Flood Insurance Questions

[athena53]

In my view, subsidized federal flood insurance just encourages bad behavior. I find it hard to ask poorer people who live 30 miles inland to help generally wealthier people rebuild on the beach. If you really want to take the risk to enjoy the view, you should get commercial insurance at market prices.

As someone who worked in property-casualty insurance, but also had parents living in North Myrtle Beach (a mile from the ocean), here's what I'd like to see: when a place is pretty much totally destroyed, pay the owner the value of the property and then put it on a list of properties where no private insurer, national insurance program or FEMA will be compelled to pay for any future damages if it's rebuilt. So, you can go right ahead and exercise your God-given right to rebuild but no one is going to subsidize you any more. There are plenty of cases (a BBC documentary just interviewed one) in which the owner has received more than the market value of the property from multiple flood claims over the years.

 

[Ronstar]

On course in Houston part of the problem is that real estate salescritters would tell folks who did not live in the 100 year flood plain the did not need insurance. Also it appears that they did not tell folks who lived in the area that could be flooded by the dams that their area could flood. Of course now days you can check for yourself on google earth to find the elevation of a place you are looking at.Now the maps also show the .2% flood plain as well. in Houston 2 or 3 feet of elevation can make a big difference, which driving around you can not tell happened.

The elevations on google earth can be wrong by several feet in some areas. They may be ok for general planning, but not for determining whether of not a property is within a special flood hazard area.

 

[meierlde]

The elevations on google earth can be wrong by several feet in some areas. They may be ok for general planning, but not for determining whether of not a property is within a special flood hazard area.

Of course you can cross check by topo map but they only have 5 foot resolution. (topo maps are online at the USGS site)

In any case I was referring to property not in the Special Flood Hazard area. You can also look to see how far a property is from a drainage ditch etc.