A month from the official launch of the new Risk Rating 2.0 program with FEMA and the NFIP, we equally want to focus on the upcoming changes to flood maps. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be changing the flood zones for multiple states starting this month and for this one, we want to cover the upcoming update to Sibley in Iowa's Osceola County.

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Flood Zones in Risk Rating 2.0

Out with the old, in with the new federal flood insurance program with Risk Rating 2.0 and this means that we're past the legacy program which looks at flood zones as a determining factor for your flood insurance rate or flood insurance premium. However, it's still crucial to understand why the Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will impact the flood insurance studies and the industry itself.

You can learn more about Risk Rating 2.0 by visiting our blog covering it.

READ: NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 Update

It's important to keep in mind that Risk Rating 2.0 will only look at flood zones for regulatory purposes. This means flood insurance rate maps (FIRM) and the flood zone changes happening with it will only be used to determine whether or not a property is required to carry flood insurance or not.

Basically, the rating flood maps of old are out and the regulatory flood maps of Risk Rating 2.0 is the new standard.

Today, we discuss today the good, the bad, and the ugly changes with the flood map updates to Osceola County that will start to take effect this November 5th, 2021. We want to focus on how many properties will be impacted by this new floodplain mapping, how many properties are moving into high-risk flood zones, how many are being removed from it, and how many are going deeper into the special flood hazard areas (SFHA).

The Good

Starting with the good changes with this flood map update. We say that this is a good change because a property impacted by this will be removed from the high-risk areas or SFHA. FEMA would call this the "in to out" movement.

When it comes to Osceola County in Iowa, about 106 properties will be moved into low-risk zones. This means that if you're one of these houses moving in to out, the insured building written on your flood insurance policy will be in the moderate-to-low-risk flood areas which are Flood Zones B, Flood Zone C, and the famous Flood Zone X.

Since Risk Rating 2.0 only looks at these regulatory flood maps in order to understand the overall flood risk of a property, being in these low-risk flood areas will give you an option to not carry flood insurance to your property.

Despite this, we want to mention that low-risk doesn't mean zero risk. The risk for flooding in these areas is still very much possible although generally, the chance of flooding in these zones is very low. It's still best to carry flood insurance at all times in order to protect your property from any and all flood damage. According to FEMA, 25% of flood insurance claims come from these flood zones. Flood insurance also helps individuals start preparing by lowering their flood risk.

The Bad

Now, let's move to the bad changes coming with this new flood map update. FEMA calls this an "out to in" movement since the flood insurance rate map will take properties that are in the low-risk zones and place them into high-risk zones.

There are 2242 property owners that will experience this movement in the upcoming floodplain map. This means that if you're impacted by this bad change, the regulatory standpoint of Risk Rating 2.0 when it comes to flood zones will kick in due. Property owners that are included in the out-to-in movement will now be required to carry flood insurance regardless if they insured residential properties or commercial ones.

High-risk areas like flood zone A or 100-year floodplain generally mean that the properties in this area will have a 26% chance of flood water inundating during a 30-year mortgage. 

The Ugly

Lastly, we have the ugly changes coming to Osceola County and its cities like Sibley. The ugly change is something that FEMA calls an "in to in" movement. This is because this will impact properties that are already in the SFHA and will be mapped into a higher-risk flood zone. We could also say that this is like moving your insured property from a flood zone A to a flood zone AE.

About 106 property owners are expected to experience this in-to-in movement on the flood maps. Just like the bad change or out to in, this also means that you will be required to carry a flood insurance policy for your property.

Now that we have covered the good, bad, ugly changes, and how this can impact your flood insurance purchase, let's talk about your flood insurance options in Sibley, Iowa.

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The NFIP

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is purely managed by the federal government since this is FEMA's answer to flood insurance. An NFIP flood policy can get you flood coverage on both your dwelling and the contents within it.

When we say dwelling, this simply pertains to either the residential property or commercial building that you're trying to insure with NFIP and FEMA; contents will be more about the personal property and items you have inside the insured building.

There is a coverage limit when it comes to federal flood policies. Flood damage to buildings will be covered to a maximum of $250,000 for residential policies and can only go up to $500,000 maximum if it's for a commercial property. Regardless of the type of property you have written, you can expect to get a $100,000 maximum contents coverage from an NFIP policy.

There's also what's called the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage. This is a $30,000 additional coverage for your property in order to make sure that there are flood mitigation efforts made on the property according to the federal government's standards.

Generally, this can include sandbagging your property, installing floodproofing walls, raising your lowest floor from the base flood elevation levels, and putting flood openings. The labor that goes into making these mitigation efforts happen will also be covered under the ICC.

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There are also perks with your participating community in Sibley. A participating community gets access to federal flood insurance and disaster assistance, but more importantly, you also get to work with your community on raising your Community Rating System (CRS) score. The CRS measures and rewards the overall flood mitigation efforts done by the community according to FEMA's standards on floodplain management. Simply put, the higher your CRS score is, the bigger the flood insurance discount you'll get from FEMA and the NFIP.

You can start enjoying your NFIP policy after a 30-day waiting period from the flood insurance purchase.

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The Private Flood

If the federal flood insurance option doesn't really work for you then you can manage this new floodplain mapping through the private flood insurance market. It's important to note that this market will solely be managed and provided by private insurance companies which generally means that the red tapes FEMA and NFIP has to go through won't be there.

The first thing you'll immediately see with the private flood market is that there are significantly shorter waiting periods for your flood policy. Once you have everything settled and paid for, a private flood insurance policy can take effect on 7 or up to 14 days maximum. 

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Another good thing coming out of private flood insurance is that there are no coverage limits. This means that you won't really need to stress over how to get covered for a $500,000 home since it will be fully covered by your policy. This is the same with contents coverage and you'll also get additional coverages like replacement costs, additional living expenses, and loss of use.

Fair warning, it's a known issue in the private insurance market in general that they will do moratoriums when there are risks that are too high for their comforts. This simply means that they will either put a stop or take a break from providing flood insurance policies to a certain area that has higher risks. There's also a chance that you might not get to buy flood insurance from them once they decide to non-renew your policy.

At the end of the day, the choice of where you'll be getting flood insurance depends on you. What's really important is that you know your flood risks and have enough protection from all possible outcomes of a flood event such as flood loss and flood damage.

Click the link below to access our Flood Learning Center where we try to answer your questions on flood insurance and beyond.

Flood Insurance Guru | Service | Knowledge Base

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

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A month from the official launch of the new Risk Rating 2.0 program with FEMA and the NFIP, we equally want to focus on the upcoming changes to flood maps.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be changing the flood zones for multiple states starting this month and for this one, we want to cover the upcoming update to Spencer City in Iowa's Clay County.

image-png-Nov-05-2021-03-45-30-96-PM

Flood Zones in Risk Rating 2.0

Out with the old, in with the new federal flood insurance program with Risk Rating 2.0 and this means that we're past the legacy program which looks at flood zones as a determining factor for your flood insurance rate or flood insurance premium. However, it's still crucial to understand why the Risk Rating 2.0 from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will impact the flood insurance studies and the industry itself.

READ: NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 Update

It's important to keep in mind that Risk Rating 2.0 will only look at flood zones for regulatory purposes. This means flood insurance rate maps (FIRM) and the flood zone changes happening with it will only be used to determine whether or not a property is required to carry flood insurance or not. Basically, the rating flood maps of old are out and the regulatory flood maps of Risk Rating 2.0 is the new standard.

image-png-May-25-2021-09-29-36-55-PM-1

Today, we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly changes with the flood map updates to Clay County that will start to take effect this November 5th, 2021. We want to focus on how many properties will be impacted by this new floodplain mapping, how many properties are moving into high-risk flood zones, how many are being removed from it, and how many are going deeper into the special flood hazard areas (SFHA).

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The Good

Starting with the good changes with this flood map update. We say that this is a good change because a property impacted by this will be removed from the high-risk areas or SFHA. FEMA would call this the "in to out" movement.

When it comes to Clay County in Iowa, about 661 properties will be moved into low-risk zones. This means that if you're one of these houses moving in to out, the insured building written on your flood insurance policy will be in the moderate-to-low-risk flood areas which are Flood Zones B, Flood Zone C, and the famous Flood Zone X.

Since Risk Rating 2.0 only looks at these regulatory flood maps in order to understand the overall flood risk of a property, being in these low-risk flood areas will give you an option to not carry flood insurance to your property.

Despite this, we want to mention that low-risk doesn't mean zero risk. The risk for flooding in these areas is still very much possible although generally, the chance of flooding in these zones is very low. It is still best to carry flood insurance at all times in order to protect your property from any and all flood damage. FEMA even mentioned that 25% of flood insurance claims come from these flood zones. Flood insurance also helps individuals start preparing by lowering their flood risk.

The Bad

Now, let's move to the bad changes coming with this new flood map update. FEMA calls this an "out to in" movement since the flood insurance rate map will take properties that are in the low-risk zones and place them into high-risk zones.

There are 767 property owners that will experience this movement in the upcoming floodplain map. This means that if you're impacted by this bad change, the regulatory standpoint of Risk Rating 2.0 when it comes to flood zones will kick in due. Property owners that are included in the out-to-in movement will now be required to carry flood insurance regardless if they insured residential properties or commercial ones.

High-risk areas like flood zone A or 100-year floodplain generally mean that the properties in this area will have a 26% chance of floodwater inundating during a 30-year mortgage. 

The Ugly

Lastly, we have the ugly changes coming to Clay County and its cities like Spencer City. The ugly change is something that FEMA calls an "in to in" movement. This is because this will impact properties that are already in the SFHA and will be mapped into a higher-risk flood zone. We could also say that this is like moving your insured property from a flood zone A to a flood zone AE.

Generally, this indicates that the impacted properties are very likely to get inundated by any flood event. Unlike low-risk flood zones, these flood zones experience more devastating flood due to their proximity to a water source.

About 3105 properties are expected to experience this in-to-in movement on the flood maps. Just like the bad change or out to in, this also means that you will be required to carry a flood insurance policy for your property. This number may be due to the base flood depths getting worse due to multiple factors.

Now that we have covered the good, bad, ugly changes, and how this can impact your flood insurance purchase, let's talk about your flood insurance options in Spencer City, Iowa.

image-png-Aug-31-2021-03-32-30-97-PM-1

The NFIP

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is purely managed by the federal government since this is FEMA's answer to flood insurance. An NFIP flood policy can get you flood coverage on both your dwelling and the contents within it.

When we say dwelling, this simply pertains to either the residential property or commercial building that you're trying to insure with NFIP and FEMA; contents will be more about the personal property and items you have inside the insured building.

There is a coverage limit when it comes to federal flood policies. Flood damage to buildings will be covered to a maximum of $250,000 for residential policies and can only go up to $500,000 maximum if it's for a commercial property. Regardless of the type of property you have written, you can expect to get a $100,000 maximum contents coverage from an NFIP policy.

There's also what's called the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage. This is a $30,000 additional coverage for your property in order to make sure that there are flood mitigation efforts made on the property according to the federal government's standards.

Generally, this can include sandbagging your property, installing floodproofing walls, raising your lowest floor from the base flood elevation levels, and putting flood openings. The labor that goes into making these mitigation efforts happen will also be covered under the ICC.

image-png-May-25-2021-09-29-36-55-PM-1

There are also perks with your participating community in Sibley. A participating community gets access to federal flood insurance and disaster assistance, but more importantly, you also get to work with your community on raising your Community Rating System (CRS) score. The CRS measures and rewards the overall flood mitigation efforts done by the community according to FEMA's standards on floodplain management. Simply put, the higher your CRS score is, the bigger the flood insurance discount you'll get from FEMA and the NFIP.

You can start enjoying your NFIP policy after a 30-day waiting period from the flood insurance purchase.

The Private Flood

If the federal flood insurance option doesn't really work for you then you can manage this new floodplain mapping through the private flood insurance market. It's important to note that this market will solely be managed and provided by private insurance companies which generally means that the red tapes FEMA and NFIP has to go through won't be there.

The first thing you'll immediately see with the private flood market is that there are significantly shorter waiting periods for your flood policy. Once you have everything settled and paid for, a private flood insurance policy can take effect on 7 or up to 14 days maximum. 

image-png-Nov-04-2021-06-01-36-48-PM-1

Another good thing coming out of private flood insurance is that there are no coverage limits. This means that you won't really need to stress over how to get covered for a $500,000 home since it will be fully covered by your policy. This is the same with contents coverage and you'll also get additional coverages like replacement costs, additional living expenses, and loss of use.

Fair warning, it's a known issue in the private insurance market in general that they will do moratoriums when there are risks that are too high for their comforts. This simply means that they will either put a stop or take a break from providing flood insurance policies to a certain area that has higher risks. There's also a chance that you might not get to buy flood insurance from them once they decide to non-renew your policy.

At the end of the day, the choice of where you'll be getting flood insurance depends on you. What's really important is that you know your flood risks and have enough protection from all possible outcomes of a flood event such as flood loss and flood damage.

Click the link below to access our Flood Learning Center where we try to answer your questions on flood insurance and beyond.

Flood Insurance Guru | Service | Knowledge Base

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

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

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa Flood Map Updates

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.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa Flood Map Updates

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 Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa Flood Map Updates

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.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa Flood Map Updates

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.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa Flood Map Updates

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.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa Flood Map Updates

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.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa Flood Map Updates

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:

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