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	Make Flood Insurance A New Year's Resolution By Mike Talbott, P.E. Director Harris County Flood Control District December 20, 2006 New Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Harris County will be made official on June 18, 2007, leaving a six-month window for residents and business owners who don't have flood insurance to purchase coverage and get the best possible premiums. Make it a New Year's resolution to get your flood insurance in place before the new maps come out, and to keep it in place. This week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Letter of Final Determination, which concludes a lofty effort of the Harris County Flood Control District and FEMA to study and map floodplains using the latest and best technology. This partnership is known as the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project (TSARP). Also known as floodplain maps, new Flood Insurance Rate Maps mark important changes for Harris County. Namely, they more accurately show the location of the 100-year and 500-year floodplains and floodways, and are one indicator of flooding risks for residences and businesses. This new understanding of flood risk may have changed your property's floodplain status. The National Flood Insurance Program offers federally-backed flood insurance at relatively nominal rates, as damage from flooding is not covered by homeowners' insurance. Now especially is the time to buy flood insurance. The NFIP allows most property owners who purchase flood insurance before the new maps become official to "grandfather" their existing floodplain status and save on flood insurance costs. Buying flood insurance now will not only reduce flood insurance costs, but grandfathered policies can be passed on to future owners of a property provided coverage doesn't lapse. The same holds true for property owners who already have flood insurance. Those who wait until after June 18 to act may pay premiums that correspond with their actual floodplain status according to the new maps. While many are required by mortgage and lending companies to have flood insurance, the Flood Control District, FEMA and NFIP strongly urge all area residents to have flood insurance. The reason is simple: You don't have to be in a mapped floodplain to flood. This area is flat and takes a while to drain. The clay soils don't absorb a lot of stormwater. Above all, being near the Gulf of Mexico makes us highly vulnerable to hurricanes, tropical storms and slow moving storm systems that dump torrential amounts of rain in short periods of time that can overwhelm our drainage systems. Perhaps not apparent to the majority of the public, Flood Insurance Rate Maps only show some types of flooding that can occur: flooding from bayous and streams during certain theoretical storms, and from coastal flooding caused by certain storm surge conditions. However, residences and businesses can flood from other scenarios not captured on floodplain maps. In many cases, flooding is caused by water flowing overland trying to reach bayous and streams. Flooding also occurs when floodwaters exceed the capacity of roadside ditches or underground storm sewers. And, as we experienced from Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, floods far greater than those represented on the floodplain maps can overwhelm even our largest drainage systems and have disastrous effects. Just as earthquakes plague California and tornadoes threaten Oklahoma, flooding is this region's natural hazard. Since the Flood Control District's inception in 1937, countless projects have been implemented to widen and deepen bayous, which move stormwater to Galveston Bay. Sims Bayou, for example, has been widened to three times its natural size. Stormwater detention basins also play an invaluable role in reducing flood risks. White Oak Bayou, for example, is flanked by 10 massive stormwater detention basins with the capacity to store more than a billion gallons of stormwater. In fact, during the major weather events of this year, the number of homes that did not flood because of old and new flood damage reduction projects far outweighed the number of homes that did. However, many more projects still need to be done. History, science and common sense tell us there will always be a storm capable of inundating our rivers, streams, bayous, ditches and storm sewers. When this happens, the best way to recover financially from a flood is with flood insurance, and everyone in this region should have it. Property owners can learn their floodplain status on the new Flood Insurance Rate Maps by visiting the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project website www.tsarp.org or by calling the TSARP hotline at 713-722-7227. For inquiries about obtaining flood insurance, visit the National Flood Insurance Program at www.floodsmart.gov or call 888-379-9531. Contact The TSARP Team If you have questions about TSARP or the new FEMA Revised Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps, you may contact the TSARP team via e-mail, or call the TSARP hotline at 713-722-7227.