New flood maps to affect Salisbury coastal properties

SALISBURY — Town leaders are warning coastal property owners it would be wise to buy flood insurance now, even if they haven't been flooded in the past. When FEMA's new flood risk insurance maps are finalized, more Salisbury coastal properties will be in the high flood-hazard zone, meaning higher flood insurance rates.

It's been decades since the Federal Emergency Management Agency did a complete survey and remapped the town's coastal and flood-prone areas. New data collected is more precise, FEMA representative told selectmen Monday night. And given the beach's topography, its history and new erosion theories, a larger section of the beach has been designated in the "A" or "V" high-risk flooding zones.

Aside from the impact the new maps make on insurance rates, it also has a big effect on the construction standards for those properties in the high-risk areas. The standards will apply to any new construction on land in the high-risk zones, but also may be applicable to renovations to existing buildings in these zones.

According to Selectman Jerry Klima, when compared to the current FEMA flood insurance map, the new draft map will encompass more properties along the northern section of Salisbury Beach in the high flood-hazard zones.

FEMA's Community Outreach Facilitator David Mendelsohm confirmed that's true, but said it's not necessarily a bad thing. FEMA's research indicates more coastal properties are at higher risk of flooding, and property owners need to know the risks to protect their property.

"Our mission (at FEMA) is to identify flood risk to the citizens of the United States ... and help people manage that risk," he explained in relation to the new mapping process.

The best way to manage the risk of flooding along the coast, said FEMA's Region I Risk Analysis Branch Chief Michael Goetz, is to buy flood insurance. That's true even for those who aren't in the high-risk area now, he said, because flood insurance is the only real protection against devastation flooding causes.

After flooding disasters like those that hit Salisbury Beach properties in 2005, 2006 and 2007, many people expected FEMA disaster-relief funding programs to "make them whole," Goetz said, but that belief is false. FEMA doesn't make flood victims "whole again," he said. If every disaster benefit can be acquired through FEMA's disaster programs, a maximum of $25,000 is all that can be expected, and some of that is in the form of loans, he said.

"If you have flood insurance, you're going to be made whole," Goetz said. "Flood insurance is your best protection in these cases."

For those with mortgages on the properties in flood-risk areas, banks insist on flood insurance, said Selectman Don Beaulieu. For those without a mortgage, the decision to buy it is a personal choice.

With the new FEMA maps, the cost and necessity of insurance will change as more people and structures along the coast fall into the high-risk flood zones.

FEMA began the public process of notification at Monday night's selectmen's meeting. But FEMA will hold a public hearing on the newly proposed flood maps on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. This meeting is one selectmen and FEMA officials advise affected property owners to attend.

At the meeting the new map will be reviewed, as well the methodology used for its new conclusions. Comments will be taken from the public and town officials and questions answered.

In addition, FEMA officials will discuss the appeal procedures available before the maps are finalized, and the best way to protect property and finances in light of the flood maps.

For example, Goetz said, although premiums will go up for those who buy new policies for property in the newly determined high-velocity flood zones, those with existing preferred flood insurance policy in good standing will not see their premiums rise. Their preferred status will be "grandfathered" and premiums protected as long as the policy does not lapse.

The new draft maps are available at Town Hall, and the images will be placed on the town's cable-access channel, according to Town Manager Neil Harrington.

FEMA officials recommend visiting www.floodsmart.com. The site provides many answers to commonly asked questions and provide valuable information in understandable language on the process.

How your flood insurance may be affected

Editor's note: The Daily News contacted an independent insurance agency to explain an example of how the new flood maps could affect a coastal resident.

Flood insurance isn't like car insurance with basic coverage the same for all cars. Prices for premiums vary greatly and are specific to each home insured.

A preferred flood insurance policy is the least expensive premium and is available to property owners in flood map zones B, C, and X on FEMA flood insurance maps.

Although insurance is available for the high risk A and V flood risk zones, it is more expensive since the risk of flooding is higher.

For a sample home researched in a preferred policy, the owner of the home with no basement might pay $251 per year for $100,000 worth of insurance on the building itself. With a basement, the premium on this sample property would rise to $289 per year.

For $100,000 worth of flood insurance on a building in the A high risk zone, the premium would likely be $825 per year.

For $100,000 worth of flood insurance in the V highest risk zone, the premium would rise to $1,397 per year.

However, through FEMA's "grandfathering" policy, a current property owner with preferred coverage would have that zone coverage level maintained, even if the new flood map places a property in a higher risk zone, like A or V, according to FEMA officials. As long as the insurance policy does not lapse, the owners will continue to be "grandfathered' at the same risk level in years to come.

For information on FEMA's new flood map proposal process and flood insurance and coverage, FEMA recommends visiting www.floodsmart.com.

The town's cable station will carry images of the proposed new map for property owner information. Copies of the new maps are available at the library, but not as yet online.

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