Welcome to The Ozarks, and in particular, the Camden County, Missouri, communities surrounding the Lake of the Ozarks, where FEMA’s revised -and many would say “flawed” – flood maps serve as a cautionary tale for property owners: Verify your flood zone designation!
Courtesy of KY3 (Springfield, MO), here’s their story:
CAMDENTON, Mo. — “They have 45 days to either rectify the situation, or flood insurance will be attached.” That’s what Camden County Presiding Commissioner Greg Hasty claims a letter being sent to property owners around the Lake of the Ozarks is saying. Hasty says a good number of the people receiving these letters are not in the flood zone.”Because of the poor quality of the mapping that was done, instead of showing these homes being further out of a flood zone, the horizontal location they showed on the map actually runs through a lot of structures which were never in jeopardy of flooding at all,” Hasty said.
So, what should property owners do if they get this letter? Hasty says unfortunately, there isn’t much of a choice.
“If you’re in a situation where a LOMA was not done before, no elevation was done before, and you have a loan on your property, there’s a likelihood that you’re going to receive one of these letters,” Hasty said. At that point in time, until we can see if we can get a resolution to the maps, you’re going to have no alternative but to have a surveyor go out and prove that you’re not within a special flood hazard area.”
Click here to view original web page at www.ky3.com
As is the case with these Camden County property owners who carry a mortgage, lenders rely on this broad view of exposure to flooding to determine mandatory purchase requirements. Knowing whether a property is in or out of a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)-designated flood zone is not enough and leads many to minimize the importance of real estate value, mitigation measures, and allocation of insurance expenditures. The price property owners, residential and commercial, alike, pay for flood insurance relies on too broad a view of exposure to flooding versus the individual structural characteristics, which give an accurate assessment of flood risk.
Now is the time to verify your flood zone designation. If your property is subject to mandatory flood coverage, now is the time to be proactive about flood risk. Conduct a Flood Fairness Check to obtain a straight answer about your flood requirement. For a complimentary check of your property, submit your property here.
