Centennial, Parker Area Flooding Issues (Denver: insurance, condo, houses)

[lmnewjersey]

Hey everyone, was hoping you could give me a little info. My wife and I will be relocating to the Centennial/Parker area from nj (jobs in aurora). One of the things we noticed in our research was all the refferences to flooding and flood plain maps being changed. While the area we live in now doesn't flood several of the surrounding towns have significant issues. Just how bad are these issues in the area and any recommendations on areas it would not be an issue?

[2bindenver]

Check the FEMA maps.

It's hard to flood in a desert, excuse me semi-arid climate. It's not impossible.

Our water issues, as far as housing, has to do more with the slope of the landscaping than anything else.

[davidv]

I would not worry one bit about flooding. Colorado simply does not have enough water to flood significantly (you will chuckle when you see our "rivers"). The last major flood in Denver was in the 1960s. Since then the state has built several dams to contain the flooding (Chatfield, Bear Creek, and Cherry Creek). You might be vunerable if you were live in a house that is directly on a creek, but even then any flooding would be very localized. You will experience more issues with hail than water.

[JenUlasewich]

We have friends who live in Centennial and who back to a creek and a 100 year flood plain. In the spring the creek can get higher and fast, but in 10 years has never overflowed its banks, much less encroached on the flood plain.

If you're still concerned, I would call your insurance company and ask about a specific address (find a house that backs to a body of water, there aren't a ton). Have them run it through their database. They can tell you if flooding should be a problem and/or if they would require flood insurance. That might be a helpful process.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Floodplain maps are updated periodically. FEMA will send out map revisions to the city/county for them to incorporate into their maps. Usually not a big deal.

Don't be fooled by the fact that a particular house isn't located on a creek. The area has a lot of drainageways that will flood during a heavy rain. We have a greenbelt in our neighborhood that has a nice little concrete swale about five feet wide on the bottom that is mostly dry. However, it will fill with water from snow metling and, in a heavy rain, it overflows and gets about thirty feet wide (that's why its in a greenbelt). So there's a 100-year floodplain along there, and the houses that border the greenbelt have to have flood insurance.

If you find a house you like, you can call the city or county and find out if it is in a floodplain. You don't want the nasty surprise of additional insurance costs.

[lmnewjersey]

Thanks everyone i appreciate the input. I readily admit that I don't know much about the neighborhoods out there. Bit like I said two towns over just had flooding upto second story windows so the thought gets us a little jumpy

[maciesmom]

That is not something you have to worry about in the Denver area.

[2bindenver]

Your elevation would be near sea level. Not here. We do have streams, but no ocean.

Their are other things that should concern you, but not flooding.

I see a lot of houses. I have never seen a wet basement. A wet crawl space, sure, a wet sump pit, absolutely.

[outside1]

Their are other things that should concern you, but not flooding.

I don't agree with this. I've seen flooded cars and houses in Denver after very heavy rain when the drainage system can't keep up.

I can recall seeing a car suffer flood damage when parked on 17th across from City Park a few years ago and last year I witnessed a family draining their garage and possibly more after heavy rains somewhere near Yosemite and Montview. When I lived in Capitol Hill a condo down the block would flood when it rained hard because the front drain could not drain fast enough and water would enter through their front door. True none of these are huge floods in the sense of Katrina but water damage all the same.

The fact is the metro area does have flood plains and something like 1/3 of all claims are filed on property outside of designated flood lands.

[lmnewjersey]

hey 2bindenver,
I'm not talking about ocean flooding, im 2 1/2 hours inland from the shore. The flooding the last several weeks has been from small streams, and rivers. Granted anytime you have 18+ inches of snow melt in two days followed by 6" of rain things happen.