flooding (Houston, Austin, Spring: city hall, insurance, mortgage)

[laurenjiyoung]

im currently living in dc and looking to move to austin and was really excited until i was hit with a ton of information about flooding that now has me completely scared.

granted its 2am here so perhaps i should be sleeping.

seriously - the term flash flood valley is not a good thing and the more research i do online the more scary information is there to scared the crap outta me. is there any locations in austin where it doesn't flood or is super low risk? i know that sounds like a silly question...humor me though please.

any musicians who have a recording studio on here? other than the standard "get flood insurance" (which is a given) any tips on having a studio in a area know for getting floods?


funny i can live in a area that gets snow, ice storms, hurricanes and a flipping beltway sniper...but flooding scares the scrap outta me.lol

[atxcio]

Flood plains are a serious business in all of Texas. They are heavily researched and documented. You likely will not be able to get a loan on a home that is in any danger of flooding; and for those unfortunate enough to have bought when these things were not as accurately determined, there is flood insurance. For those outside the flood plains, it's really not necessary to get that insurance... and most people don't.

And yeah, there are plenty of areas in Austin where you'll never have to worry about flooding... with the hill country elevations in Austin, you can be 900' above the river water level on the west side of town. If you really want to.

The biggest danger with flooding is when you are on the roads, not when you are in your house. There are some low-water crossings in the city, and they need to be respected.

[laurenjiyoung]

this whole thing about flood plains are confusing to begin with - especially if you have never heard of them or dealt with them before.

so is all of austin a floodplain or just parts of it? what parts/cities? i tried to look at the new floodplain map....i couldnt understand that thing at all. lol.

[love roses]

Only parts of it. I think mainly it would be flat, low lying areas and areas near rivers or streams that with a heavy rainfall could fill over their banks and threaten the homes nearby. San Gabriel River is one that can go pretty far outside its banks. I'm sure the Colorado does too.

[CptnRn]

The few limited areas in Austin that are prone to flooding are along the edges of creeks and drainage gullies that occasionally get overwhelmed by some of the high intensity rainstorms we occasionally have in the area. Parts of Texas, along the coast get the maximum amount of rainfall anywhere in the U.S. See this rainfall map http://www.amerimax.com/catalog/pdfs...fall%20map.pdf

Alvin, Texas, near Houston, holds the U.S. record for the maximum amount of rainfall in 24 hours, with 43 inches on July 25-26, 1976. Austin does not get as much rainfall as the Houston area, but it occasionally gets some of these intense storms.

The flood prone areas are well documented in City flood plain maps that you can view here. City of Austin - Flood :: New Floodplain Maps

The worst flooding around Austin occurs upstream on Lake Travis, which was created by a dam which was built specifically to protect Austin from sever flooding. Some people around the edges of Lake Travis foolishly built homes on land that was below the spillway elevation of the lake, so they periodically get flooded when the lake fills up.

Below are the flood plain maps for parts of Downtown Austin. When we eventually experience a 100 year flood, the Colorado River (Ladybird Lake) will overflow its banks and flood the area around the South First Street bridge, from City Hall all the way to the School for the Deaf. There is a good chance the City Hall underground parking garage will fill with flood water. All of the businesses along Barton Springs Road will be flooded all the way to Zilker Park. That will happen to most of them in the 50 year flood also.

East http://www.cityofaustin.org/watershe...d_cur_0465.pdf

West http://www.cityofaustin.org/watershe...d_cur_0445.pdf

What is a Floodplain?

Any normally dry land area that is susceptible to being inundated by water from any natural source. This area is usually lowland adjacent to a river, creek or lake.

What is a 100-Year Floodplain?

The 100-year floodplain is the land that will be covered by the 100-year flood. The 100-year flood is a standard used by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for floodplain management and to determine the need for flood insurance.

What Are My Odds of Flooding Within a 100-Year Floodplain?

The term "100-year flood" is misleading. It is not the flood that will occur once every 100 years. Rather, it is the flood elevation that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded each year. Thus, the 100-year flood could occur more than once in a relatively short period of time.

This means that if your home is in the 100-year floodplain it has a 26% chance of getting flooded over a 30-year mortgage period, which is about five times higher than the risk for a severe fire! If your home is deeper in the 100-year floodplain, your risk of flooding will increase.