A lot of things are changing with the federal side of flood protection as the new Risk Rating 2.0 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Today, we want to talk about something that's always been changing in the flood insurance industry and how these flood insurance rate maps will impact your flood insurance.

Ryegate, Montana: Golden Valley County Flood Map Updates

Flood Zones in Risk Rating 2.0

In our current time, a lot of things are changing and will continue to change. One of the things that are long overdue and was in dire need of an update, if not overhaul, was the federal flood insurance. In the legacy program or the NFIP 1.0, there are significant things that are supposed to be addressed when it comes to flood risks and the system falls flat on its face when it comes to these.

It's well-known that the legacy did its part in protecting people from flood loss and devastating flood damage, but the thing is flood insurance — like any other insurance policy — are cautious proactive means. Protecting the insured was never reactive when it comes to very uncontrollable and volatile situations like a flood event, and this is something that the Risk Rating 2.0 greatly improves on.

The new Risk Rating 2.0 program addresses flood insurance based on the unique flood risks your property is facing. This means that they will look at flood risk variables such as elevation, frequency of flooding, construction, claims history, and replacement costs, to name a few, in understanding your property's flood risk and thus flood insurance premium.

This is what we call "your fingerprint of flood risk" since every house or building will have a unique risk rating score with the new flood insurance program.

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.

We'll move past being concerned with your property's location when it comes to your flood insurance rates. Basically, the rating flood maps of old are out and the regulatory flood maps of Risk Rating 2.0 is the new standard.

Flood Insurance Guru | Delaware Flood Insurance: Milford NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 Update

Today, we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly changes with the flood map updates to the Golden Valley County, Ryegate, and its respective communities 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).

Ryegate, Montana: Golden Valley County Flood Map Updates

The Good

The first flood zone movement we'll discuss is what's called an "in to out" movement.

In the NFIP legacy program, this change meant that these properties will get lower flood insurance rates due to the lower flood hazards that your property faces. This also meant that you'll no longer be required by your mortgage or the government to carry flood insurance on your insured property. Since flood zones in the new Risk Rating 2.0 program will no longer impact your rates, this only means that you will no longer be required to carry flood insurance.

This movement will impact only 12 properties in Golden Valley County and Ryegate City. Generally, we call this a good change even before Risk Rating 2.0 came into the picture because this meant that the property is being removed from a high-risk flood zone and moved into a low-risk flood zone.

Is this good enough of a reason to NOT carry flood insurance?

At the surface, this may look like a good deal to no longer be required to carry flood insurance however at its core, not having flood insurance is generally a bad idea even if you're being moved to a low-risk area like Flood Zone X. This is because it's only a low-risk zone that you're moving in, not a no-risk flood zone. Simply put, you're still not exempted from being flooded even if your property sitting in a low-risk flood zone.

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 115 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 Golden Valley County and its cities like Ryegate City. The ugly change is something that FEMA calls an "in to in" movement. 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 floods due to their proximity to a water source.

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 80 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 Ryegate, Montana.

Spencer, Iowa: Clay County Flood Map Updates

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.

Ryegate, Montana: Golden Valley County Flood Map Updates

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, the wait period for the private flood carriers will follow a much shorter timeframe compared to NFIP. A private flood insurance policy can take effect on 7 or up to 14 days maximum. 

Ryegate, Montana: Golden Valley County Flood Map Updates

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 costsadditional 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. 

Buy Flood Insurance Now!

As the storms keep coming, the changes to federal flood insurance come with it as well. Today, we want to unpack the upcoming changes to Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) to one of the cities with a rich agricultural history, Saint Petersburg, Florida.

Florida Flood Insurance: St. Petersburg Flood Maps of August 2021

We will understand the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to this town and what it means for flood insurance for its locals.

Saint Petersburg, Florida

When talking about the Sunshine State and floods, the first thing you might think about is how it has become a hotbed for storms and tornadoes due to its coastal nature. At the time of writing this blog, Florida is being devastated by floods due to severe storms moving in Southern areas of Florida.

Today, we want to unpack the upcoming flood map changes to Saint Petersburg (FL) and although zone designation Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) won't really impact your flood insurance rates with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), it's important to always keep in mind that this will be used for a regulatory standpoint.

Generally, this still means that if you're in a high-risk flood zone, also known as the special flood hazard areas (SFHA), you're still expected to carry mandatory flood insurance for your property.

You can watch our video on Saint Petersburg flood insurance rate maps update below while reading:

So what are the upcoming changes to Saint Petersburg on August 24th, 2021?

Florida Flood Insurance: St. Petersburg Flood Maps of August 2021

The Good

When it comes to good changes with this new flood map update, we'll be talking about the movement of properties impacted in the city. The good change generally means that buildings and houses that will be getting the best deal out of the floodplain mapping that FEMA is producing.

To be more specific, about 8,216 property owners will have their properties move out of a high-risk flood zone and into the low-risk flood zones. This is what FEMA calls the "in to out" movement. Some would call this moving to a Flood Zone X.

Low-risk flood zones are also known as the preferred flood zone or non-mandatory zones since this is where mortgage companies and the federal government would stop requiring homeowners to purchase flood insurance.

Yes, this means that 8,216 property owners can choose not to purchase flood insurance for their property however, fair warning to everyone, FEMA had constantly reported that 30% of the flood insurance claims come from these low-risk flood areas.

Simply put, this means that you're not really exempted from experiencing floods at all. We've covered this in our previous episode when we talked about the reasons why you might be flooded in a low-risk zone.

The Bad

Now, if there's good news, there's also bad news. This comes in the form of the opposite with the good movement that we're seeing which is what FEMA calls the "out to in" movement. This is generally because your property that wasn't in a high-risk zone or special flood hazard area (SFHA) will be moved into the SFHA and high-risk zones. Some would call this moving from Flood Zone X to Flood Zone A.

Only 4,164 properties will be impacted by this change in FEMA Flood Maps to Saint Petersburg. This is bad for a couple of reasons. One, since FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) runs through a lot of flood data, they are seeing that your property or the general area that it's in has received an increase in current flood risk as well future flood risk.

Another bad thing about this is that you will be required to start carrying a mandatory flood insurance purchase for your property because of the higher risks it's presenting. Let's be honest, being in a high-risk flood zone or the SFHA can be very expensive when it comes to flood insurance premiums in our current NFIP setup especially if you have a relatively bigger or more expensive property.

The Ugly

Lastly, we still have to discuss the biggest change and the ugliest among these three. The ugly change represents the "in to in" movement. This means that a property that's already in a high-risk flood zone will be mapped into a higher-risk flood zone. You can call this "moving from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone AE".

This will impact about 152,572 properties in Saint Petersburg which is a very huge number. In fact, we rarely see an "in to in" movement that comprises the biggest chunk within these three changes.

However, instead of worrying about a possible flood insurance rate increase (which will disappear by the time NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in), this simply means that when something like Tropical Storm Elsa happens again, you might face a bigger and more severe flood damage to your property.

Like the bad change, this also means that you have to carry a flood insurance policy on your property to make sure that it's protected at all times. This can also mean higher flood premiums in the current version of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for when you insure your property and since this will be a mandatory flood insurance purchase, you definitely have to prepare your wallet for it.

There are ways to make these bad and ugly changes easier to manage, however. This starts with your preferred flood insurance option: the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or the Private Flood market. Let's talk more about these two.

Florida Flood Insurance: St. Petersburg Flood Maps of August 2021

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.

Florida Flood Insurance: St. Petersburg Flood Maps of August 2021

The good thing about the NFIP and FEMA is that they won't really push you immediately to the waters. Instead, they will allow you to ease into the possible flood insurance rate changes you'll be getting with your new flood zone. This is what's called newly mapped rates where FEMA will have you pay a lower flood rate or premium on your first year after the flood map update. This is also known as the Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) and will slowly start to increase until you meet the actual flood insurance premium expected to be paid for in your new flood zone.

There are also perks with your participating community in Saint Petersburg. 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.

Florida Flood Insurance: St. Petersburg Flood Maps of August 2021

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. 

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.

Get a quote from the Flood Insurance Guru!

If you have questions on these new FEMA flood maps, maybe you want to determine your flood zone, knowing your area's average flood depths and flood data, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below.

Get Your Flood Risk Score Here!

Contact Us

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. 

Buy Flood Insurance Now!

As the storms keep coming, the changes to federal flood insurance come with it as well. Today, we want to unpack the upcoming changes to Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) to one of the cities with a rich agricultural history, Hart, Michigan.

Michigan Flood Insurance: Hart Flood Map Updates for August 2021

We will understand the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to this town and what it means for flood insurance for its locals.

Hart, Michigan

One of the most resounding memory, when you talk about floods and Hart, was what happened in 2017 when the Tuolumne River rose and inundated most of the areas in the city. Just recently this year, we also saw flooding due to storms that also knocked down trees.

Today, we want to unpack the upcoming flood map changes to Hart (MI) and although zone designation Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) won't really impact your flood insurance rates with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), it's important to always keep in mind that this will be used for a regulatory standpoint.

Generally, this still means that if you're in a high-risk flood zone, also known as the special flood hazard areas (SFHA), you're still expected to carry mandatory flood insurance for your property.

You can watch our video on Hart flood insurance rate maps update below while reading:

So what are the upcoming changes to Hart City on August 24th, 2021?

Michigan Flood Insurance: Hart Flood Map Updates for August 2021

The Good

When it comes to good changes with this new flood map update, we'll be talking about the movement of properties impacted in the city. The good change generally means that buildings and houses that will be getting the best deal out of the floodplain mapping that FEMA is producing.

To be more specific, about 28 property owners will have their properties move out of a high-risk flood zone and into the low-risk flood zones. This is what FEMA calls the "in to out" movement. Some would call this moving to a Flood Zone X.

Low-risk flood zones are also known as the preferred flood zone or non-mandatory zones since this is where mortgage companies and the federal government would stop requiring homeowners to purchase flood insurance.

Yes, this means that 28 property owners can choose not to purchase flood insurance for their property however, fair warning to everyone, FEMA had constantly reported that 30% of the flood insurance claims come from these low-risk flood areas.

Simply put, this means that you're not really exempted from experiencing floods at all. We've covered this in our previous episode when we talked about the reasons why you might be flooded in a low-risk zone.

The Bad

Now, if there's good news, there's also bad news. This comes in the form of the opposite with the good movement that we're seeing which is what FEMA calls the "out to in" movement. This is generally because your property that wasn't in a high-risk zone or special flood hazard area (SFHA) will be moved into the SFHA and high-risk zones. Some would call this moving from Flood Zone X to Flood Zone A.

Only 289 properties will be impacted by this change in FEMA Flood Maps to Hart. This is bad for a couple of reasons. One, since FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) runs through a lot of flood data, they are seeing that your property or the general area that it's in has received an increase in current flood risk as well future flood risk.

Another bad thing about this is that you will be required to start carrying a mandatory flood insurance purchase for your property because of the higher risks it's presenting. Let's be honest, being in a high-risk flood zone or the SFHA can be very expensive when it comes to flood insurance premiums in our current NFIP setup especially if you have a relatively bigger or more expensive property.

The Ugly

Lastly, we still have to discuss the biggest change and the ugliest among these three. The ugly change represents the "in to in" movement. This means that a property that's already in a high-risk flood zone will be mapped into a higher-risk flood zone. You can call this "moving from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone AE".

This will impact about 1,813 properties in Hart which is a very huge number. In fact, we rarely see an "in to in" movement that comprises the biggest chunk within these three changes. However, instead of worrying about a possible flood insurance rate increase (which will disappear by the time NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in), this simply means that when something like Tropical Storm Elsa happens again, you might face a bigger and more severe flood damage to your property.

Like the bad change, this also means that you have to carry a flood insurance policy on your property to make sure that it's protected at all times. This can also mean higher flood premiums in the current version of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for when you insure your property and since this will be a mandatory flood insurance purchase, you definitely have to prepare your wallet for it.

There are ways to make these bad and ugly changes easier to manage, however. This starts with your preferred flood insurance option: the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or the Private Flood market. Let's talk more about these two.

Michigan Flood Insurance: Hart Flood Map Updates for August 2021

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.

Michigan Flood Insurance: Hart Flood Map Updates for August 2021

The good thing about the NFIP and FEMA is that they won't really push you immediately to the waters. Instead, they will allow you to ease into the possible flood insurance rate changes you'll be getting with your new flood zone. This is what's called newly mapped rates where FEMA will have you pay a lower flood rate or premium on your first year after the flood map update. This is also known as the Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) and will slowly start to increase until you meet the actual flood insurance premium expected to be paid for in your new flood zone.

There are also perks with your participating community in Hart. 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.

Michigan Flood Insurance: Hart Flood Map Updates for August 2021

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 the same day or up to 14 days maximum. 

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.

Get a quote from the Flood Insurance Guru!

If you have questions on these new FEMA flood maps, maybe you want to determine your flood zone, knowing your area's average flood depths and flood data, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below.

Get Your Flood Risk Score Here!

Contact Us

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. 

Buy Flood Insurance Now!

As the storms keep coming, the changes to federal flood insurance come with it as well. Today, we want to unpack the upcoming changes to Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) to one of the cities with a rich agricultural history, Modest, California.

California Flood Insurance: Modesto Flood Map Updates for August 2021

We will understand the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to this town and what it means for flood insurance for its locals.

Modesto, CA

One of the most resounding memory, when you talk about floods and Modesto, was what happened in 2017 when the Tuolumne River rose and inundated most of the areas in the city. Just recently this year, we also saw flooding due to storms that also knocked down trees.

Today, we want to unpack the upcoming flood map changes to Modesto (CA) and although zone designation Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) won't really impact your flood insurance rates with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), it's important to always keep in mind that this will be used for a regulatory standpoint.

Generally, this still means that if you're in a high-risk flood zone, also known as the special flood hazard areas (SFHA), you're still expected to carry mandatory flood insurance for your property.

You can watch our video on Modesto flood insurance rate maps update below while reading:

So what are the upcoming changes to Modesto City on August 24th, 2021?

Arizona Flood Insurance: Prescott Flood Map Updates for August 2021.

The Good

When it comes to good changes with this new flood map update, we'll be talking about the movement of properties impacted in the city. The good change generally means that buildings and houses that will be getting the best deal out of the floodplain mapping that FEMA is producing.

To be more specific, about 100 property owners will have their properties move out of a high-risk flood zone and into the low-risk flood zones. This is what FEMA calls the "in to out" movement. Some would call this moving to a Flood Zone X.

Low-risk flood zones are also known as the preferred flood zone or non-mandatory zones since this is where mortgage companies and the federal government would stop requiring homeowners to purchase flood insurance.

Yes, this means that 100 property owners can choose not to purchase flood insurance for their property however, fair warning to everyone, FEMA had constantly reported that 30% of the flood insurance claims come from these low-risk flood areas.

Simply put, this means that you're not really exempted from experiencing floods at all. We've covered this in our previous episode when we talked about the reasons why you might be flooded in a low-risk zone.

The Bad

Now, if there's good news, there's also bad news. This comes in the form of the opposite with the good movement that we're seeing which is what FEMA calls the "out to in" movement. This is generally because your property that wasn't in a high-risk zone or special flood hazard area (SFHA) will be moved into the SFHA and high-risk zones. Some would call this moving from Flood Zone X to Flood Zone A.

Only 333 properties will be impacted by this change in FEMA Flood Maps to Modesto. This is bad for a couple of reasons. One, since FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) runs through a lot of flood data, they are seeing that your property or the general area that it's in has received an increase in current flood risk as well future flood risk.

Another bad thing about this is that you will be required to start carrying a mandatory flood insurance purchase for your property because of the higher risks it's presenting. Let's be honest, being in a high-risk flood zone or the SFHA can be very expensive when it comes to flood insurance premiums in our current NFIP setup especially if you have a relatively bigger or more expensive property.

The Ugly

Lastly, we still have to discuss the biggest change and the ugliest among these three. The ugly change represents the "in to in" movement. This means that a property that's already in a high-risk flood zone will be mapped into a higher-risk flood zone. You can call this "moving from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone AE".

This will impact about 2,357 properties in Modesto which is a very huge number. In fact, we rarely see an "in to in" movement that comprises the biggest chunk within these three changes. However, instead of worrying about a possible flood insurance rate increase (which will disappear by the time NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in), this simply means that when something like Tropical Storm Elsa happens again, you might face a bigger and more severe flood damage to your property.

Like the bad change, this also means that you have to carry a flood insurance policy on your property to make sure that it's protected at all times. This can also mean higher flood premiums in the current version of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for when you insure your property and since this will be a mandatory flood insurance purchase, you definitely have to prepare your wallet for it.

There are ways to make these bad and ugly changes easier to manage, however. This starts with your preferred flood insurance option: the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or the Private Flood market. Let's talk more about these two.

California Flood Insurance: Modesto Flood Map Updates for August 2021

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.

Arizona Flood Insurance: Prescott Flood Map Updates for August 2021.

The good thing about the NFIP and FEMA is that they won't really push you immediately to the waters. Instead, they will allow you to ease into the possible flood insurance rate changes you'll be getting with your new flood zone. This is what's called newly mapped rates where FEMA will have you pay a lower flood rate or premium on your first year after the flood map update. This is also known as the Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) and will slowly start to increase until you meet the actual flood insurance premium expected to be paid for in your new flood zone.

There are also perks with your participating community in Modesto. 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.

California Flood Insurance: Modesto Flood Map Updates for August 2021

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 the same day or up to 14 days maximum. 

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.

Get a quote from the Flood Insurance Guru!

If you have questions on these new FEMA flood maps, maybe you want to determine your flood zone, knowing your area's average flood depths and flood data, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below.

Get Your Flood Risk Score Here!

Contact Us

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. 

Buy Flood Insurance Now!

As the storms keep coming, the changes to federal flood insurance come with it as well. Today, we want to unpack the upcoming changes to Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) in Everybody's Home Town, Prescott, Arizona. We will understand the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to this town and what it means for flood insurance for its locals.

Arizona Flood Insurance: Prescott Flood Map Updates for August 2021.

Prescott, AZ

Prescott is no stranger to flooding especially when we talk about more pluvial ones like flash flooding due to rainfall. Earlier this month, Yavapai County and the Prescott Valley faced heavy rainfall that immediately caused flooding to these two areas.

At the time of writing, multiple areas of Arizona like Phoenix and Prescott itself are under a flood watch warning due to the expected continuous rainfall from Hurricane Ida.

Today, we want to unpack the upcoming flood map changes to Prescott Arizona and although zone designation Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) won't really impact your flood insurance rates with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), it's important to always keep in mind that this will be used for a regulatory standpoint.

Generally, this still means that if you're in a high-risk flood zone, also known as the special flood hazard areas (SFHA), you're still expected to carry mandatory flood insurance for your property.

So what are the upcoming changes to Prescott City on August 24th, 2021?

Arizona Flood Insurance: Prescott Flood Map Updates for August 2021.

The Good

When it comes to good changes with this new flood map update, we'll be talking about the movement of properties impacted in the city. The good change generally means that buildings and houses that will be getting the best deal out of the floodplain mapping that FEMA is producing.

To be more specific, about 107 property owners will have their properties move out of a high-risk flood zone and into the low-risk flood zones. This is what FEMA calls the "in to out" movement. Some would call this moving to a Flood Zone X.

Low-risk flood zones are also known as the preferred flood zone or non-mandatory zones since this is where mortgage companies and the federal government would stop requiring homeowners to purchase flood insurance.

Yes, this means that 107 property owners can choose not to purchase flood insurance for their property however, fair warning to everyone, FEMA had constantly reported that 30% of the flood insurance claims come from these low-risk flood areas.

Simply put, this means that you're not really exempted from experiencing floods at all. We've covered this in our previous episode when we talked about the reasons why you might be flooded in a low-risk zone.

The Bad

Now, if there's good news, there's also bad news. This comes in the form of the opposite with the good movement that we're seeing which is what FEMA calls the "out to in" movement. This is generally because your property that wasn't in a high-risk zone or special flood hazard area (SFHA) will be moved into the SFHA and high-risk zones. Some would call this moving from Flood Zone X to Flood Zone A.

Only 11 properties will be impacted by this change in FEMA Flood Maps to Prescott. This is bad for a couple of reasons. One, since FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) runs through a lot of flood data, they are seeing that your property or the general area that it's in has received an increase in current flood risk as well future flood risk.

Another bad thing about this is that you will be required to start carrying a mandatory flood insurance purchase for your property because of the higher risks it's presenting. Let's be honest, being in a high-risk flood zone or the SFHA can be very expensive when it comes to flood insurance premiums in our current NFIP setup especially if you have a relatively bigger or more expensive property.

The Ugly

Lastly, we still have to discuss the biggest change and the ugliest among these three. The ugly change represents the "in to in" movement. This means that a property that's already in a high-risk flood zone will be mapped into a higher-risk flood zone. You can call this "moving from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone AE".

This will impact about 2,899 properties in Prescott which is a very huge number. In fact, we rarely see an "in to in" movement that comprises the biggest chunk within these three changes. However, instead of worrying about a possible flood insurance rate increase (which will disappear by the time NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in), this simply means that when something like Tropical Storm Elsa happens again, you might face a bigger and more severe flood damage to your property.

Like the bad change, this also means that you have to carry a flood insurance policy on your property to make sure that it's protected at all times. This can also mean higher flood premiums in the current version of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for when you insure your property and since this will be a mandatory flood insurance purchase, you definitely have to prepare your wallet for it.

There are ways to make these bad and ugly changes easier to manage, however. This starts with your preferred flood insurance option: the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or the Private Flood market. Let's talk more about these two.

Arizona Flood Insurance: Prescott Flood Map Updates for August 2021.

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.

Arizona Flood Insurance: Prescott Flood Map Updates for August 2021.

The good thing about the NFIP and FEMA is that they won't really push you immediately to the waters. Instead, they will allow you to ease into the possible flood insurance rate changes you'll be getting with your new flood zone. This is what's called newly mapped rates where FEMA will have you pay a lower flood rate or premium on your first year after the flood map update. This is also known as the Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) and will slowly start to increase until you meet the actual flood insurance premium expected to be paid for in your new flood zone.

There are also perks with your participating community in Prescott. 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 the same day or up to 14 days maximum. 

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.

Get a quote from the Flood Insurance Guru!

If you have questions on these new FEMA flood maps, maybe you want to determine your flood zone, knowing your area's average flood depths and flood data, or anything about flood, reach out to us by clicking below.

Get Your Flood Risk Score Here!

Contact Us

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. 

Buy Flood Insurance Now!

As the storms keep coming, the changes to federal flood insurance come with it as well. Today, we want to unpack the upcoming changes to Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) in the Magic City, Birmingham, Alabama. We will understand the good, the bad, and the ugly changes coming to this town and what it means for flood insurance for its locals.

Alabama Flood Insurance: Birmingham Flood Map Updates

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is still the city with the biggest population when it comes to the state of Alabama. However, Birmingham Alabama is dropping numbers — alongside Montgomery Alabama — when it comes to its population which according to AL.com. Huntsville City is coming to a very close second and might even dethrone the city anytime soon. This type of development and growth can also mean that flooding can drastically change as well. We've seen earlier just this year how Birmingham, Alabama was hit with massive floods due to heavy rainfall.

Hopefully, you also realize that you really don't need to be in a flood zone to get flooded. Just this week of August 16, we saw a lot of places in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida devastated with flash floods from continuous rain.

Today, we want to unpack the upcoming flood map changes to Birmingham Alabama, and although zone designation Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) won't really impact your flood insurance rates with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in their upcoming new Risk Rating 2.0 program. It's important to always keep in mind that this will be used from a regulatory standpoint. Generally, this still means that if you're in a high-risk flood zone, also known as the special flood hazard areas (SFHA), you're still expected to carry mandatory flood insurance for your property.

So what are the upcoming changes to Birmingham City on September 24th, 2021?

Alabama Flood Insurance: Birmingham Flood Map Updates

The Good

When it comes to good changes with this new flood map update, we'll be talking about the movement of properties impacted in the city. The good change generally means that buildings and houses that will be getting the best deal out of the floodplain mapping that FEMA is producing.

To be more specific, about 2,994 property owners will have their properties move out of a high-risk flood zone and into the low-risk flood zones. This is what FEMA calls the "in to out" movement. Some would call this moving to a Flood Zone X.

Low-risk flood zones are also known as the preferred flood zone or non-mandatory zones since this is where mortgage companies and the federal government would stop requiring homeowners to purchase flood insurance.

Yes, this means that 2,994 property owners can choose not to purchase flood insurance for their property however, fair warning to everyone, FEMA had constantly reported that 30% of the flood insurance claims come from these low-risk flood areas.

Simply put, this means that you're not really exempted from experiencing floods at all. We've covered this in our previous episode when we talked about the reasons why you might be flooded in a low-risk zone.

The Bad

Now, if there's good news, there's also bad news. This comes in the form of the opposite with the good movement that we're seeing which is what FEMA calls the "out to in" movement. This is generally because your property that wasn't in a high-risk zone or special flood hazard area (SFHA) will be moved into the SFHA and high-risk zones. Some would call this "moving from Flood Zone X to Flood Zone A."

Only 157 properties will be impacted by this change in FEMA Flood Maps to Birmingham. This is bad for a couple of reasons. One, since FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) runs through a lot of flood data, they are seeing that your property or the general area that it's in has received an increase in current flood risk and/or possible future flood risk.

Another bad thing about this is that you will be required to start carrying a mandatory flood insurance purchase for your property because of the higher risks it's presenting. Let's be honest, being in a high-risk flood zone or the SFHA can be very expensive when it comes to flood insurance premiums in our current NFIP setup especially if you have a relatively bigger or more expensive property.

The Ugly

Lastly, we still have to discuss the biggest change and the ugliest among these three. The ugly change represents the "in to in" movement. This means that a property that's already in a high-risk flood zone will be mapped into a higher-risk flood zone. You can call this "moving from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone AE."

This will impact about 12,889 properties in Birmingham which is a very huge number. In fact, we rarely see an "in to in" movement that comprises the biggest chunk within these three changes. However, instead of worrying about a possible flood insurance rate increase (which will disappear by the time NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 kicks in), this simply means that when something like Tropical Storm Elsa happens again, you might face a bigger and more severe flood damage to your property.

Like the bad change, this also means that you have to carry a flood insurance policy on your property to make sure that it's protected at all times. This can also mean higher flood premiums in the current version of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for when you insure your property and since this will be a mandatory flood insurance purchase, you definitely have to prepare your wallet for it.

There are ways to make these bad and ugly changes easier to manage however. This starts with your preferred flood insurance option: the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or the Private Flood market. Let's talk more about these two.

Flood Insurance Options in Birmingham

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.

Alabama Flood Insurance: Birmingham Flood Map Updates

The good thing about the NFIP and FEMA is that they won't really push you immediately to the waters. Instead, they will allow you to ease into the possible flood insurance rate changes you'll be getting with your new flood zone. This is what's called newly mapped rates where FEMA will have you pay a lower flood rate or premium on your first year after the flood map update. This is also known as the Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) and will slowly start to increase until you meet the actual flood insurance premium expected to be paid for in your new flood zone.

There are also perks with your participating community in Birmingham. 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 the same day or up to 14 days maximum. 

Another good thing coming out of private flood 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.

If you have questions on these new FEMA flood maps, maybe you want to determine your flood zone, knowing your area's average flood depths and flood data, or anything about flood, reach out to us.

Get Your Flood Risk Score Here!

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. 

We're already going even deeper into the hurricane season as we go through the sunny days of Summer. It's important to note that when there's rain, there are floods, and when there is a flood, there are also flood map changes on that area.

Today, we'll unpack the upcoming flood insurance rate map changes to Burgaw. This will take effect on June 2nd, 2021 for Pender County.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Summer 2021: Topsail Beach, North Carolina Flood Map Updates

History of Flood

North Carolina has had a long history of floods. More recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is looking to designated funds to acquire flood-prone properties in Pender County. A lot of these major flood incidents are due to the coastal flooding that the state faces and we've seen this happen in 1928 during Hurricane Okeechobee and Hurricane Floyd in 1999 to name a few.

So, let's talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly changes that the new flood map updates will bring to Burgaw and Pender County.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Summer 2021: Topsail Beach, North Carolina Flood Map Updates

The Good

When talking about the good change, we are pointing at the flood map movement that's indicated as "in to out". This change will be coming to 5 properties in the entire Pender County.

Generally, this would mean that 5 properties will be moved out of a high-risk flood zone or the special flood hazard area (SFHA) to a low-risk flood zone.  Some people would call this moving from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone X.

The Bad

Now, if there are going to be good changes, there are also bad changes with this new flood map update. This bad change is the movement from "out to in" and something that about 914 properties will experience.

Out to in refers to properties that are in the low-risk zones moving to high-risk flood zones. This is a bad change because of what will happen after you're moved into the SFHA. This means that you're going to get an increase in your base flood insurance premium with FEMA and even the private market.

It's also expected that your mortgage company will now require you to carry flood insurance for your property when previously, it's something you generally don't think about.

The Ugly

Lastly, we want to talk about the ugly changes coming with this flood map update. This ugly change is when a property is moved "in to in" or being moved into a higher-risk flood zone. Generally, this may put you in Flood Zone AE when previously you're in Flood Zone A.

This change will come to about 1300 properties in Pender County. Such a movement will really cause a drastic increase in flood insurance premiums which can be up to 15%. This movement may also cause some private flood insurance carriers or providers to avoid writing a policy for you due to the flood zone being too high of a risk. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) may also require additional documents like photos and an elevation certificate with the mandatory flood insurance in order for your policy to take effect. 

Now, let's talk about how you can prepare for these changes and what the best flood insurance option is for you.

Flood Insurance Options

When it comes to flood insurance options, it's important to note that it won't matter what loan type you have since you can choose to go through either of these options. We have federal flood insurance and private flood insurance. Let's go through each option and understand their differences.

The NFIP Option

Federal flood insurance provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Now, it's important to note that you can access this flood insurance option only if you're in a participating community.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Summer 2021: Topsail Beach, North Carolina Flood Map Updates

The NFIP offers coverage for properties, buildings, or structures of $250,000. When it comes to property coverage, other properties that aren't listed as the main building will have to get a separate policy for those additional buildings. Contents and personal items will have a coverage of $100,000. It's important to note that these coverage amounts are maxed out to those numbers. The NFIP won't also provide additional living expenses, replacement costs, and loss of use with their policy.

If you're looking to buy flood insurance through FEMA, you may have to follow a strict 30-day waiting period before the policy can take effect on your property.

The Flood Insurance Guru | Flood Map Updates | Summer 2021: Topsail Beach, North Carolina Flood Map Updates

The Private Flood Option

On the other side of the fence, you may go through private insurance companies' flood policies also known as the private flood. Since this is provided by private insurers, you won't have to go through the red tapes that the federal flood insurance may have. Immediately, you can see this on the general waiting period for private flood insurance. The maximum waiting time for private flood is fifteen days this is considering that you're going to have to wait in the first place.

Private flood insurance also doesn't have any coverage limits to the amount they can cover for property and personal items. This means that you can go up to $10,000,000 for the property damage coverage if you'd want to and $1,000,000 on personal items. Now, it's important to note that this is relative to your property's construction which is why it's highly recommended that homeowners with expensive buildings go through the private flood.

Private flood insurance also provides additional coverages like additional living expenses, replacement costs, and loss of use which really protects the way of life policyholder from the aftermath of flooding.

At the end of the day, it's important that we keep our guards up and especially when states like North Carolina can propose a bigger flood threat due to storm runoff, spring thaw, and coastal flooding.

So, if you have any questions on flood map changes, flood insurance, or your flood risks, reach out to us. Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation and we want to help protect the value of your property long term. Click the links below to watch our daily flood education videos on YouTube, call us, or get a quote from us so you can get started on your flood insurance purchase today.

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