Amherst (Tonawanda, Williamsville: for sale, apartments, new home)

[jraps83]

Hi,
My husband and I are searching for a new home in the amherst area. We came across a home on Smith Rd that we really like, however it is located in the 100 year flood zone. I was wondering if anyone could help us with more information regarding this flood zone. We are not very fimiliar with this area, and so far what we have been able to find online hasn't given us much inofrmation regarding this particular area.
Thank you so much!

[BuffaloTransplant]

I am assuming you are looking at Smith Rd. in E. Amherst?

Go to Amherst town hall and look at the flood zone maps. Also, call the Army Corps of Engineers and ask the type of soil and any information they have on the address/lot. The Corps of Engineers can tell you if the lot has flooded and when; they also designate lots as A/B/C: the A is you aren't going to flood/B is you may flood/C is you will.... in any case, the flood maps were recently redrawn here. You may get different info from the Town and the Corps of Engineers.

Any land near a creek is more likely to flood than other land.

[choosing78]

Watch out for Amherst homes. Are you from the area? If you are then you definitely already know about the "sinking" homes of Amherst. If you're not from the area just google "sinking homes in Amherst NY"

[jim1234664]

that whole area seems to have backyards under a few inches of water semi-often.

I grew up in central amherst and even had standing water in the backyard at times

[jenny S]

I think there should be some care when telling people to stay away from Amherst without making the point that Amherst is quite large and incorporates many different areas; most of which don't have any water/flooding issues to speak of. Amherst's land mass is huge...Eggertsville, Williamsville (a village within Amherst), East Amherst, Getzville, Snyder, etc.. Someone moving here from somewhere else wouldn't necessarily know this. That being said, there is a certain area that had a sinking foundation/flooding problem. I honestly don't know where it is, but I believe it was a defined area of East Amherst. But you'd be able to find out through the town or engineering department. As far as I knew, you could call and they'd tell you street by street and even if you inquired about a specific address if there's been a problem.

[jenny S]

I just re-read my post and I wanted to say that it's tone came more harsh than I intended it to. I don't think anyone was trying to say stay away from Amherst...sorry if that's the way it came across! I just try not to refer to Amherst as a whole because there are so many different areas and the geographical area is so diverse that I think it could be confusing for people moving here from somewhere else to understand a generalized reference to Amherst.

Originally Posted by jenny S

I think there should be some care when telling people to stay away from Amherst without making the point that Amherst is quite large and incorporates many different areas; most of which don't have any water/flooding issues to speak of. Amherst's land mass is huge...Eggertsville, Williamsville (a village within Amherst), East Amherst, Getzville, Snyder, etc.. Someone moving here from somewhere else wouldn't necessarily know this. That being said, there is a certain area that had a sinking foundation/flooding problem. I honestly don't know where it is, but I believe it was a defined area of East Amherst. But you'd be able to find out through the town or engineering department. As far as I knew, you could call and they'd tell you street by street and even if you inquired about a specific address if there's been a problem.

[ajacques]

I've been looking at apartments in tonawanda becuase I liked the area when I visited but its not too far from Amherst. Is there any risk of flooding in that area?

[jraps83]

Thank you everyone! The house in question was actually outbidded by us, but we are still looking in that area. The particular home we like was in the 100 yr flood plain which was a bit concerning, and we also did walk through a home for sale that was one of the sinking foundation homes. Amherst does still have some wonderful areas, but there are concerns in some areas. As far as Tonawanda, I am not familiar with that articular area, but if it is close to tonawanda creek or any other water you may want to research the flood zone.

[ABR1988]

Yeah much of Amherst is built on a swamp. Not good for heavy objects, such as a house. Very nice area though, a top place in the country for a family.

I live in East Amherst and my house isn't sinking. In fact I think its just off the flood plane by like 20 feet lol. My neighbors are on it though.