takes effect on your home. Now, it's important to note that the NFIP only provides coverage that maxes out at $250,000 for residential properties and $500,000 for commercial properties. Both of which also have coverage of contents of up to $100,000. Now, this is constant regardless if you're in a preferred low-risk zone or a high-risk zone.

Flood insurance premiums average $856, but this can go up to $2000 with FEMA and the NFIP however this can be lowered if you're in the participating communities since FEMA provides a discount of up to 40 percent. Now, this depends on your score in the Community Rating System (CRS). More importantly, regardless of the score, communities that participate with the NFIP and FEMA programs get access to disaster assistance and disaster grants. 

If you're also doing a FEMA and NFIP flood policy, you may also file for an appeal on your flood zone if you believe that you shouldn't be in a high-risk flood zone. You can do this by making sure that your elevation certificate shows that your lowest adjacent grade is above the base flood elevation, and then you can file a letter of map amendment (LOMA) to get your property removed from the high-risk zone at best or have your flood premiums be significantly lower.

The Private Flood

On the other side of the coin, there's the private flood insurance market which generally provides the same coverage that FEMA does, if not more, for lower premium rates. Now, it's important to preface that private flood may not be available for everyone since they get to choose their risks and areas they provide coverage to. If you do get your hands on private flood insurance, then you can expect a property coverage of up to $10,000,000 if you want to and $1,000,000 for contents coverage. This includes things like additional living expenses, loss of use, and replacement costs as well.

Private Flood also has a short waiting period for flood insurance. Sometimes, it takes them up to 14 days for the policy to be completed, but most times it can be done over a span of 48 hours from application. The good thing about the private flood as well is that I've seen flood claims get paid on both sides. You won't also need additional documents when it comes to private flood since each company has its own resources to determine the flood risks in your area.

At the end of the day, flood insurance is more than another insurance since this is your only flood protection against natural disasters. Losing your house and your personal property because they were uninsured can really turn your life upside down.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation, so if you have any questions on flood insurance, flood insurance rates or premiums, how to check your flood zone, how to cancel your NFIP policy, or anything about flood, please feel free to reach out to us through our links below.

       

Is the flood map update for Fairfield City fair for the resident's pockets?

Let's talk about the recent update on flood maps for Fairfield City in Jefferson County, Iowa. What does it mean, how can it impact you, and can you fight these changes?

At the start of March 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent out new flood maps for Jefferson County, Iowa. This Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) update means that there will be changes in both flood zone designations for properties as well as flood insurance premiums. The state expects 20.5% of its properties to be impacted by these changes for the good, bad, and even the ugly.

If we are to look back at the most recent flooding in the state, it's noticeable that there has been quite some flooding in the state as a whole. This is mostly due to storms pushing out of the state or the aftermath of storms themselves. At one point, I can recall that news broke out since more than 6000 homeowners lost electricity due to 4 inches of rain coming through Jefferson and Wapello. In recent years, flood incidents are mostly brought by heavy rainfall, storm drains overflowing, and the aforementioned storms. Regardless, these situations can bring devastating floods as we've seen across the country the past few years. 

This can really be difficult for Fairfield since reports showed that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) only accounted for six flood insurance policies that are active. Now, this data might be delayed, but if this represents the state of flood insurance in the city then it can be dangerous for both the property owner and their respective properties.

Let's talk about the good changes, the bad, and the ugly ones to better understand what these numbers really mean for your flood insurance.

The Good

Good news for a few residents in the city since 22 homeowners are going to experience an "in to out" movement. This generally means that if you're currently in a high-risk flood zone, flood zone A, then the flood map update will have you removed from these zones to a preferred low-risk flood zone, like flood zone X.

This can mean that you'll no longer have to carry mandatory flood insurance for your property. However, if you'd look at the numbers, even low-risk flood zones get flooded due to a redirection of water. If you were to listen to our advice and keep your flood insurance policy intact then you're going to expect a lower flood insurance premium once the flood map update takes effect. This can mean that if you're currently paying for a $1000 premium, it can go down to $700 to $800.

The Bad

On the other hand, if you'd look at the bad side, there will be around 3000 properties moved from outside of low-risk flood zones into high-risk flood zones. Some would call this a move from flood zone X to flood zone A, but you can also call it as "out to in". This can really be bad for these homeowners since it means that their property is recorded to have a higher possibility of flood compared to the previous years. Equally, this also means that the federal government, NFIP, and FEMA will require you to carry flood insurance for your property. If you thought that you don't need one then FEMA and NFIP have good reasons why you should get one.

Other than the higher risk of flooding, it's also important to note that this can cost you more money if you're already doing a flood insurance policy. For these zones, you can expect a rate increase of five to fifteen percent increase in your flood insurance premium once the update takes effect. This can mean that a $1000 flood insurance premium before can become $1150 and if you're doing a National Flood Insurance Program's policy then you might also need to prepare for additional documents since you're now in a high-risk flood zone.

The Ugly

Lastly, there's the ugly change. We call this change as "in to in" since you're already in a high-risk flood zone like flood zone A and this update will have you moved into flood zone AE or the 100-year floodplain which is a higher risk flood zone and a special flood hazard zone.

This is the case for about 90 properties in the city. Property owners will be sure to face a storm of headaches since there's going to be a significantly higher risk for floods in these areas. This is generally because a community in flood zone AE has one chance of flood hazard every one hundred years, but this is just the big picture since there will be flooding given the circumstances as we've seen in the past few years.

Since there's a significant difference between the number of those experiencing bad and ugly changes compared to the good ones, let's talk about how you can fight these changes.

Flood Insurance Options

It's common knowledge that you can definitely get flood policy from the federal government through the NFIP and FEMA. If you're in a community that participates in their program, you may also take advantage of the benefits that the federal flood insurance provides to participating communities.

These benefits will depend on your community rating system (CRS) and the higher score your community gets, the higher discounts and perks you get. This can come through a flood insurance premium of up to forty percent. However, this doesn't exclude you from being required to carry a policy for your property if you're being moved into the bad and ugly changes. You can reach out to your floodplain management to check if you're a participating community.

Let's say you're already doing a policy with the NFIP and FEMA, you might be wondering what to do to fight these changes. For one, you can also get an elevation certificate to show that your lowest adjacent grade is above the base flood elevation which will significantly lower your flood insurance rate. You can also use the same elevation certificate with photos to file for a letter of map amendment (LOMA) which can get you removed from the high-risk flood zone however it's important to note that this won't guarantee a win on your part.

Another option is to move to private flood insurance. Now, we've heard that a lot of people are scared of going through a private flood market, but this shouldn't be a cause of worry. You can rest easy knowing that private flood provides the same coverage and benefits as the NFIP, if not more. We usually call this "more for less" since there are customers that get up to $10,000,000 in their overall coverage for their property.

It's also important to note that in the event of a flood unless there's a presidential declaration, federal flood insurance won't provide additional living expenses which is something that most private flood insurance companies include in their coverage.

There are cases as well where the NFIP will require additional documents for your application however the private flood generally has a different process in determining the flood risk of your property which won't cost you a dime.

 

Everyone experiences this type of change however it's integral that you too will be prepared in the event of a flood. Flood damage can take a lot from a person more than their property as previous floodings across the country show, and without the right insurance, this can really make or break you.

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation, so if you have any questions on flood insurance, flood insurance rates or premiums, how to check your flood zone, how to cancel your NFIP policy, or anything about flood, please feel free to reach out to us through our links below: