Time to buy – Stay Dry! Is flooding still an issue?
Is flooding still an issue?
It is sometimes easy to forget during the drier part of the winter season that the rainy spring season is around the corner. Coastal Virginia in Hampton Roads had a crazy flood season two years ago. Some homes flooded for the first time. Homeowners and renters living there were severely affected. The flooding waters came as a shock and a big additional expense to the homeowners and renters.
Since then, the flood zone maps have been reviewed and updated. Some flood zones can mandate flood insurance which will impact the monthly financials of owners and renters. Yearly flood insurance can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars!
Buyers need to ask about flood zones and insurance costs BEFORE making an offer on a home. This may change your qualification or desire to buy that particular home. You can check out:
There are things homeowners can do to reduce the cost of flood insurance and the effects of flooding. These can be simple such as raising the air conditioning unit and adding flooding vents to garages or expensive, such as raising the home itself.
There is some good news-
Local, state and federal agencies are providing funds and making plans to help alleviate or perhaps negate the flooding issue or lower flood insurance rates. In Virginia Beach federal funds are being used to help prevent flooding in the Windsor Woods area that got hit hard. In the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake, plans were already in the works. Here are two articles from PilotOnline. The first reports the Windsor Woods area flood prevention project that will begin within the next three years:
www.757tours.com/flooding-projectand the following report is on another project in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake;
www.757tours.com/deep-creek-flooding
If you have any other comments, questions or conerns you can post it here. You can also call or email me. Covering Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk and surrounding areas.
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