{"id":161,"date":"2009-09-10T13:26:29","date_gmt":"2009-09-10T17:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noyeshallallen.wordpress.com\/2009\/09\/10\/3-things-every-coastal-homeowner-should-know-about-flood-insurance-changes\/"},"modified":"2017-11-09T08:53:16","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T14:53:16","slug":"3-things-every-coastal-homeowner-should-know-about-flood-insurance-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/3-things-every-coastal-homeowner-should-know-about-flood-insurance-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Things Every Coastal Maine Homeowner Should Know About Flood Insurance Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Press Herald reported in this September 5 story<\/a>, FEMA is updating its current flood hazard maps for much of the southern Maine coast. These maps are used to determine insurance costs in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)<\/a>, the only flood insurance available for most properties. Maine business property insurance<\/a>,\u00a0 homeowners insurance<\/a> and condo insurance<\/a>\u00a0do NOT cover flood damage.<\/p>\n

FEMA proposes to change the zoning of much waterfront property in South Portland, Portland and Cape Elizabeth. The cities of Portland and South Portland are challenging the new zoning, but there’s no guarantee that they will be successful.<\/p>\n

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The Zone Differences<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

FEMA’s zone classification system defines an area that has a 1 percent chance of being inundated by flood waters in a given year a “special hazard area”. There are two categories of “special flood hazard areas”, “A” and “V”.<\/p>\n

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The difference is that “A” zones are low-lying areas subject to flooding, while in “V” (velocity) zones, the water is more likely to flow with the increased hazard and damage of wave action. Many of the proposed changes would switch local oceanfront property from an “A” zone to a “V” zone; some may extend “A” zones to properties not previously considered to be in a “special hazard zone”.<\/p>\n

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How This May Effect Yo<\/span>u<\/strong><\/p>\n

Compared to properties not in a “special hazard zone”, Properties in an “A” zone:<\/p>\n

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