With Texas Hills Come Valleys, Rivers (& Flooding): How to Handle Flood Plain Issues
May 18th, 2009 categories: Real Estate Resourcing
Beautiful Creek View in the Hill Country (available with Cabin www.hillcountryvacationrental.com)
The Texas Hill Country is full of beautiful hills, valleys, rivers, and creeks (like the one pictured to the left).
You’d think that every one moving to the Hill Country would want something like that. Beautiful, Live water! Ahhhhh…. You can almost feel your blood pressure falling, can’t you?
Well … Maybe. Maybe not! For some it might actually increase their blood pressure. So .. it just depends!
As with many things in life, with every plus, there is a minus and with live water comes the possibility of flooding. You just have to weigh the good with the bad and determine if it is right for you!
I had someone call me not too long and say that they wanted a live water property that was not in the flood plain. Kindof a problem, you think?
In some places, especially here in Comfort, a very large portion of the community is in the flood plain. The river and creek that caused the original settlers to settle there also caused those settlers much difficulty through the years. In fact, Comfort’s “main” street (e.g., the place where the majority of the town’s businesses are located) is now “High Street” because businesses relocated to “higher” ground after numerous floods.
So .. for many properties in the Hill Country, including properties in Kerrville, Bandera, Center Point, Fredericksburg, etc., you will have to weigh flood insurance into the overall budget.
When faced with flood plain issues, one term can be especially confusing.
100-Year Flood – The term 100-year flood is misleading. It is not the flood that will occur once every 100 years. Rather, it is the flood that has a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Thus, the 100-year flood could occur more than once in a relatively short period of time. The 100-year flood is also known as the base flood or 1 percent annual flood.
So, how do you know whether the property you are looking at is in the floodplain? You will want to locate the the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for your area. Here is a portion of Comfort, Texas (Panel 90 in Kendall County):
Flood Insurance Map for Comfort, Texas
What you will notice is that there are different zones shown as wells as various numbers. For areas in the Hill Country, you will be concerned with Zones A & B. Zone B is considered to be in the “flood fringe area” (e.g., the risk of flooding is less than 1%; however, still a possibility). Many mortgage companies still require coverage for properties in Zone B.
Zone A is definitely in the high risk portion of the flood plain. Often, Zone A will be broken down into subareas ranging from Zone A-1 to Zone A-30. If your property is in a Zone A area, you will definitely need flood insurance and the Flood Insurance Rate Map will tell your insurance agent how to price your premium. Flood insurance premiums are federally regulated. Often, individuals and lenders will ask for a Flood Insurance Certificate in order to better define the risk of flooding and can help save in premiums.
A Flood Insurance Certificate is prepared by a surveyor who certifies the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) that the property is in, the Lowest Floor Elevation(LFE), and the Lowest Adjacent Grade (LAG).
Base Flood Elevation (BFE) – The Base Flood Elevation is the height of the base flood, usually in feet, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929, the North American Vertical Datum of 1988, or other datum referenced in the Flood Insurance Study report, or average depth of the base flood, usually in feet, above the ground surface.
The other two terms, LFE and LAG give perspective as to where the house is relative to the BFE. If it is above the BFE, insurance rates could be less than standard FIRM rates. If the house is at or below the BFE, the insurance rates likely will remain at the FIRM rates.
Whether your house was built (or substantially improved) prior to the community’s first Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or not will factor into how much you pay in flood insurance premiums. Ask your insurance agent.
For other terms related to flood plain, go to:
Or if you would like information on a specific area or property, we’d love to help you. You can draw on our expertise of Hill Country real estate and the dynamics related to it.
We’d love to be your Hill Country Home & Ranch Team! 830-995-2511.
RESPOND WITH YOUR MOOS & VIEWS HERE
| Discussion: No Comments »
