Flood insurance just got more challenging to understand, plus, depending on your property location, your rate will get either better or worse.
FEMA is in the process of revising the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) under the Biggert Waters changes, implemented by the Flood Insurance Affordability Act that took effect on Jan. 1, 2014. Flood insurance rates are affected by the maps that FEMA adopts.
There is a meeting Thursday at Wrightsville Beach’s town hall where, in an act of kindness, Spencer Rogers, a coastal construction and erosion specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant, will speak on the changes to the maps.
Make no mistake, the proposed maps make absolutely no sense. They are confusing, illogical and not tied to reality, but, he says he will do his best to address the new maps — for informational purposes.
Before this meeting, it is key to go online and look at your property on the maps, plus a few other locations for familiarization.
Wrong addresses, incorrect parcel ID numbers are just the beginning of this twilight zone experience. Rogers says those are there for general information purposes, but it is unnerving, nonetheless.
To find your home or business on the online flood maps, type into the Google search bar: North Carolina Flood Risk Information System, or try typing into the tool bar: fris.ncgov/fris, keeping in mind this doesn’t always work. That’s why a Google search is listed first.
Next: Click on North Carolina. The following screen should show the state map. Enter your address there.
On the next page, top right, make sure it says Effective. This is the current map and where you should start.
Locate your property on the map, then click on it so it is highlighted in aqua. Your information will come up in the box on the right. Things to pay attention to are Flood Zone: most likely this will be either a Special Flood Hazard VE or an AE, more on that in a second. Then find Base Flood Elevation: it will range from 10 feet to 18 feet (ft).
For example, my house in the 600 block of the Causeway is a VE 15 ft on the Effective map. In the VE zone, the number corresponds to the height of the lowest horizontal member of the structure other than the foundation that could get hit by a wave. FEMA says properties in Zone VE have a wave component that is greater than 3 feet in height.
Next, click past the nearest white line to see where the change occurs. At my house, directly across the Causeway in the marsh, it drops to a VE 14 ft.
After you have looked at a few neighboring properties and you feel comfortable with the existing map, go back to the top right corner of that box, and click on the Effective tab drop down and select Preliminary.
Now repeat everything already done, noting the changes as you compare the two maps. Depending on where your property is, this can blow your mind.
Many oceanfront properties have their designations lowered from VE to AE zones. The Johnnie Mercer’s Pier house, a VE 18 ft on the Existing flood map, goes down to VE 13 on the new map. However, Kings, a VE 14 ft (same as my house on the new map) goes down to AE 11 ft.
This is a very important difference. AE is a lesser flood hazard, and the height reference on this one is the top of the floor. Rogers says AE flooding resembles still water flooding, like a lake, as opposed to wave action.
Every house or structure in this area is, in fact, AE 11 ft, including most all of the oceanfront. Under federal guidelines (not state building regs), Rogers says AE 11 ft allows for building on slab and even a basement.
In this anomaly, the oceanfront went down as much as 5 feet, and is AE, while most of Harbor Island including its waterfront and interior lots are VE with high numbers. It is worth noting some of South HI, including the exposed Point Place Drive, are VE 14 ft on the Preliminary map, while the Bakers’ house at the Kenan Creek bridge and two adjacent buildings at Lookout Harbor on the north end of HI are AE 12 ft.
Want more? On the Preliminary map, Shell Island is also AE 12 ft, as is Rep. Rick Catlin’s Parmele beach house and the highly exposed public works department out at the end. The Oceanic is VE 17 ft, however the Surf Suites is a surprising AE 11 ft. Incredibly, some locations like the Blockade Runner are noted as only having a .2 percent chance of flood contained in the channel.
Staying on the south end, the mayor’s house is AE 11 ft, but three houses north it jumps to VE 17 ft.
Know the section at the end of east Atlanta and Columbia streets the ocean seems to want to take? The rating drops from VE 14 to AE 11 ft.
How absurd is that?
On the mainland, the mixed use new construction at the old Babies Hospital base flood elevation has gone up as much as 3 ft.
Rogers says there are similar patterns in many places — that the reality and flood map representation don’t meet.
Rogers will attempt to explain what the maps are proposing. He says he can’t explain why these risk distributors are showing up the way they are.
Flood insurance rates are determined by these maps. There is an appeal process, but challenging these preliminary maps will be expensive and not so easy.
This is a messed-up deal. It is pretty important you look at these maps and then attend the meeting.
