7/1/2023 0 Comments Flood factor x meaningOr catching trout 10 feet from our kitchen. Or seeing all kinds of ducks come bobbing through our backyard. We are going to live with a layer of uncertainty and worry about rising waters that we’ve never had before.īut then again, we’ve never before experienced the joy of opening our windows and listening to a babbling brook. What had we gotten ourselves into? More than we’d bargained for, that’s true. We had Christmas dinner in our new home, overlooking a very soggy scene outside. We held our breath-the creek surged, and retreated. We realized we were in only a flood watch (meaning potential danger), not a full-on flood warning (which basically means prepare to evacuate). My plans for a gazebo by the rear property line were clearly dashed, as that area turned out to be semiaquatic. We watched and waited.īy midafternoon on Christmas Day, about half of our yard was under a few inches of water. My husband stuck a measuring stick in the ground. The water was overflowing its normal boundaries and advancing toward the house. In the back of our yard, where the creek merged with another stream, we noticed that we had less yard. The next day: unrelenting rain and temperatures warm enough to melt every inch of snow. Instead, I was anxiously imagining how the next day might unfold. Flood watches and warnings were issued.Īt that moment, I wasn’t thinking about wrapping the last of the holiday gifts and sliding them under the tree. In addition, temperatures would be unseasonably warm, in the 50s, causing all the snow to melt and run off. The weather service announced there would be torrential rain on Christmas Day. The house looked so pretty, frosted in white, and the yard was carpeted in snow drifts.īut this bucolic scene took a turn for the worse, and fast. Up went a Christmas tree, which one of our sons had chopped down himself a few miles from our new home. Feeling safe and snug, we were so happy to be in our little haven in the country. We closed on the house just before the holidays. Our backyard patio is just steps from the creek. This assured the bank that we were committed to ongoing coverage through the life of our loan. We paid the first year of flood insurance upfront, and then had the next year’s premium rolled into our monthly mortgage payment. The additional cost of flood insurance at a time of historically low mortgage rates seemed like a decent trade-off. My husband and I thought long and hard about the numbers. Once an insurance broker laid out our options, it was clear that our property would run several thousand dollars a year. Getting the flood insurance factsĪs we progressed toward closing the sale, we became acquainted with the ins and outs of flood insurance, which our bank required to approve our mortgage.įlood insurance is similar to other insurance coverage: The lower your deductible (what you pay out of pocket to fix problems before insurance kicks in), the higher your premium (what you pay for the insurance). My husband pored over the property’s survey, noting the elevations of the yard, basement, and house, and then cross-referenced that with historic flood data on high tidal surges. But, we wondered, who on the East Coast hadn’t felt the impact of that devastating event? We learned the house had indeed flooded during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. As for the flooding, we were provided with a massive file of information about bridge and dam improvements that diminished the flood risk, as well as documentation of what the sellers had done to safeguard the property from rising water. In short order, my husband and I huddled with our real estate agent, deciding how much to offer for the house. It was like a scene from “Enchanted,” a Disney movie come to life. In the yard, a hummingbird darted to and fro, a frog hopped in the water, and butterflies circled about. Outside, the creek burbled, filling the house with sounds of nature. This house was a charmer and then some: an 1870s homestead with three fireplaces, wide-board floors, a beautifully renovated kitchen, and a roomy addition that meant more space for our family. (Janet Siroto) Buying a house in a flood zone: Is it worth the risk? After all, what did we have to lose? Our backyard during the worst of a recent flood watch “We’ll be so close to it, why not just swing by?” my agent asked. On this particular weekend, this flood-prone house was near the one tour we’d scheduled. A new listing would hit, our real estate agent would book a showing for a day or two later, and by the time we were driving to see the property, I’d learn there was already an accepted offer. Our quest for a second home in upstate New York had stalled, as the ongoing pandemic sent droves of home buyers into the market. Still, our house hunt had been going from bad to worse all summer.
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