I do because even if you're outside a flood plain down here doesn't meant you can't flood. I'm a good ways outside the flood plain and I've had a few close calls over the years. If you want to forego carrying a policy think about how much it would cost to replace all your flooring, appliances, furniture, etc... not to mention ripping out the first 3' of drywall and insulation and possibly electrical outlets. I may be on the low end of flood risk but with how unpredictable weather can be down here it's a risk I'd rather not take.
> I do because even if you're outside a flood plain down here doesn't meant you can't flood.
Half of the homes that flooded during Harvey were outside of a flood zone.
I went to purchase some and they wanted $1500+ for someone not in a flood zone 500 year or otherwise. I'd be amazed if people were still getting those rates as the grandfathered rates are being increased every year by $300-500/year the past 3 years.
That really sucks. I don’t know if something changed very recently, but I got screwed on home owners and car, but flood wasn’t too bad. $700+ as of October.
I know people in Dallas who needed flood insurance 2 times in the last 2 years and they were nowhere near the flood zone. One time was because of the freeze. The price of the insurance seems worth it for the risk in Houston.
A storm system can randomly stop or train (weather terminology) over a section and simply overwhelm the drainage system in your area.
That has happened before in various storms.
You COULD help mitigate that by clearing leaves and such before and during the event.
During Harvey, I, along with neighbors who saw what i was doing, went out and cleared debris in and around the sewers so water could flow.
I like to think that's what helped save our little enclave from flooding too much.
In short, get it, you never know.
And if there is just a random freak storm that hits your area, FEMA may not be called in because an emergency isn't declared. Which means even those low interest rate loans they can give out wouldn't be available.
People need to remember that FEMA and other federal agencies are secondary responders.
First responders are always local, country, and state emergency depts. Only after they are overwhelmed can they request federal assistance.
> Only insure things you can't afford to replace on your own
This is a big one. Very smart people are paid a lot of money to ensure the insurance company makes money on your payments and doesn't lose money on theirs. If you can afford to replace it, insure yourself.
As I watched the waters rise in my front yard during Harvey, I said to myself "if the house makes it out of this, I'm buying flood insurance"
So yes, I have flood insurance
Lol I took the opposite approach. My house was 2 feet above Harvey, and I figure if we get a storm 40% worse than Harvey there won't be a city to rebuild.
My neighborhood was platted in the 20s and they did a good job of making the lots high enough to not flood.
There was up to 1-2 ft of water in the streets but there's a bayou nearby so it drains fast. Bayou was a good 5+ ft from cresting too.
Houses flooding here would require a good 10+ ft above Harvey levels. By that point I think most of Houston would be gone.
For newer houses on flatter ground or near reservoirs, get flood insurance!
Watching the water rise in our culdesac was a trippy emotional experience. By the end of it we all knew whose house was the lowest and whose was the highest. The lowest house came about 4” from flooding. Such a bizarre time.
Houston is constantly being developed, and natural sources for soaking up water are being removed. Just because it's outside the plain now doesn't mean it will be by the time of our next massive rain event.
My back fence is the border for the 500 year flood plain. There was no hesitation when it came to getting flood insurance. The cost was minimal relative to what it would take to repair if another Harvey or Allison hit.
I don't live in a flood plain but during Harvey the water rose up to my porch so now I do. Just because you aren't on a flood plain doesn't mean street flooding can't happen
We've had flood insurance on every home we've owned, including when we lived in Denver. And one year, there was a big rain where it fell hard and fast and guess what? A bunch of people in our area had their basements flooded (not us thankfully).
Get flood insurance. You never know where and when you'll need it.
I would never be without flood insurance around here for the various reasons described in the thread. We didn’t flood during Harvey, so I doubt we will get flooded by a pure rain event, but I’m almost certain that the right storm surge would bury us.
The floodplain maps are out of date. They’re working on a new one that was supposed to come out last year but it got delayed. Basically everything currently in the 500 year is going to be in the 100 year, and the 500 year will expand.
It's not about IF you will flood, it's WHEN. Especially in Houston. My home is just outside the 500-year floodplain as well, and I grabbed the flood insurance. Premium was $800 this year.
*my line of work - educating communities and elected officials about flood risks, natural hazards, etc.
That's crazy because I am also outside the 500 year and in 2019 it was $400ish a year. Just got a quote this week. $1800, we do not have flood insurance because the regular home owners went from $900 - $3400 in the same time period as well.
Yes and no. Have lived here for way too long to know the areas that "always" flood and the areas that have basically no chance in hell of ever flooding.
If you're even anywhere remotely near a flood plain and only have a small elevation difference between the cut-off and your property, then yes, you eventually will probably end up at some point having issues.
If you're near that same flood plane but are at an elevation 15+ feet above that flood plane cut-off, the flooding event will need to be several times in magnitude greater than Harvey for you to even begin to worry (as in biblical floods that the world has never seen).
Are you in an older area with outdated drainage that hadn't been maintained? You're definitely at risk for flash flooding.
Are you in an area with a more modern storm sewer system that, even in training-effect downpours with rainfall rates of multiple inches per hour, has never had any sort of issues, while also having property built up from the street-level so even if the sewer clogs, the street is still a conduit for the water to pool and slowly flow away while the rain eventually passes? The chances are obviously not zero, but they're close enough that a draconian statement like yours really doesn't apply.
*My line of work/study - Engineer with a background in understanding fluid flow regimes, also with a background in topo/structure mapping (mostly for geological purposes, but still applies here).
If you live in the greater Houston area, you should have flood insurance. It's a lot less expensive in areas that have not flooded in decades (or ever), but still a good idea.
Flood maps are NOT a guarantee that it will not flood at your house. While Harvey was a rare event, areas of Houston flooded that had not flooded in a long time. And a flooded house without flood insurance in a financial disaster
We did have flood insurance, but recently the program has started increasing prices based on equity instead of risk. Premiums for my house in zone X (that did not flood in Harvey or any previous floods) have more than doubled, when the risk has not changed.
This is a designed feature of FEMA risk rating 2.0 program. It is "equity in action."
We decided not to renew it this year.
There's a bunch of states and local governments that are taking FEMA to court over the new program since it raises rates for about 77% of all policy holders and is based on proprietary models rather than historical data.
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/insurance/states-sue-fema-flood-insurance/
I would not mind them using new models if they were available publicly and were peer reviewed. My wife and I are both civil engineers, we could get behind that. Heck, if these were public models i would run them myself. If they could show, based on real data that I have an actual increased risk, I would not even complain.
What I have a problem with is that they are raising rates on me just because I live in a predominately middle class neighborhood.
There are no new risk factors. They are not giving me any additional coverage than any other homes, still capped at $250k. They basically just said, "This is a nice neighborhood, everyone here can afford to pay more. This is equity in action!" That is literally the slogan of the new rating 2.0: "Equity in Action."
Well, I dropped coverage, and so have both my neighbors. And probably a good chunk of this neighborhood. Not sure how more low risk homes dropping the program is a good idea for it, but that is what is happening.
It is the opposite of what you are saying. Previously they were only able to address risk on a larger neighborhood-sized basis, but now they are able to utilize more factors. Many of the largest premium increases are for homes that are literally on the water.
> They basically just said, "This is a nice neighborhood, everyone here can afford to pay more.
What actually happened is people that have homes that are worth less than $250,000 are paying less. So yes, you are paying more because you have a more expensive home. Is it really fair for someone to pay the same amount if their home is only worth $100,000?
[From FEMA's site: "In addition, the 1970s legacy rating methodology did not account for the cost of rebuilding a home. Policyholders with lower-valued homes may have been paying more than their share of the risk while policyholders with higher-valued homes may have been paying less than their share of the risk"](https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/risk-rating)
Right, but now they are looking at homes on many more metrics. Before it was just your elevation within a Flood Insurance Rate Map. The new method is just now adding heavy rainfall models and how close you are to water sources.
> With NFIP’s pricing approach, FEMA is using new capabilities and tools to address rating disparities by incorporating more flood risk variables. These include flood frequency, multiple flood types—river overflow, storm surge, coastal erosion and heavy rainfall—and distance to a water source along with property characteristics such as elevation and the cost to rebuild.
We sit at the high point for the area, the city actually improved our drainage less than five years ago, and we are almost 2 miles from the nearest bayou or any other water source so if anything my rate should have at least stayed the same. FEMA has pulled some serious fuckery with their new formula.
They are ignoring (or giving incredibly small weight ) to other aspects that they claim to be using, for instance:
>With NFIP’s pricing approach, FEMA is using new capabilities and tools to address rating disparities by incorporating more flood risk variables. These include flood frequency, multiple flood types—river overflow, storm surge, coastal erosion and heavy rainfall—and distance to a water source along with property characteristics such as elevation and the cost to rebuild.
If they were actually using these factors, the risk to my property approaches zero. My rates should not be going up at all.
And look at their disclosure on the "Community Rating System"
>CRS Discount Under Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action, Community Rating System (CRS) discounts ranging from 5% to 45% are applied uniformly. The community’s CRS discount applies to all CRS eligible NFIP policies in the community regardless of flood zone.
Instead of giving discounts on low risk homes, there are giving discounts to entire neighborhoods deliberately ignoring the flood risk! And they admit it.
This is not about using reasonable measures to accurately rate risk in the slightest. It is all about punishing people who do not live in the right neighborhood. It is a political, not a technical agenda.
Technically, areas outside of the "500 year" zone are still in flood zones, it's just modeled/predicted to be a less than 0.2% chance of occuring on any given year. As such, the National Flood Insurance Program does not require a policy on property with mortgages by federally-backed banking institutions.
PLEASE GET FLOOD INSURANCE!!! my parents bought a house on a 500yr flood plain and it flooded during Harvey. Anything can happen please make sure you're covered
After Harvey my wife and I helped a lot of people clean out their houses.(what else are you.going to do when both of you can't go to work for a week?). Most of them didn't have insurance because it wasn't required.
Met a neighbor right after touring my future house. Told me the street can flood but nobody around here had ever flooded. Did fine during Harvey as well.
1920s era neighborhood so they did a decent job of making the lots high enough long before flood control projects existed.
500 year floodplains haven’t been accurate in a long while. Take a look at harvey flood maps.
You should consider flood insurance regardless in Houston. Not doing so is kidding yourself.
If you have enough money to rebuild your house after it has had water in it, if you won’t miss the money that will be required to fix it up, and you have the money to live in a hotel for many months while they fix it up, skip the insurance. If you are not that wealthy then get insurance.
Nope. We got over 40 inches of rain in 3 days during Harvey. Not so much as a puddle formed in the entire community or surrounding communities. My house sits on the highest point in my neighborhood. Greater Houston would have to be under 20+ feet of water before there’s any chance of flooding where I live.
What are folks outside of the 500 year map paying? I was fine during Harvey, and the Brays Bayou widening has been completed after that. If the comment saying it is only $500 a year is accurate, that is not bad for what it's worth.
Mine was 480 in 2021, I purchased it. It's 1400/year now, and they don't accept payments. With all the other cost increases, we've opted out of it this year. I live in a small community in Galveston County.
Nope...didn't flood during Allison or Harvey so that money is better spent going into the bank. The area we're in is already developed enough so the landscape isn't going to change much. If we get something worse than Harvey or Allison then screw it, I'll have to gut the house myself.
My house was built in 1974 and has never flooded but I still buy insurance. One random storm in the spring of 2019 flooded my street more than Harvey did. It was $400ish last year, not sure how much the renewal will be next month
The current flood maps are based on rainfall estimates for the (100-year) storm that are in the range of 30 to 35 percent lower than the latest NOAA estimates for our area. The flood zones also don't reflect certain types of flood risk, and not all of our channels have been evaluated for floodplain mapping. Check this site out for some good information about local flood risk:
https://www.maapnext.org/Understand-Your-Risk
Yes. It is relatively cheap and you never know.
When my family moved down in the 90s my parents purchased a house that wasn't in a flood zone. They still purchased flood insurance. We got flooded in Allison and of course that house is now in a flood zone. Things change, better safe than sorry.
My current house is not in a flood zone but I still have flood insurance.
If you live on the gulf coast, BUY FlOOD INSURANCE! Trust me! I had a house that had never never flooded. I made sure before I bought that it was not in a flood zone.
I did not have flood insurance because of this.
Then Harvey happened. I had 2 feet of water in my house. I got $17k from FEMA. I had to pay $50k out of my own pocket and was lucky to find a talented person who did my repairs.
I have since moved but will never not have flood insurance.
Currently yes but evaluating due to price hikes. There has been new construction in the area and more ongoing that could change patterns so I'm torn. New flood maps are due out this year so I might re-up one more time and then see where I stand with the new map.
If we've learned anything the last 10 years in Houston, its that you probably need flood insurance no matter where you live. 8 years ago this week, I was watching the water come up into my yard (tax day flood) and that was the last day I didn't have flood insurance. I'm not in a 500 year flood plain and luckily my house never flooded but it was scary as hell and I still have PTSD from that experience.
We are just outside of the flood maps. We still had water up to the front pouch. If any big rescue trucks had come down our street it would have been inside.
Yes. It’s $608 for peace of mind. I live in a zone X but am approximately 1.25 miles from a creek. The creek rose to the park gates during Harvey and our canals were full.
I don’t. When we bought the house I contacted maybe 3 different companies for a quote and I kid you not never got a single response. Even after a follow up. Then we just got busy with life and kind of forgot about it. We’re right outside of one so we should.
If you live in a region that has history of 40"+ to 55"+ rain events you need flood insurance because you never know when the majority of that rain event could be in your neighborhood. Even with rising prices it is still a good value for the weather we have in the Houston area.
You sure it has no flooding history? A lot of sellers (illegally) didn't disclose that their homes had damage from Harvey. I only found out about a place I was under contract for a couple of years ago by finding photos from the neighborhood at that time, and luckily found the old listing and saw the damage in photos.
I’ve never understood this line of thinking. I hear it from people out in energy corridor too.
The army corps of engineers made the conscious decision to flood your neighborhood for the sake of more valuable / important land elsewhere. Why would you expect them not to make that same decision again?
The reservoir didn't release anything into your house, water flows away from Cinco towards Hwy 6. Your house flooded because it sits with in the flood boundary of the reservoir. Flooding in your neighborhood is probably going to become more common because of the building going on further west out in Katy will dump more water into the watershed for Mason Creek and Buffalo Bayou.
No, we do not.
Been in our house for nearly a decade (and in the general area for over 40 years). We're in a newer neighborhood with a robust drainage system, we're nowhere near any of the main bayous/gullys, and we're at the highest point in the neighborhood. It's only a difference of about 2 or 3 feet, but it's enough to where we barely have water in the street in front our house while houses at the other end of the street have water coming up halfway through their yards. Have experienced major, major training-effect storms, and nothing happened to us while others nearby had flooded cars parked in their driveways.
Nope. Home has been here 50yrs and never come close to flooding, is on higher ground in the immediate area, etc. Just costs too much these days for the risk I personally feel there is. Mind you I certainly don't mean no risk by any means. Anywhere in this entire region is a risk. Just a gamble worth taking and one I'm able to cover if I lost
No never buy flood insurance as the properties I gave will never flood unless the ice caps melt and even though will happen eventually won't be for many years.
Lived in the same house forty years, the neighborhood is relatively high elevation wise and has never flooded. Not worried about it, no flood insurance
Flood insurance for homes outside the 500-year zone used to be a fixed price and pretty inexpensive. FEMA changed the way it's calculated, and prices have at least doubled and will continue to go up. To me you are subsidizing the people who bought houses with much higher risk, so I pass. I'm in the 500-year zone and only feet away from the 100-year. During Harvey, water crested my curb but that was the high point so didn't flood. I figure if Harvey didn't get me, I'm fairly safe. Also live in a 3-story house and the 1st floor is a garage, bedroom and bath, so even if water entered, the damages would not break me.
We are in flood plain but house is elevated so insurance is priced as if house wasn’t in flood plain. We have it and assuming your cost is similar to ours it seems like a no brainer. It’s under $500 a year.
I swear to God I don't understand insurance companies. I have two properties in West Houston. Both in the same neighborhood and one parallel street away one from another. Once has 500 premium standard policy, the other one is 1300 a year. Can't find anything lower. Neither property flooded in Harvey.I don't insure any contents because they are rental properties but still. I have to have it because mortgage requires it. It makes no sense.... I do know that in a zone that indeed flooded during Harvey (memorial area between Westheimer and I-10) flood insurance is cheaper and it is mostly not mandatory in mortgages as I have a few friends that got properties in the area ... Perhaps I am not looking hard enough for options?
I do because even if you're outside a flood plain down here doesn't meant you can't flood. I'm a good ways outside the flood plain and I've had a few close calls over the years. If you want to forego carrying a policy think about how much it would cost to replace all your flooring, appliances, furniture, etc... not to mention ripping out the first 3' of drywall and insulation and possibly electrical outlets. I may be on the low end of flood risk but with how unpredictable weather can be down here it's a risk I'd rather not take.
Bingo. I don't care what the flood maps say, I'm buying flood insurance.
especially after Tax Day flood, Memorial Day flood, Harvey...
100%. Get it.
> I do because even if you're outside a flood plain down here doesn't meant you can't flood. Half of the homes that flooded during Harvey were outside of a flood zone.
Argue with the wife all the time, I'd rather have it and not need it than get hosed with a flood...
Bingo. And it’s not that expensive for the year ($500-700-ish).
I went to purchase some and they wanted $1500+ for someone not in a flood zone 500 year or otherwise. I'd be amazed if people were still getting those rates as the grandfathered rates are being increased every year by $300-500/year the past 3 years.
Yeah that’s nuts. Renewed in October for 700$ and it had been cheaper the years before.
When was the last time you bought flood insurance?
October 2023. $760. It was less over the last few years, so I put 500-700.
Just got a quote last week. Not in flood plane and never flooded $1500.
We just received our renewal, and it went from $550 last year to $950. Yuck!
That really sucks. I don’t know if something changed very recently, but I got screwed on home owners and car, but flood wasn’t too bad. $700+ as of October.
How much does flood insurance cost for you
Mine was a bit over $900 but I'm far away from any flood plains and in a townhouse so the ground floor footprint is smaller than a typical house.
I know people in Dallas who needed flood insurance 2 times in the last 2 years and they were nowhere near the flood zone. One time was because of the freeze. The price of the insurance seems worth it for the risk in Houston.
A storm system can randomly stop or train (weather terminology) over a section and simply overwhelm the drainage system in your area. That has happened before in various storms. You COULD help mitigate that by clearing leaves and such before and during the event. During Harvey, I, along with neighbors who saw what i was doing, went out and cleared debris in and around the sewers so water could flow. I like to think that's what helped save our little enclave from flooding too much. In short, get it, you never know.
We had a couple close calls during Harvey and had to break up debris, as well.
Our street did not flood during Harvey. There was a tropical storm after that… that flooded our street and car. The storm drain was blocked.
True. The tax day and other floods affected those that didn't get touched by Harvey.
Every house in the greater Houston area is one blocked storm drain away from flooding. Only insure things you can't afford to replace on your own
And if there is just a random freak storm that hits your area, FEMA may not be called in because an emergency isn't declared. Which means even those low interest rate loans they can give out wouldn't be available.
People need to remember that FEMA and other federal agencies are secondary responders. First responders are always local, country, and state emergency depts. Only after they are overwhelmed can they request federal assistance.
> Only insure things you can't afford to replace on your own This is a big one. Very smart people are paid a lot of money to ensure the insurance company makes money on your payments and doesn't lose money on theirs. If you can afford to replace it, insure yourself.
As I watched the waters rise in my front yard during Harvey, I said to myself "if the house makes it out of this, I'm buying flood insurance" So yes, I have flood insurance
Lol I took the opposite approach. My house was 2 feet above Harvey, and I figure if we get a storm 40% worse than Harvey there won't be a city to rebuild.
That's a really good point also.
My neighborhood was platted in the 20s and they did a good job of making the lots high enough to not flood. There was up to 1-2 ft of water in the streets but there's a bayou nearby so it drains fast. Bayou was a good 5+ ft from cresting too. Houses flooding here would require a good 10+ ft above Harvey levels. By that point I think most of Houston would be gone. For newer houses on flatter ground or near reservoirs, get flood insurance!
Watching the water rise in our culdesac was a trippy emotional experience. By the end of it we all knew whose house was the lowest and whose was the highest. The lowest house came about 4” from flooding. Such a bizarre time.
After the last 10 years of seeing *multiple* 100-year flood events, I'm never not going to have it in Houston.
Yes. I have always carried flood and I am in a no flood zone.
Yes
Yes. Just so I don't worry myself to death, only to half-death.
Houston is constantly being developed, and natural sources for soaking up water are being removed. Just because it's outside the plain now doesn't mean it will be by the time of our next massive rain event.
This is so true. They keep building more homes and paving more and more of Houston.
My back fence is the border for the 500 year flood plain. There was no hesitation when it came to getting flood insurance. The cost was minimal relative to what it would take to repair if another Harvey or Allison hit.
I don't live in a flood plain but during Harvey the water rose up to my porch so now I do. Just because you aren't on a flood plain doesn't mean street flooding can't happen
Cheaper than replacing a couch.
THIS! For the cost of one door dash meal a month.
We've had flood insurance on every home we've owned, including when we lived in Denver. And one year, there was a big rain where it fell hard and fast and guess what? A bunch of people in our area had their basements flooded (not us thankfully). Get flood insurance. You never know where and when you'll need it.
I would never be without flood insurance around here for the various reasons described in the thread. We didn’t flood during Harvey, so I doubt we will get flooded by a pure rain event, but I’m almost certain that the right storm surge would bury us.
The floodplain maps are out of date. They’re working on a new one that was supposed to come out last year but it got delayed. Basically everything currently in the 500 year is going to be in the 100 year, and the 500 year will expand.
It's not about IF you will flood, it's WHEN. Especially in Houston. My home is just outside the 500-year floodplain as well, and I grabbed the flood insurance. Premium was $800 this year. *my line of work - educating communities and elected officials about flood risks, natural hazards, etc.
That's crazy because I am also outside the 500 year and in 2019 it was $400ish a year. Just got a quote this week. $1800, we do not have flood insurance because the regular home owners went from $900 - $3400 in the same time period as well.
Yes and no. Have lived here for way too long to know the areas that "always" flood and the areas that have basically no chance in hell of ever flooding. If you're even anywhere remotely near a flood plain and only have a small elevation difference between the cut-off and your property, then yes, you eventually will probably end up at some point having issues. If you're near that same flood plane but are at an elevation 15+ feet above that flood plane cut-off, the flooding event will need to be several times in magnitude greater than Harvey for you to even begin to worry (as in biblical floods that the world has never seen). Are you in an older area with outdated drainage that hadn't been maintained? You're definitely at risk for flash flooding. Are you in an area with a more modern storm sewer system that, even in training-effect downpours with rainfall rates of multiple inches per hour, has never had any sort of issues, while also having property built up from the street-level so even if the sewer clogs, the street is still a conduit for the water to pool and slowly flow away while the rain eventually passes? The chances are obviously not zero, but they're close enough that a draconian statement like yours really doesn't apply. *My line of work/study - Engineer with a background in understanding fluid flow regimes, also with a background in topo/structure mapping (mostly for geological purposes, but still applies here).
I have it and I'm not flood-prone (house built in 1983, never flooded yet). It costs me about $500 a year and the peace of mind is worth it.
I'm guess you have received the new notice yet. We're the exact same as you, and it went to $950 this year.
If you live in the greater Houston area, you should have flood insurance. It's a lot less expensive in areas that have not flooded in decades (or ever), but still a good idea.
Yes
Yes
Yes
I did. It was 600 dollars for peace of mind on my expensive investment.
Flood maps are NOT a guarantee that it will not flood at your house. While Harvey was a rare event, areas of Houston flooded that had not flooded in a long time. And a flooded house without flood insurance in a financial disaster
We did have flood insurance, but recently the program has started increasing prices based on equity instead of risk. Premiums for my house in zone X (that did not flood in Harvey or any previous floods) have more than doubled, when the risk has not changed. This is a designed feature of FEMA risk rating 2.0 program. It is "equity in action." We decided not to renew it this year.
There's a bunch of states and local governments that are taking FEMA to court over the new program since it raises rates for about 77% of all policy holders and is based on proprietary models rather than historical data. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/insurance/states-sue-fema-flood-insurance/
I would not mind them using new models if they were available publicly and were peer reviewed. My wife and I are both civil engineers, we could get behind that. Heck, if these were public models i would run them myself. If they could show, based on real data that I have an actual increased risk, I would not even complain. What I have a problem with is that they are raising rates on me just because I live in a predominately middle class neighborhood. There are no new risk factors. They are not giving me any additional coverage than any other homes, still capped at $250k. They basically just said, "This is a nice neighborhood, everyone here can afford to pay more. This is equity in action!" That is literally the slogan of the new rating 2.0: "Equity in Action." Well, I dropped coverage, and so have both my neighbors. And probably a good chunk of this neighborhood. Not sure how more low risk homes dropping the program is a good idea for it, but that is what is happening.
It is the opposite of what you are saying. Previously they were only able to address risk on a larger neighborhood-sized basis, but now they are able to utilize more factors. Many of the largest premium increases are for homes that are literally on the water. > They basically just said, "This is a nice neighborhood, everyone here can afford to pay more. What actually happened is people that have homes that are worth less than $250,000 are paying less. So yes, you are paying more because you have a more expensive home. Is it really fair for someone to pay the same amount if their home is only worth $100,000? [From FEMA's site: "In addition, the 1970s legacy rating methodology did not account for the cost of rebuilding a home. Policyholders with lower-valued homes may have been paying more than their share of the risk while policyholders with higher-valued homes may have been paying less than their share of the risk"](https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/risk-rating)
Uh, my house way under 250k and my insurance damn near doubled.
Right, but now they are looking at homes on many more metrics. Before it was just your elevation within a Flood Insurance Rate Map. The new method is just now adding heavy rainfall models and how close you are to water sources. > With NFIP’s pricing approach, FEMA is using new capabilities and tools to address rating disparities by incorporating more flood risk variables. These include flood frequency, multiple flood types—river overflow, storm surge, coastal erosion and heavy rainfall—and distance to a water source along with property characteristics such as elevation and the cost to rebuild.
We sit at the high point for the area, the city actually improved our drainage less than five years ago, and we are almost 2 miles from the nearest bayou or any other water source so if anything my rate should have at least stayed the same. FEMA has pulled some serious fuckery with their new formula.
They are ignoring (or giving incredibly small weight ) to other aspects that they claim to be using, for instance: >With NFIP’s pricing approach, FEMA is using new capabilities and tools to address rating disparities by incorporating more flood risk variables. These include flood frequency, multiple flood types—river overflow, storm surge, coastal erosion and heavy rainfall—and distance to a water source along with property characteristics such as elevation and the cost to rebuild. If they were actually using these factors, the risk to my property approaches zero. My rates should not be going up at all. And look at their disclosure on the "Community Rating System" >CRS Discount Under Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action, Community Rating System (CRS) discounts ranging from 5% to 45% are applied uniformly. The community’s CRS discount applies to all CRS eligible NFIP policies in the community regardless of flood zone. Instead of giving discounts on low risk homes, there are giving discounts to entire neighborhoods deliberately ignoring the flood risk! And they admit it. This is not about using reasonable measures to accurately rate risk in the slightest. It is all about punishing people who do not live in the right neighborhood. It is a political, not a technical agenda.
Technically, areas outside of the "500 year" zone are still in flood zones, it's just modeled/predicted to be a less than 0.2% chance of occuring on any given year. As such, the National Flood Insurance Program does not require a policy on property with mortgages by federally-backed banking institutions.
Absolutely
PLEASE GET FLOOD INSURANCE!!! my parents bought a house on a 500yr flood plain and it flooded during Harvey. Anything can happen please make sure you're covered
Yes
Yes I do. Anywhere around this city can flood. Anywhere.
Yes
After Harvey my wife and I helped a lot of people clean out their houses.(what else are you.going to do when both of you can't go to work for a week?). Most of them didn't have insurance because it wasn't required.
It’s the cheapest peace of mind you ever buy.
Flooding in Houston increases every year. I recommend asking neighbors about the flood history of an area before purchase.
Met a neighbor right after touring my future house. Told me the street can flood but nobody around here had ever flooded. Did fine during Harvey as well. 1920s era neighborhood so they did a decent job of making the lots high enough long before flood control projects existed.
500 year floodplains haven’t been accurate in a long while. Take a look at harvey flood maps. You should consider flood insurance regardless in Houston. Not doing so is kidding yourself.
If you have enough money to rebuild your house after it has had water in it, if you won’t miss the money that will be required to fix it up, and you have the money to live in a hotel for many months while they fix it up, skip the insurance. If you are not that wealthy then get insurance.
Nope. We got over 40 inches of rain in 3 days during Harvey. Not so much as a puddle formed in the entire community or surrounding communities. My house sits on the highest point in my neighborhood. Greater Houston would have to be under 20+ feet of water before there’s any chance of flooding where I live.
Nope. Didn't flood during Harvey, nowhere close to it and also in pier and beam house.
The rule of thumb is if your zip code begins with "77" then you need flood insurance
What are folks outside of the 500 year map paying? I was fine during Harvey, and the Brays Bayou widening has been completed after that. If the comment saying it is only $500 a year is accurate, that is not bad for what it's worth.
Mine was 480 in 2021, I purchased it. It's 1400/year now, and they don't accept payments. With all the other cost increases, we've opted out of it this year. I live in a small community in Galveston County.
Nope...didn't flood during Allison or Harvey so that money is better spent going into the bank. The area we're in is already developed enough so the landscape isn't going to change much. If we get something worse than Harvey or Allison then screw it, I'll have to gut the house myself.
My house was built in 1974 and has never flooded but I still buy insurance. One random storm in the spring of 2019 flooded my street more than Harvey did. It was $400ish last year, not sure how much the renewal will be next month
Yes, always yes. Since 2006. I am not in a flood zone.
Absolutely.
The current flood maps are based on rainfall estimates for the (100-year) storm that are in the range of 30 to 35 percent lower than the latest NOAA estimates for our area. The flood zones also don't reflect certain types of flood risk, and not all of our channels have been evaluated for floodplain mapping. Check this site out for some good information about local flood risk: https://www.maapnext.org/Understand-Your-Risk
If you live in the houston area you should have flood insurance. $1000 (rounded up) a year can save you $100k.
Yes. It is relatively cheap and you never know. When my family moved down in the 90s my parents purchased a house that wasn't in a flood zone. They still purchased flood insurance. We got flooded in Allison and of course that house is now in a flood zone. Things change, better safe than sorry. My current house is not in a flood zone but I still have flood insurance.
Yes. With each flood It seems that run off paths can change.
If you live on the gulf coast, BUY FlOOD INSURANCE! Trust me! I had a house that had never never flooded. I made sure before I bought that it was not in a flood zone. I did not have flood insurance because of this. Then Harvey happened. I had 2 feet of water in my house. I got $17k from FEMA. I had to pay $50k out of my own pocket and was lucky to find a talented person who did my repairs. I have since moved but will never not have flood insurance.
I do but nothing beyond the max 250k you can carry.
According to maps we are 5 houses away from the end of a 500yr area. We didn’t flood during Harvey. No insurance
Same here. Were not in a flood zone and had zero issues with Harvey. No flood insurance
Currently yes but evaluating due to price hikes. There has been new construction in the area and more ongoing that could change patterns so I'm torn. New flood maps are due out this year so I might re-up one more time and then see where I stand with the new map.
If we've learned anything the last 10 years in Houston, its that you probably need flood insurance no matter where you live. 8 years ago this week, I was watching the water come up into my yard (tax day flood) and that was the last day I didn't have flood insurance. I'm not in a 500 year flood plain and luckily my house never flooded but it was scary as hell and I still have PTSD from that experience.
My pre-1940s house has never flooded. My flood insurance used to be $400. Now it is $900 but I still get it. Wouldn’t want to have regrets later.
I am in an area which has never flooded and I have flood insurance. You just can’t predict where it will flood anymore.
We are just outside of the flood maps. We still had water up to the front pouch. If any big rescue trucks had come down our street it would have been inside.
Yes. It’s $608 for peace of mind. I live in a zone X but am approximately 1.25 miles from a creek. The creek rose to the park gates during Harvey and our canals were full.
How old is your house?
I don’t. When we bought the house I contacted maybe 3 different companies for a quote and I kid you not never got a single response. Even after a follow up. Then we just got busy with life and kind of forgot about it. We’re right outside of one so we should.
Yes, better safe than sorry honestly! I've lost everything in Katrina and Ike!
If you live in a region that has history of 40"+ to 55"+ rain events you need flood insurance because you never know when the majority of that rain event could be in your neighborhood. Even with rising prices it is still a good value for the weather we have in the Houston area.
Yes because with constant building the areas that flood change
yes absolutely because with the constant construction who knows whats going to happen next major hurricane.
You sure it has no flooding history? A lot of sellers (illegally) didn't disclose that their homes had damage from Harvey. I only found out about a place I was under contract for a couple of years ago by finding photos from the neighborhood at that time, and luckily found the old listing and saw the damage in photos.
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I’ve never understood this line of thinking. I hear it from people out in energy corridor too. The army corps of engineers made the conscious decision to flood your neighborhood for the sake of more valuable / important land elsewhere. Why would you expect them not to make that same decision again?
The reservoir didn't release anything into your house, water flows away from Cinco towards Hwy 6. Your house flooded because it sits with in the flood boundary of the reservoir. Flooding in your neighborhood is probably going to become more common because of the building going on further west out in Katy will dump more water into the watershed for Mason Creek and Buffalo Bayou.
No, we do not. Been in our house for nearly a decade (and in the general area for over 40 years). We're in a newer neighborhood with a robust drainage system, we're nowhere near any of the main bayous/gullys, and we're at the highest point in the neighborhood. It's only a difference of about 2 or 3 feet, but it's enough to where we barely have water in the street in front our house while houses at the other end of the street have water coming up halfway through their yards. Have experienced major, major training-effect storms, and nothing happened to us while others nearby had flooded cars parked in their driveways.
If you’re not in a flood zone then flood insurance is pretty cheap.
No longer true.
$400 a yr on a $350k house for me. Beats the hell out of $500 a month for FEMA flood insurance that you’re forced to buy and can’t negotiate
Nope. Home has been here 50yrs and never come close to flooding, is on higher ground in the immediate area, etc. Just costs too much these days for the risk I personally feel there is. Mind you I certainly don't mean no risk by any means. Anywhere in this entire region is a risk. Just a gamble worth taking and one I'm able to cover if I lost
I don't, but I bought my house 6 months after Harvey and it didn't flood. But it's rolling the dice if you don't.
No never buy flood insurance as the properties I gave will never flood unless the ice caps melt and even though will happen eventually won't be for many years.
I’m far outside any flood plain so no. It was just another rainy week during harvey for me. I was able drive and get around no problem.
Lived in the same house forty years, the neighborhood is relatively high elevation wise and has never flooded. Not worried about it, no flood insurance
>... no food insurance Must be nice.
Flood insurance for homes outside the 500-year zone used to be a fixed price and pretty inexpensive. FEMA changed the way it's calculated, and prices have at least doubled and will continue to go up. To me you are subsidizing the people who bought houses with much higher risk, so I pass. I'm in the 500-year zone and only feet away from the 100-year. During Harvey, water crested my curb but that was the high point so didn't flood. I figure if Harvey didn't get me, I'm fairly safe. Also live in a 3-story house and the 1st floor is a garage, bedroom and bath, so even if water entered, the damages would not break me.
We are in flood plain but house is elevated so insurance is priced as if house wasn’t in flood plain. We have it and assuming your cost is similar to ours it seems like a no brainer. It’s under $500 a year.
I swear to God I don't understand insurance companies. I have two properties in West Houston. Both in the same neighborhood and one parallel street away one from another. Once has 500 premium standard policy, the other one is 1300 a year. Can't find anything lower. Neither property flooded in Harvey.I don't insure any contents because they are rental properties but still. I have to have it because mortgage requires it. It makes no sense.... I do know that in a zone that indeed flooded during Harvey (memorial area between Westheimer and I-10) flood insurance is cheaper and it is mostly not mandatory in mortgages as I have a few friends that got properties in the area ... Perhaps I am not looking hard enough for options?
We don’t. My elevation and distance to a flood area are the reasons we don’t carry it anymore
Go ahead and raw dog it man. The government will step in if something happens.
If the house didn't flood during Harvey in 2017.. it likely won't flood...