How Will Flooding on the Arkansas River Have a Short Term and Long Term Impact on Flood Insurance Rates in Tulsa Oklahoma?

Today we are talking about the recent flooding that has taken place in Tulsa Oklahoma on the Arkansas River. What impacts will this flooding have on future flood insurance rates? What impact will it have on the availability of flood insurance.

The 2019 flooding on the Arkansas river has been devastating it has stopped alot of businesses like The River Spirit Casino from operating. According to CNN they are one of the largest employers in the Tulsa area.  So as you can see the flooding can impact everything but how can it impact the future. Well we are going to talk about how it can impact future insurance rates and availability in Tulsa and the rest of Oklahoma.

When flooding occurs it teaches lessons it shows either an area was prepared or not. It shows that area should be a risk flood zone or it should not. Well this is exactly what is occurring in Tulsa Oklahoma. So why do areas that are low risk and areas that are high risk not flood. These areas are known as 500 year and 100 year flood zones. These zones have a probability of flooding within a given year. They are strictly probabilities based on surrounding factors like nearby water and elevations of land. So when these areas many times it teaches FEMA and local flood plain managers that some areas should be higher risk and other areas should be low risk.

As we are seeing these areas in Tulsa along the Arkansas river flood severely it could have a huge impact on future flood insurance rates especially through the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA tries to review local flood maps every year and sometimes it takes a few years to agree with local officials on a new map. One of the big deciding factors are past floods that are used as historical data in determining future flood insurance maps which will determine flood insurance rates.  So the next time Tulsa flood maps are reviewed you may see a big change in who has to have flood insurance and who doesn't.

Another impact that this Tulsa flooding is having is on the immediate availability of flood insurance. When it comes to the National Flood Insurance Program it is always available as long as the program is authorized by congress. However when it comes to private flood insurance they work a little bit differently. When flooding occurs they generally put a moratorium where new business can not be done in these areas until flood warnings are gone. Normally this only last a few weeks but areas of long term flooding like Nebraska and Iowa have shown us that this can occur for six months.

As you can see the current flooding in Tulsas Oklahoma is having short term and long term impacts on flood insurance options. Its very important that you work with a flood insurance expert like The Flood Insurance Guru so you always know what flood insurance options are available.

If you have questions about flood insurance you can always visit our website Flood Insurance Guru.
You can also visit our YouTube channel or Facebook page where we do daily flood education videos.