Many residents in Visalia have been contacted by Brad Board as well as insurance agents who work for him since this past February informing people that there is a good chance they may need to buy flood insurance for the first time. Unfortunately, there were some people who were not interested in what Mr. Board or his associates had to say about the matter while others were.
Many property owners are unaware of a fast-approaching deadline to buy flood insurance at greatly reduced rates since Visalia and Tulare County have made changes to Visalia's flood zones despite local news coverage and the efforts of Mr. Board.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) is changing its flood-plain maps for Visalia and surrounding areas which will affect a large number of property owners by putting them in flood zones which they were not before. Once these new flood zones are in effect, and there is a flood, home owners without proper flood insurance will be out of luck.
The maps indicate what areas of the city are in flood zones and which one's are not.
The map that F.E.M.A. created is used by mortgage companies to determine which property owners have to buy flood insurance.
The new F.E.M.A. map will take effect June 16th. Fortunately there will be 7,900 Visalia-area properties that are currently in zones that had been considered at risk for flooding and will now be considered out of the risk zones and will not have to buy flood insurance anymore. There are however, 8,900 new properties that are now considered to be in flood zones for the first time ever and these properties will be at risk if they do not buy coverage for a flood.
The amount of money property owners will have to pay for their flood insurance premiums will depend on whether they purchase the insurance that F.E.M.A. is currently offering with a deadline to buy this insurance June 15th. After that time premiums will go up dramatically and thus home owners in these new flood zones are urged to buy now at deeply discounted prices rather than waiting until after the deadline where they will pay at a significantly higher rate.
Currently, if a home owner were to buy insurance now through F.E.M.A. the cost for the first year would be $348 which will provide a $250,000 flood policy on a home, with $100,000 coverage for its contents and a $500 deductible. After that first year it's estimated that it will cost $849 for just the home and $536 for contents.
These rates are subject to change if Congress decides to increase flood-insurance rates next year which is always a possibility.