How to Check My Flood Zone? Do I Need Flood Insurance – Here's What You Need to Understand in the US

Flood risks come in many forms across the United States. Knowing the most common causes of flooding will help you better understand your exposure. Understanding your flood risk is the first step in protecting one of your valuable assets, your home or business. Remember, low risk does not mean no risk! That's why it's essential to know how to check your property's flood risk and ask yourself: Do I need flood insurance?

Do I Need Flood Insurance?

Regardless of your flood zone, don’t risk what could be the most important decision you make to protect your property from the devastating financial impacts of flooding. Federal law requires homeowners in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) with federally backed mortgages to purchase flood insurance. However, even if you are not in a high-risk zone, it is crucial to consider purchasing flood insurance.

Most standard homeowner's insurance policies do not cover flood damage, so a separate flood insurance policy is necessary to protect your property and belongings from flood-related losses. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and private flood insurance companies provide flood insurance to homeowners, renters, and business owners in participating communities throughout the United States. So if you're asking yourself, "Do I need flood insurance?", the answer is likely yes, especially after using resources that show you how to check flood zone data relevant to your location.

Understanding Common Flood Risks

Heavy Rains, Snowmelt & Flash Floods

Heavy rains and upstream snowmelt often create floods due to the rapid accumulation of surface water. This water can be fast-moving water, resulting in "flash floods." Flash floods can clog waterways, overflow levees, and overwhelm runoff systems, resulting in unexpectedly high water levels. This type of flooding can cause significant damage and wash away anything that is poorly secured. These types of flood events are one reason homeowners should understand their situation to assess ongoing risks.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are one of the most dangerous and destructive forces that consistently damage communities in the United States. A hurricane is a severe tropical storm or cyclone commonly forming in the southern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Pacific Ocean. Hurricanes produce heavy winds exceeding 155 miles per hour. They are characteristically known to create floods and destructive flying debris that can result in catastrophic damage from coastlines to communities hundreds of miles inland. Additionally, storm surges along the coast and slow-moving mountainous hurricanes can result in dangerously heavy rainfall. Other effects of heavy rainfall produced by hurricanes include landslides, mudslides, and flash floods.

• Atlantic hurricane season: June to November (peaking between mid-August and late October).
• Eastern Pacific hurricane season: May 15 to November 30.

These hazards underscore the importance of understanding the flood risk in your area and taking proactive steps to protect your financial investments with flood insurance. Determining early whether you need coverage by asking yourself: Do I need flood insurance?

Coastal Flooding

The United States is bounded by oceans, seas, and other large bodies of water that create naturally occurring weather conditions that can pose risks for those living near these bodies. Wind and other events often cause ocean water to overflow. When this happens, flooding occurs on the shores. Ocean or large lake storms can dump lots of water on a coast, raising the sea level in that area. These are known as storm surges and are the cause of what is referred to as coastal flooding. Coastal flooding usually occurs due to severe tropical or winter storms. States like California, with long, vulnerable coastlines, are particularly at risk for this type of flooding. Understanding flood risk can be essential for people living in coastal regions. It also helps answer many property owners' questions: Do I need flood insurance even if I haven't experienced flooding before?

Erosion From Wildfire

The increasing frequency of catastrophic wildfires in the western United States and elsewhere has heightened the need to understand the flooding risk from storm erosion of those burned watershed areas. Surface water flowing from burned areas may carry increased levels of sediment, organic debris, and chemicals that may contribute to significant contamination of municipal water supplies and aquatic habitats. Wildfires often damage the ability of remaining plant life to capture and hold rain as it falls, which can create mudslides, exacerbate erosion, and lead to more intense flooding and debris flow downstream. The result is that even commonly occurring seasonal storms can create flooding when the surface the rain reaches ground area that has been damaged by fire to the point that the ecosystem cannot hold or slow runoff.

Levees

Levees are artificial ridges that are typically built parallel to a river or other body of water. Levees are created to provide protection from hurricanes, storms, and other floods. While the idea may seem logical, levees pose significant and potentially dangerous flood problems for many communities. Among other difficulties, levees often stand in the way of waterways and communities and have been proven to create flood risks by resulting in greater development in floodplains. The performance levels of levees across the United States are unknown. Because of this lack of data, there is (and likely cannot be) accurate information about the conditions of levees nationwide.

Communities protected by levees should be particularly vigilant and know how to protect properties to understand if residual risks remain. Business and property owners should consider protecting their financial investments with flood insurance, especially if they live near a levee.

Ice Jams

Flooding caused by ice jams is similar to flash flooding. An ice jam formation creates a blockage and causes water to rise quickly at the jam's point and upstream. When the ice jam eventually breaks, it results in flooding downstream. Another hazard associated with flooding from ice jams is floating ice masses, which can damage structures, riverbanks, and the landscape as the floodwaters move downstream.

Landslides and Mudflows

Both landslides & mudflows start with a mixture of moving water and a stationary saturated soil mass. When the mixture gets wet enough, it moves as a mass due to gravity or when triggered by an earthquake or sudden flow of debris-laden water. Landslides & mudflows may cause more severe damage than clear water flooding due to the force of the debris-filled water and the combination of debris and sediment.

How to Check Your Flood Zone?

This online tool enables you to search by address to determine the flood zone and view the official Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). These maps indicate areas with different levels of flood risk, including high-risk areas known as Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs). Understanding your flood zone is crucial in assessing your property's risk of flooding.

Understanding your flood risk and knowing how to check flood zone information are vital steps in protecting your property in the US. Even if you are not required to have it, considering whether you need flood insurance is wise for comprehensive financial protection against potential flood damage.

Visit Advantage Flood to get a free quote and expert help finding the right policy for your property.