Jun. 16, 2007 - Harris County Flood Maps Updated June 18

We attended a meeting about TSARP with Jacob Speen from the Harris County Flood control district last week.  He discussed with us how the flood maps were done and the effect it would have on the community.  TSARP stands for Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project.  TSARP was a joint effort by FEMA and the Harris County Flood Control district.  The end project of the study is the new Harris county flood maps that come out June 18th.

Flood rates will not change but requirements and zone determination can change.  If your home is changed to a different flood zone you could be placed in a higher flood rate.  The good news according to Jacob is that there will only be about 50,000 homes that are changing flood zoning.  He did say if these homes already have flood insurance they will be grandfathered in.  So if you already have flood insurance through FEMA and the zone of your home changes you will not be charged the higher premium.

Only those people living in the 1% or 100 year flood plan are required to purchase insurance.  That would be those people who have a zone of AE, AO or A.  If your home is zoned X you don't have to have flood insurance.  Jacob said that living in Harris County like we do it is a good idea for everyone to have flood insurance.  We can get such incredible amounts of rainfall in such short periods of time.  65% of the areas that flooded during the tropical storm Allison were outside the 100 year floodplain.  Harris County has always been prone to flooding so everyone should consider purchasing flood insurance. 

We asked about Montgomery County and he said their maps will be updated when FEMA updates maps.

For more additional information visit these sites:

• www.tsarp.org  - The interactive mapping Tool
• www.floodsmart.gov
• www.fema.gov
  

One little bit of trivia; all those ponds in Harris County subdivisions are really just retention ponds.  They make the subdivisions really look nice though.