By
Rick Elkins
Visalia - Local engineers and surveyors are reporting success in helping some property owners to either lower their flood insurance or to get out of the new flood zone altogether.
After the Federal Emergency Management Agency's new flood map went into effect in June, some of the 8,900 parcels thrust into the flood plain began looking at options to either avoid the costly flood insurance, or at least to be placed into a category to lower their flood insurance rates. As a way of assisting the property owners, the city of Visalia formed a group of local engineers and surveyors that property owners can chose from to re-survey their property.
“What we've been able to provide
are elevation certificates for individuals, which typically helps people
lower their insurance premium.” reported Randy Wasnick, a Professional
Land Surveyor with 4 Creeks Civil Engineering and Land Surveying in Visalia.
“It has even led to taking some properties out of the flood zone,”
he added.
Rona Swanson of American National Insurance in Visalia said most of those
who had flood insurance were paying $1,200 to $1,500 a year.
The engineering firm reported that so far 25 properties have been removed from the flood zone and another 80 have been able to lower their insurance rates. Insurance premiums are based on the elevation of the property – the higher the elevation the lower the risk from flooding and the lower the premium.
“Other engineers are having similar success,” said Chris Young, city of Visalia engineer who has been overseeing the flood mapping. “Some of these folks did the work on the subdivision; they are familiar with the elevations,” he added.
However, not every effort is a success story, pointed out Craig Hartman of 4 Creeks. He said in more than 20 instances, the surveying did not result in any change of the property's flood status or insurance premium.
Flood insurance is not inexpensive. It can run from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars a year.
While Hartman and Wasnick warn that people should not get their hopes up – there are a lot of areas where little can be done. Wasnick said a couple of tenths of a foot could make all the difference in saving money for the homeowner.
“There's no deadline,” added Young. “The only bad thing is the longer you take the longer you pay the higher flood insurance.”
Wasnick said it is better to do a block at a time, but they are only surveying properties where they have been contacted. He said word of mouth from neighbor to neighbor is how they are getting contacted.
He added the city has done a good job of establishing benchmarks – elevations – and that makes their job easier. He said they know right away if an area has potential to be re-evaluated and they advise the property owner of that. Where the elevation is off by a lot – such as right along the St. Johns River, there is not much that can typically be done. “There are some areas that we know don't have a chance,” he said.
On a recent Friday, 4 Creeks field surveyor Justin Asleson was surveying a piece of property on Court Street, south of Noble. He explained they find the city's benchmark, then survey at four points on the property. He said he has been doing 10-15 a week, with the majority successfully helping the homeowner.
Wasnick said some people who have waited to purchase their insurance and are being contacted by their mortgage companies. FEMA has notified all loan holders of the requirement the property must have flood insurance. While 8,900 properties were put into the flood zone, nearly 8,000 were removed by the new map.
Wasnick said if their survey finds a structure and its adjacent grades is higher than FEMA's determined base flood elevation, they can prepare of Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) that requests to have the structure removed from the flood zone completely. An Elevation Certificate is utilized to request a lower premium because the finish floor of a structure is higher than listed by FEMA, but still in the flood zone. He said the certificate cost about $300 to $500. “The savings could be that much in the first year's premium,” he said, adding that they have offered discounts to people who get their neighbors involved. It takes about a week to complete the process.
“We're happy to help them out. However, if it appears that someone is going to be 3 feet below the base flood elevation, we're probably not going to be of much help. We like to inform people of their potential chances prior to doing the work.” Wasnick said.
Young said the city continues to explore other options. He said they are trying to get the people who did the original study for FEMA to meet with the local engineering group.
“We want to talk to them, have them bring their modeling information with them,” said Young, explaining that will help to determine if some areas were not properly surveyed.
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