After much deliberation and negative public feedback, FEMA has planned to once again revise the unreleased DFIRMs (Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps), anticipated to become effective in the summer of 2011. The new effective date is undetermined. We'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, take the necessary precautions in protecting your home, as EVERY home is prone to flood damage.
Things to know as property owner
- UNDERSTAND the National Flood Insurance Program and how map determinations are made; determinations are usually created by horizontal scaling from the flood maps and are drawn to a very large scale which leaves much room for errors to exist. Because of this, the NFIP allows for formal challenges to the determinations but requires the collection of technical data to support the claim. This data includes Elevation Certificate and either a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision - Fill (LOMR-F).
- Mandatory insurance is required if your home is placed in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and your loan is government insured (i.e. created by a federal-regulated lender). Determining the age of your home, its lowest floor, use of venting, etc. may qualify a borrower for lower premiums, a Preferred Risk Policy, or grandfather rates.
- -25% of all flood insurance claims happen outside a SFHA, due to flooding caused by: storms, design errors, improper use of the watershed, lack of vegetation, improper permitting, map errors, etc. While properties in a SFHA are at greater risk, every home is at risk.