Consumer Resources

Surprise! You’re in a flood zone!

After waking up this morning and having a cup of coffee I came across the following article in the LA Times while progressing through my daily news read:

 Homeowners forced to buy flood insurance after FEMA redraws maps

I had eerie flashbacks to our own situation here in Marana back in 2006 after moving into my house because .. well.. the same thing happened!

Some background to catch you up:

http://www.michaelkrotchie.com/fema-revising-flood-plain-maps-in-pima-county/
http://www.michaelkrotchie.com/marana-floodplain-issue-closer-to-being-resolved/

I find it frustrating that FEMA proposes “revised” floodplain maps without first consulting with the areas involved. In most cases the town/city/county(s) end up coming out of pocket for a private study to be performed to find out if FEMA’s assessment really is valid.

Here in Marana, most of the areas placed in the new floodplain were removed, with only a small portion being re-classified into the floodplain.

Essentially what is happening is that FEMA is playing the “better safe than sorry” card and drawing new maps to be in “danger zones” and then placing the onus on homeowners or government officials to prove them wrong. Don’t get me wrong, no one wants to be unsafe, but no one wants to suffer from the effects of being in a floodplain if they don’t have to.

(Just a brief note if you didn’t read the above articles, for federally backed mortgages (almost all of them are), flood insurance is required if you are designated to be in a floodplain.)

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