Expert: Flood risks extend beyond mapped floodplain

Residents and business owners in coastal Delaware know all too well the risks that come with waterfront property.

But what some may not realize, said state flood program manager Michael Powell, is that flood insurance rates are increasing, and the risks extends well beyond flood plain boundaries or conditions tied to mortgages.

“Most people ask the wrong question,” he said. “I would encourage you to think about 'can I' or 'should I' insure the risk, and not think about whether the mortgage or financing requires you to insure the risk.”

Powell, who has been studying flooding in the First State for more than two decades, shared tips and resources with local business owners during the Delaware Resiliency Summit at Kings Creek Country Club in Rehoboth Beach April 7.

Powell encouraged business owners to consider flood risks beyond the boundaries of floodplain maps. He offered examples of properties that were deemed safe on paper but later experienced devastating flood events. Powell said 20 percent of national flood claims come from properties that are not in a mapped floodplain.

Areas that are not affected by tidal changes like sea level rise may be hit watershed changes, including increased building, that cause more rain to run off more quickly, causing waterways to rise higher than normal, he said.

For those business owners or residents who have flood insurance or need to purchase new policies, Powell said, prices are going to go up.

Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, which both left billions of dollars in property damage in their wake, were a wake-up call for the National Flood Insurance Program, which realized that people are not paying enough during calm years to cover the costs of catastrophic events.

There are hundreds of thousands of policies nationwide that are currently considered subsidized through the program – and Congress wants that to change, Powell said. In Lewes, 19 percent of current flood insurance policies are considered to be subsidized, he said.

In order to fill in that gap and help the National Flood Insurance Program break even, premiums for any policies written or renewed after April 1, 2016, will increase by about 9 percent, Powell said.

Flood insurance rates are going to continue to climb. But that doesn't mean property owners are powerless in lowering their rates, he said.

The elevation of a building's first floor can make a huge difference in the annual cost of coverage, even as rates begin to increase: For a home with a first floor measured 4 feet below base flood elevation, average insurance rates would be about $9,500 annually, compared to only $427 per year for a home that sits 3 feet above base flood elevation, Powell said.

“The cost of flood insurance is going up, but there are many, many steps you can take to lower your flood risk,” he said. “And, not to pile on bad news, but you could argue that for most places in coastal Delaware, the flood risk is not getting less, it's getting worse, and sea level rise is just one reason for that. But you don't have to live in a tidal floodplain to be impacted by changing flood risk.”

FEMA hosts open house for updated flood maps

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Federal Emergency Management Agency updated the public on new preliminary flood risk maps at a public meeting in Milford April 20.

The most updated flood risk maps for Kent and Sussex counties were released in 2014 and 2015, but a more detailed study has provided updated flood risk maps for the western portions of the counties.

Floodplain maps from Milton westward have been altered in some cases, based on topographic data collected by engineers and flood experts. In some areas near streams, creeks and other inland waterways, floodplains have increased, while in others, flood risk has decreased.

Current Milton resident Susan Stringfield took advantage of the meeting to get a closer look at the flood risk surrounding her home. But before Stringfield even moved to the Cape Region, she and her wife Carol did their homework about potential flood risks.

"Of the five homes we were looking at, we wanted to know which were the most vulnerable," she said, explaining that a quick call to DNREC provided her with detailed flood mapping and sea level rise scenarios that guided their decision where to buy property.

The proposed inland maps presented April 20 will be followed by a 90-day appeal period in which any community with updated maps can appeal those changes. If there are no appeals, officials expect the new maps to be adopted in mid-2017.

To review the new and old maps for Sussex County, go to maps.riskmap3.com/DE/Sussex2016PMR.