Only 1 in 10 had flood insurance? (Wilmington, Greenville: low income, house, to buy)

[grouse789]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.af9f80880093


I feel terrible for those whithout flood insurance after this storm. I was under the impression that flood insurance was mandatory in certain areas?(flood zones, anywhere close to tidal waters etc?)

Is that true?

Why wouldnt people buy some kind of flood insurance if living so close to water?

What are some of the costs of flood insurance?

[BC1960]

Flood insurance is "mandatory" if:

1. Your house in located in a flood zone
and
2. You have a mortgage

Hurricane Florence has created flooding of an unprecedented scale. Places that have never flooded before have now flooded. The answer to your question is, of course, the intersection of knowledge and money. Many people aren't sophisticated enough, nor financially able to, buy flood insurance. Many others are renters.

And really, proximity to a river is not in itself, a reason to buy flood insurance. I live less than a 100 yards or so of a river, but I am at an elevation that makes me feel quite comfortable not having flood insurance.

Flood insurance is pretty costly, and the total amount of coverage available is capped at $250,000.

[greatblueheron]

Plus, at least in NC...the areas west of the beaches are farm lands, rural, some dwellers are quite low income...

[BC1960]

Yes, as I said, many people in eastern NC aren't financially able to purchase flood insurance.

[LLN]

I have seen 3% which is considerably less than 1 in 10. I purchased it this summer. I felt based on the storms last year, we were in for hard times. I am out of all “historic” flood plains, but got about 6 inches under part of my house during Florence.

[grouse789]

Thanks for the input. I apologize if my comment sounded smug. It wasnt meant to be. Im just astonished. When I google earth the areas of the "coastal flood plain" many areas are merely feet above sea level. We are considering NC to be a future place to live. New Bern area, Moyock, Wilmington, (as well as Gloucester Va.)are all on our list. Moyock had some flood issues a few years ago. Im curious BC1960, if you know your property elevation? Going forward, I'm thinking I would want to find a property that is closer to 10' above sea level.

[BC1960]

Originally Posted by grouse789

Thanks for the input. I apologize if my comment sounded smug. It wasnt meant to be. Im just astonished. When I google earth the areas of the "coastal flood plain" many areas are merely feet above sea level. We are considering NC to be a future place to live. New Bern area, Moyock, Wilmington, (as well as Gloucester Va.)are all on our list. Moyock had some flood issues a few years ago. Im curious BC1960, if you know your property elevation? Going forward, I'm thinking I would want to find a property that is closer to 10' above sea level.

I'm about 20 feet above sea level. There are several websites that allow you to detect elevation, such as:

https://www.whatismyelevation.com/

By the way, the proper geographic term for eastern NC is the "Coastal Plain", not Coastal Flood Plain.

Here's a good site for determining what locations are in an actual floodplain:

https://fris.nc.gov/fris/Home.aspx?ST=NC

[chiluvr1228]

Saw major flooding even in Kinston, Goldsboro, Greenville, etc. with Bertha and Fran before we moved away. We were fortunate that our house was in a higher area. They called Fran the "100 year flood", yet in 1999 they had Floyd, then Matthew in 2016 and now Florence. I would be moving if I had to deal with flooding from all those events. However I do understand why many people there don't have flood insurance. North Carolina has a lot of poor people which I came to realize after living there 9 years. The hourly wage was far below what I had been making in many years.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Use the Flood Risk Information System (FRIS) website to assist with identifying floodplains and flood risk in North Carolina.

[kelsie]

We do not have flood insurance! We live in the outskirts of Greenville, in Winterville, NC! Our home is raised higher than our whole subdivision. Our area was very fortunate that Florence did not affect it.