Frequently Asked Flood Questions

Anyone in a community that participates in the NFIP can purchase building and/or contents coverage, with a few exceptions. Some Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) areas, Otherwise Protected Areas (OPAs), and buildings principally below ground or entirely over water are not eligible for National Flood Insurance.

Your client can purchase National Flood Insurance from private insurance companies and independent insurance agents. In fact, your client may be able to purchase it with a credit card. Currently, there are about 90 insurance companies that sell National Flood Insurance coverage as well as nearly 60,000 independent insurance agents.

If the seller of the property has flood insurance coverage on the building, that policy can be assigned to the buyer at the time of closing.

If the mortgage company requires flood insurance as a condition of the loan, the lender may escrow flood insurance premiums — making it easy to ensure that your client will not get caught without flood insurance when a flood threatens his or her home.

Flood insurance premiums vary, depending upon the date the building was constructed and the degree of risk for flooding. To get a quote, please contact your insurance agent. If you do not have an agent, you can contact the National Flood Insurance Program for a referral at 1-888-435-6637.

The best time to buy flood insurance coverage is now! There is a 30-day waiting period for flood insurance coverage to become effective. If flood insurance is purchased in connection with a mortgage loan, there is no waiting period.

These are the areas with the highest risk for flooding, shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps as Zones A or V. Over a 30-year mortgage, homes in these zones have a 26 percent chance of being flooded.

Lenders will notify borrowers if flood insurance is required as a condition of the mortgage loan (National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994). Check with your local community or, visit www.floodsmart.gov, to determine your risk. Copies of maps can be downloaded at msc.fema.gov.

Many states have disclosure laws for real estate professionals that address all natural hazards, including flood. Check with your local Board of Realtors for disclosure laws.

For more information about the NFIP and flood insurance, call 1-800-427-4661 or contact your insurance company or agent.

For an agent referral, call 1-888-435-6637
TDD 1-800-427-5593

• FEMA's Flood Insurance Resources
• www.floodsmart.gov

Your client may be required to purchase flood insurance. Homeowner's insurance policies do not cover flooding. If the house is in a designated Special Flood Hazard Area (high risk), then federally regulated or insured lenders must, by law, require your client to buy flood insurance as a condition for the loan.

If your client is not required by law to buy flood insurance, you should recommend it. A home does not need to be near water to be damaged by a flood. Floods are caused by storms, melting snow, hurricanes, and water backup due to inadequate or overloaded drainage systems, broken water mains, and new construction.

It is not just high-risk areas that are flooded. On average 25 to 30 percent of all flood insurance claims come from medium or low-risk flood areas. Relying on Federal disaster assistance is not the answer. Federal disaster assistance is available only if the President declares a state of disaster. Even then, disaster assistance is often a loan that must be repaid with interest, in addition to mortgages, other loans and credit card debts. Advise your client that flood insurance pays even if a disaster is not declared.

Currently, there is a nationwide collaborative effort across all levels of government to update the nation's flood hazard data and provide it in a detailed, digital format, in accordance with a multi-year plan created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The effort evolved as a growing number of industries were impacted by out-of-date flood data.

Osceola County's map modernization project is a joint effort with FEMA and private sector partners.

Flood hazard maps, also called “Flood Insurance Rate Maps” or “FIRMs” are used to determine the flood risk to your home or business. The low- and moderate-risk zones are represented on the maps by the letter “X” or an “X” that is shaded. The high-risk zones will be labeled with designations such as “A” or “AE”.

The Map Modernization project will benefit numerous groups of people in different ways:

• Community planners and local officials will gain a greater understanding of the flood hazards and risks that affect Osceola County and can therefore improve local planning activities.
• Builders and developers will have access to more detailed information for making decisions on where to build and how construction can affect local flood hazard areas.
• Insurance agents, insurance companies, and lending institutions will have easy on-line access to updates and upcoming changes in order to serve their customers and community more efficiently.
• Home and business owners will have the ability to make better financial decisions about protecting their properties.

A floodplain is the part of the land where water collects, pools, and flows during the course of natural events. Such areas are classified as Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA), and are located in a 100-year flood zone. The term "100-year flood" is a little confusing. It is the flood elevation that has a 1- percent chance of being equaled or exceeded each year; it is not the flood that will occur once every 100 years. The likelihood of a flood occurring within a 100-year stretch of time is very, very high, but there’s no way to predict when the next flood will occur – or the one after that. The redrawn maps indicate the floodplain as a “high-risk” area, officially classified as an AE or A zone. Low- and moderate-risk areas will be designated as X zones and shaded X zones on the new maps.

The new maps are being made available for public view August 16, 2011 and will be available on the Internet. Visit the County Map Viewer to see the new maps and this site for more information.

Neighborhoods across Osceola County will be affected differently by these map changes. There will be some properties that aren’t affected – their risk remains the same. Other properties will now be mapped into a higher-risk area and/or show a new Base Flood Elevation*. Some properties will be mapped into a lower-risk area than before. Altogether, more than 11,000 properties will show some change. 17,000 properties will remain within the Special Flood Hazard Area, but the flood elevation may have been revised, changing the impact to the site.

If the new maps-once adopted-indicate the building on your property is now at a higher risk for flooding, you will be required to purchase a flood policy if you carry a mortgage from a federally regulated lender. If you do not have a mortgage, it is still recommended that you purchase flood insurance. It is estimated over the life of a 30-year loan, there is about a 3 times greater chance of having a flood in your home than having a fire*. And most homeowner's insurance policies do not provide coverage for damage due to flooding.

If your building is redrawn into a high-risk area, there are lower-cost options available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) "grandfathering" rule.

When a building moves to a low- or moderate-risk area, there is no longer a federally mandated requirement to purchase flood insurance. However, the risk has only been reduced, not removed. Flood insurance is still recommended.

Upon the adoption of the new maps, you may be eligible for a lower-cost Preferred-Risk Policy (PRP). Through your insurance agent, it is simple to submit a PRP application and insured-signed conversion form to avoid any gaps in your flood coverage.

When new maps are officially adopted, if your structure is mapped into a high-risk area and you have a mortgage with a federally-regulated lender, you will need to purchase flood insurance. If your property is mapped into a low-or moderate-risk area, you are not required to purchase or maintain insurance, but are strongly encouraged to do so. The cost of properly protecting your home and contents from flood damage is far less expensive than the cost to repair or replace it after a flood has occurred.

Through the National Flood Insurance Program, coverage can often be obtained at significant savings. The average cost for a flood insurance policy is around $500 per year. Further, homeowners may qualify for a Preferred Risk Policy that covers both a structure and its contents for as little as $112 per year. Coverage for renters starts at just $39 a year. Talk to your insurance agent to determine the appropriate level of protection you need and the money savings options that are available.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has "grandfathering" rules to recognize policyholders who have built in compliance with the flood map in place at the time of construction or who maintain continuous coverage. These rules allow such policyholders to benefit in the premium rating for their building. However, property owners should always use the new map if it will provide you with a more favorable premium.

Renewal of An Existing Policy

When determining the premium you will pay for flood insurance, an insurance agent will rate your flood insurance policy based on the flood map that is in effect on the date you purchase your policy. Flood insurance policies may then be renewed and still be rated based on the flood map in effect when the policy was initially rated as long as the flood insurance coverage is continuous and the building has not been altered in a manner that would remove this benefit. For example, if the building on the property is now in an X zone, you could purchase the policy before the flood maps are adopted and keep the lower rate associated with the X zone even after the new flood maps become effective. You may even qualify for the lower-cost Preferred Risk Policy for the first year, which provides both building and contents coverage at significant savings. To help maintain this grandfathering benefit for the next owner, you may transfer the policy to them at the time of sale.

Built in Compliance

The NFIP will honor a Grandfather rule for buildings constructed after the first flood map for the community became effective if:

1. the building was built in compliance with the flood map in effect at the time of construction; and
2. if the building has not been substantially damaged or altered.

Under this Grandfather rule, the property owner must provide proper documentation to the insurance company.

If you wish to keep the zone designation in effect when the structure was built, you must provide a copy of the flood map effective at the time of construction showing where the structure is located or present a letter from a community official verifying this information.

In general, for buildings constructed in high-risk zones after the community's first flood map was adopted, your rates are based upon the difference between the flood map's Base Flood Elevation (BFE) and your building's elevation. If there is a change in the BFE and keeping the BFE that existed when the structure was first built gives you a better rate, you must provide the agent with an elevation certificate and a copy of the flood map effective at the time of construction. A letter from a community official verifying this information is also acceptable.

Flood map designations are always based on the best data available to engineers and local officials at the time areas within a community are surveyed and assessed. Every effort is made to ensure that the maps reflect the most accurate and reliable information about the flood risk for all properties. However, re-examining and updating flood hazard information for an entire community is often a multi-year process, and you may feel that you have more accurate data about your property when new maps are eventually completed and released to the public.

As a mechanism to ensure that residents’ questions or concerns about the new map designations are addressed, a 90-day “Public Comment Period” is in place. During this period, citizens will have the opportunity to submit technical and/or scientific data to support a claim that their property has been improperly placed in a high-risk area. If you have better information, such as an elevation certificate, topographic map or detailed hydraulic or hydrologic data, then you may be able to protest or appeal the flood risk indicated by the new maps.

Flood hazard maps, also known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), are important tools in the effort to protect lives and properties in Osceola County. They indicate the risk for flooding throughout the County. However, the current maps are out of date. Some formerly rural areas were never mapped in detail, and other areas haven’t been re-mapped in more than 10 years. Over time, water flow and drainage patterns have changed dramatically due to surface erosion, land use and natural forces. The likelihood of inland and riverine flooding in certain areas has changed along with these factors.

New digital mapping techniques will provide more detailed, reliable and current data on County flood hazards. The result: a better picture of the areas most likely to be impacted by flooding and a better foundation from which to make key decisions.