FEMA Has New Methodology

They have determined that a section of levee within the City of San Mateo does not meet FEMA’s requirements for adequate flood protection.  Because of these changes in their methodology being used to generate flood plain data, the revised maps show all of Foster City to be in a Special Flood Hazard Zone, or Zone A.

Once upon a time, Foster City would have told San Mateo to go fix their own levees, but that was then and this is now, and Foster City is working hard to help San Mateo get their levees fixed.  If this is done by the Spring of 2010, we will be saved from being placed into the flood zone.  Foster City’s website has a great deal of information about this now.

The Man to Contact

Ray Towne, Foster City’s Public Work Director is the man to contact if you want more information.  He can be reached at rtwone@fostercity.org or 650-286-3288.

If you are thinking about buying flood insurance now, there is a deep discount for you that will stay in effect should FEMA maintain that Foster City is in a flood zone, a subject I wrote about here. It’s worth consideration, just in case.

Heres the deal.  If you go and buy flood insurance now, before FEMA makes the designation, the insurance is relatively cheap.  A Preferred policy for a single family home in Foster City costs about $350 per year.  This is for $250,000 of coverage for your house and $100,000 for contents.  But only if you do it before FEMA pulls the trigger and prints the map.

We sat down with our insurance agent, Farmers Insurance agent Marie Wood in San Mateo, earlier this week and she explained the process.  If we take the insurance prior to the formal designation by FEMA, our property will forever be designated Zone X, one of the three zones FEMA says are outside the 1% flood zone.  And, with this designation comes a reduction in the annual cost for flood insurance.  Once FEMA says you are living in a flood zone, you are required to carry flood insurance.  And, thats a very expensive insurance addition.  Your lender will make you carry the insurance if you have a loan.  If you own your home free and clear, its up to you what you do.

Why are are talking about this need now?  Foster City has levees surrounding most of the city and these levees are in first rate condition and that is why the city has never been required to carry flood insurance.  But San Mateo has not taken care of its levee system and all of the homes sitting in Mariners Island, Edgewater Isle, Harbortown, Lakeshore, Los Prados, and possibly San Mateo Village will fall into the new flood zone. Shoreview, 19th Avenue Park, and Sunnybrae have been in a flood zone for several years adding, in some instances, thousands of dollars a year in added insurance costs to home owners.  Because of the possibility of a levee break in San Mateo, Foster City could be flooded.  Since San Mateo chose not to maintain their levee system, over 30,000 Foster City residents are now being put in jeopardy.

If you talk to your insurance agent now, and become pro-active, you can save yourself a lot of money.  The $350 per year we were quoted will increase with the designation of ˜Flood Zone, but it will not increase as much as it would without buying the insurance early.  The Zone X designation will remain with the property and once we sell our home, the next owners will be able to carry the insurance at a deep discount.  A selling point?  You bet it is.

We dont know when the new maps will show up.  San Mateo and Foster City are expecting them any day now.  This is one thing you can do that is pro-active for your family and can save you thousands of dollars in insurance coverage.  Talk to your insurance agent now.  While youre at it, if you live in San Mateo, talk to your city counsel and find out why repairing the levees hasnt been a priority.

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Flood Zone

Some time in early 2008, FEMA is going to release new flood maps for San Mateo County.  So what, you say?  Well, if you live in certain areas of San Mateo and Redwood Shores you should worry because if, as expected, FEMA says you are in a flood plain, you will be required to have flood insurance.  And yes, I did say required.  No options here, you will have to purchase it and baby, it’s expensive.

Part of San Mateo, North Shoreview to be exact, is already considered to be within a flood zone.  What’s expected is that the rest of San Mateo east of 101 will be added.  Foster City, according to Planning Manager Leslie Carmichael will be unaffected.  The levies that surround Foster City were raised during the mid-1990′s and meet the Army Corps of Engineers requirements.  This is not the case for either San Mateo or Redwood Shores.  John Lynch with the Redwood City Planning Department told me that if the new maps were to come out today, Redwood
Shores would be in trouble.  Lucky for them these maps aren’t due out for a few months because they are getting a reprieve to certify their levies by consulting engineers.  It is anticipated that this reprieve will be for no more than four years; two years for certification, two years for planning.

What do you do if you end up in a flood zone?  You will receive a letter from FEMA telling you to buy flood insurance through them.  Don’t do it.  Call your insurance agent first and see how they can help you.  FEMA sets the rates for this insurance according the Marie Wood, a Farmer’s Insurance Agent in San Mateo.  She also says that the flood zone defines your need for this insurance.  The amount of insurance is required by the Federal government.  Your lender will require that you not only have flood insurance but also include
additional insurance for personal property if you don’t already have this.  The last requirement isn’t a bad one in my mind, since too many people are under-insured right now because they don’t update their
personal insurance annually when their insurance premiums renew.  Keep in mind, if you’ve purchased anything of high value it may need to be included in my insurance plan.

You can go onto the FEMA website now and input your address to see where your house sits.  There are a
much of letters designating flood zones.  Go to FloodSmart.com for an explanation.  The current maps aren’t going to tell you much though, as I tried it for my home in Foster City and really didn’t find out anything.  Keep your eyes open for news reports about these maps.  San Mateo County isn’t likely to be the only county affected around our bay.  A lot of people are going to get hit with very high insurance costs for the future.  It’s never too early to put a little money aside to off-set this increase.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.