When purchasing property for your new home or business in Illinois, it is important to know whether or not the property is likely to have issues with flooding. Complicated FEMA flood maps used to be the go-to to assess the risk of a property. However, reading them takes some practice.
There is now a much easier way to assess the flood risk of a property. Simply go to this link at floodsmart.gov and type in the address of the property you wish to know the flood risk of in the red box on the right-hand side of the page. Click “Go!” and you will be brought to a page for purchasing flood insurance. And, more importantly, it will also show you the flood risk of the property.
Flood risks range from moderate-to-low risk areas to high-risk areas. In moderate-to-low risk areas, the risk of being flooded is “reduced but not completely removed”. These areas are labeled as B, C, or X on flood maps. In high-risk areas, there is “at least a 1 in 4 chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage”. These areas are labeled as A or V on flood maps.
Another possible outcome is rare, but is an undetermined-risk area, meaning that no study has been done on the area, and the flood risk is unknown.
Here at ProCare Restoration, we know that education helps arm our valued customers against flooding. The more you know, the less you put your home or business at risk. But remember: flooding can happen anywhere, and it is important to be prepared and give us a call if it does. We’re the best at flood restoration, and we’ve got you covered.
