Info on Dealing with Floodplains

Purchasing a home in a designated floodplain could potentially be a very costly purchase, even if the property in question were in fact a “dream” home. Living in a floodplain could potentially be bothersome because of the high risk of flooding which would affect the stability of the steep slopes on the property. When purchasing the property, one needs to take into account the level of flooding risk of the area in question, flood insurance rates, interest rates if taking out loans, and familiarity of local ordinances to make sure that house is floodplain compliant.

To find information about the risk of flooding in any given area, one would contact their City Zoning Administrator or Floodplain Manager to obtain a FEMA floodplain map. When talking to one of these professionals, it would also be wise to ask about the availability of floodplain management brochures. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Association of State Floodplain Managers, or FEMA would be good agencies to contact in order to obtain this information.

When contacting the City Zoning Administrator or Floodplain manager, one would be smart to find out information as to whether or not they need to make alterations to the property in order to meet local ordinances that determine if a property is floodplain compliant. It could be very costly if it is not compliant as one would have to hire a specialist to take precautions such as sealing walls in basements to prevent seepage or constructing some sort of interior barrier to stop low level floodwater from entering the basement. Supplies for these jobs could also be costly as well.

Another costly component of the purchase of a floodplain property could also be insurance rates of living in an area which has a high flooding risk. Contacting an insurance agent would be very wise before buying this property so that one would be familiar with the insurance rates of the area.

If all of these expenses start to add up, one might need to...