Do you know your flood risk?

[pegkerr]

This has been on a lot of people's minds since the news from Iowa. For those from my friends list in the USA: Just heard about a cool website on the radio, provided for free by the U.S. Government. Go to www.floodsmart.gov and enter your address, and it'll give you your flood risk an estimate of what flood insurance premiums will cost.

Comments

[whiskeychick.livejournal.com]

Just be sure that you understand what all the terminology means. It can be confusing with phrases like '100 year flood.' Gives folks a false sense that they would only have a chance of flood every 100 years. Actually it means that you have a 1 percent chance EVERY year to flood. Also if you're in a flood plain your risk rises. Near water. rises again. But, I live in a earthquake zone....if I'm not prepared for that. It's on me.

Thanks for sharing that. Some people, just don't know where they live. And I blame our municipal leaders for letting so many people build in the flood plain. Just because there's a dam down the river to help minimize flood risk, doesn't mean the risk is eliminated. We have that problem here in Western Washington. Billions of dollars in real estate and economy-driving business sit smack dab in the middle of what was once fertile farm land. It was fertile because the rivers would dump it's sediment onto it every few years.

le sigh.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Well, we knew the house was on a flood plain when we bought it. And that the 1986 superstorm had filled the basement of this house with a few feet of water. And that flood insurance is *only* sold by the government, not by private insurance companies.

It appears from that web site that homeowner's insurance maxes out below the value of our house. Does that mean we have to self-insure for the rest? I suppose I could look into it.

K. [our house also came with a canoe]

[elfundeb.livejournal.com]

Interesting, but their assessment may not be very useful. My mother's house was listed as a low to moderate risk, even though it is in a creekbed and has been surrounded by water and the basement flooded out twice. Maybe it asseses the risk of immersion. My house, which is on the side of a hill 2 miles from the river, had the same risk assessment.)