Flood zones, flood insurance
An ask the agent question: Can I ask a question about flood zones and flood insurance?
When a listing says a home in Mount Pleasant is in a flood zone does that mean that many or most of those homes will get water coming into their house? Will rivers overflow and turn backyards into swimming pools? What is the major thing to look out for with flood problems? I am from __ so I don’t have any flood worries now. Thanks.
No is the real answer but ... there is always a little more to the story.
The first thing you have to realize is that Charleston and Mount Pleasant is not like New Orleans in that it is not shaped like a saucer and below sea level with levees holding the water out.
You may have noticed the problems in the Midwest where the rivers in Iowa and elsewhere are far above flood stage, broke through levees and sandbags and wiped out lots of homes and sometimes even entire towns. That was referred to as a once in 500 year flood but unfortunately, this was the year. Most of those homeowners did not bother to get flood insurance but they should have. Maybe they just didn't know but they should have. I'm originally from the Midwest and have seen this kind of thing before, perhaps not quite as severe but believe me, it's happened more than once in more than one place.
So back to Charleston. We start at sea level and get a little higher. Some homes are elevated construction, you've possibly noticed that as you view listings. The home starts at the second level because it is built on fairly low land but not below sea level. In that case, you have a much better chance of water on the first floor which is why the first floor is uninsurable and is mostly a garage and storage for what you aren't worried about. In other words, a grand piano that you inherited but don't play shouldn't be stored down there.
Our soil is mostly sandy and it absorbs and holds a lot of water. But, when you get torrential rains or storm surge such as from a hurricane, and I'm speaking of a big one like Hugo in '89 or the other famous hurricanes like Andrew or Katrina, etc. you can in fact have water problems. A lot of the problems with insurance claims from Katrina are that the insurance carriers claimed that water caused the problem, not the wind. Which came first, the wind or the water to cause the damage? Because wind is covered under your regular homeowner's policy, the insurance companies wanted the water to come first so they wouldn't have to pay. Not very nice but it is what it is.
So you buy flood insurance. If you are not in a flood zone, then it's pretty cheap, maybe $300 - $400 per year. If you are in a flood zone, again it will depend on the zone and the elevation and it might be $400 to $500 on the low end but it could be $1000 or more depending on the elevation and value of the house as well.
I personally don't live in a flood zone but you can be assured that I have flood insurance. And it's a smart thing even if you live anywhere in the country. Check out the FEMA website for more info. Water is the biggest cause of damage, period. We spend a lot of money on insurance protecting ourselves from fire, burglary, etc. but the biggest cause of damage by far is water. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are safe in __. You don't have to live in a flood zone for bad things to happen.
If we should have a big storm, I'm covered. And one of the best things about hurricanes is that you generally get a lot of notice as they move across the ocean. The forecasters have a pretty good idea where they will hit and you have time to make preparations. That isn't necessarily true about tornadoes and earthquakes (although there was an earthquake in Charleston in 1886) - that's 1886 or about 122 years ago. By the way, I have earthquake insurance as well and it's very cheap protection.