New FEMA flood maps rezoning

[Sam Leon]

I just checked all my properties against the latest FEMA flood maps here:

https://msc.fema.gov/portal

Now sometimes your county may also have a layer of this in their GIS system.

In any case I noticed three of my properties seem to lay inside ZONE X (which is lower risk) then previously ZONED AE.

Down here insurance is expensive, we got liability, windstorm and flood and just flood on one subject property is $1500-$2500.

I am guessing I can't just call up my insurance agent and say check out this web site...so I need to obtain an updated elevation certificate just from the map being rezoned by FEMA.

For ZONE X I actually am not required to carry Flood but I guess I still will just for the peace of mind especially if the new rate is lowered.

Anyone else been through this, would appreciate if you know of a way to get a formal rezone for a specific address that you can use for insurance instead of another elevation certificate which requires a new survey I believe.

[Clint Shelley]

Sam,

You don't pay the surveyors to interpret the maps. You pay them to provide and certify the elevations needed to fill out the the flood certs. Your community flood plain manager or a FEMA anaylst will interpret the maps and consider the flood cert against the firm map. Anytime a flood zone is changed the old certs are null because the risk is now different. All flood policies are underwritten by FEMA. If your property is in two zones, you insure against the higher of the risks. If you have a 1000 acre parcel the shows only one corner in the flood zone, your lender will still require a flood cert because your property is affected. At this point you could do one of two things. Cut the affected portion out creating a raw land parcel in the flood zone then say a 999 acre parcel with a house that is not in the flood zone. Overlay this on a firm map then you have a free and clear parcel. This is acreage is rather extreme but I use this example to explain this situation to my clients. Due to zoning laws it's usually cheaper just to do the flood cert and send in a LOMA to try and get an exemption. 25% of all flood claims typically happen in areas outside of the flood zone. I am a surveyor by the way. Hope is helps.

Clint Shelley