Business Directory, Chamber of Commerce, Eastern Connecticut.Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).Town Representatives to Regional Agencies.Ask your insurance agent about flood insurance ASAP.īase flood elevation (BFE) is the base altitude of a 100-year floodplain, so if you’re at “base flood,” as it’s called, you’re at risk of water reaching your home in the event of a flood.Ĭheck out FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center at. Flooding is the costliest and most common natural disaster, millions of homes are highly vulnerable, and homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flooding. Should I still bother with flood insurance?Įven if it’s not required, you should think carefully about purchasing a flood insurance policy. Only homeowners in SFHA areas (coded zone A) with federally backed mortgages are subject to mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements. Am I required to have flood insurance in flood zone X?. Shaded zone X flood zones are not in 100-year floodplains but are inside a 500-year floodplain, so they’re at moderate risk. Unshaded flood zone X means you’re not in a 100- or 500-year floodplain, and you’re at the lowest risk of flooding. Zone VE areas carry zone V risks but have additional floodplain information and base flood information. Zone V areas are coastal and carry a series of additional hazards that could increase flood damage, such as wave action, hurricanes, and storm surge. Zone AR means your property is temporarily at increased risk because a flood mitigation project like a dam or levee is under construction or renovation. Zone AO means your primary flood risk is from streams or rivers, and sheet flow could cause average flood depths between 1 and 3 feet. Zone AH properties are usually next to ponds. Zone AH flood zones are still high-risk, but the average flood depth is between 1 and 3 feet. Zone AE means your home is at or below base flood elevation and at high risk of flooding, and there is detailed flood information available for your area. That might not sound likely to meet the definition of “high-risk,” but think of it this way: there’s a 26 percent chance that a 100-year flood will come during a 30- year mortgage. SFHAs are in 100-year floodplains, meaning that every year, there’s at least a 1-in-100 annual chance of a flood. Zone A and zone V are Special Flood Hazard Areas, known as SFHAs. The rest of the FEMA flood zone codes are pretty simple. The average depth of flooding in shaded zone X is one foot-but keep in mind that even an inch of water can do a lot of damage. Zone X flood zones also might be in an area with a 1 percent chance of flooding in a given year that is protected by levees or other flood protection measures that lower the risk of damage. Property owners can breathe easily that they’re not in a high- risk flood zone but should still be as wary as ever of flood disaster. This is also defined as the 0.2 percent annual-chance floodplain. The bad news: Zone B is usually not in a 100-year floodplain, but it’s inside a 500-year floodplain. Properties at or below base flood elevation are in a 100-year floodplain, meaning they have a 1 percent chance of flood in a given year. The SFHA zones are also called base flood zones because they’re at or below base flood elevation ( BFE ). If you’re in a zone B or shaded zone X flood zone, here’s the good news: you’re not in an SFHA ( Special Flood Hazard Area ) like Zone A, which means you’re outside the high-risk areas. Shaded zone X or zone B indicates moderate flood risk. If you’re in a shaded flood zone X, you also might see a zone B flood code. With that out of the way, let’s get deeper into the specifics of what flood zone X means. Even though flood insurance is only required in Special Flood Hazard Areas, and only then for properties with federally backed mortgages, every homeowner ought to seriously consider flood insurance. If so many insured properties have flood issues, think of all the homes in flood zone X that never bought insurance but still sustained costly flood damage.įlooding is the most common and costly natural disaster. And with climate change altering weather patterns, intense rain events and flash flooding will happen more frequently and in unexpected places.Ībout 20 percent of flood insurance claims come from properties at low to moderate flood risk. Heavy rainfall can happen anywhere and quickly cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage. That might sound like a relief! But first, let’s get a couple of things out of the way:Įveryone is at risk of flooding. At the most basic level, flood zone code X indicates a low or moderate risk of flooding.
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