As Texas residents wait for their chance to begin cleaning and rebuilding their homes following catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey, some flood victims will begin that struggle without the assistance of flood insurance.
RELATED: Flood insurance: Know what's covered under your policy | More Harvey coverage
Not all homes impacted by flood waters were in flood zones, where flood insurance is required.
On the Treasure Coast, FEMA is remapping areas that will fall under coastal flooding zones, changing which homes and neighborhoods will and will not be required to buy the added flood protection.
More homes will be removed from flood zones than added to the flood risk areas, according to county leaders in Martin County, but disasters like Hurricane Harvey are a reminder as to why that insurance is valuable, even if you live outside flood zones. It is also cheaper to obtain when a home is not in a flood zone.
FEMA’s coastal flood maps have not been updated in more than 30 years on the Treasure Coast. New maps incorporating new technology, updated elevation data, and information learned from experiences like Hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 will be included in the creation of the new maps.
They are expected to be finalized in the next year.
A Martin County resident named Utah, who lives in the Rocky Point neighborhood of Stuart, has been required to buy flood insurance since he moved to the area more than 20 years ago.
The neighborhood sits on a peninsula surrounded by the St. Lucie River.
Now, his entire street, SE Bay Shore Terrace, is slated to be removed from the coastal flood risk zone.
“I’m on board with that one,” Utah said.
But, he’s not changing his coverage. Now, he pays nearly $400 a year for the insurance. It’s only going to get cheaper if the maps are finalized.
“If you don’t live on top of a mountain, you ought to have flood insurance,” Utah said.
Deputy County Administrator Don Donaldson says the maps will be beneficial for residents and county leaders to keep people safe.
“People were suspicious of whether these maps were all that accurate. I think our goal is to really have more accurate maps for both insurance purposes and for those evacuation areas,” Donaldson said.
He says the maps did not change drastically, but they’re more accurate than in decades past.
There will be a series of public meetings on the Treasure Coast where residents can get more information and give feedback.
Martin County residents can attend a flood risk open house meeting on Sept. 12 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Indian River State College, Wolf High-Technology Center, located at 2400 SE Salerno Road in Stuart.
St. Lucie County residents can attend a community Flood Risk Open House meeting next month.
At this meeting, representatives from FEMA will be available to answer any resident questions or concerns. This meeting will be held on Sept. 13 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the St. Lucie County Havert L. Fenn Center at 2000 Virginia Ave. in Fort Pierce.
The following maps show the current coastal flood zones, and the proposed coastal flood zones:
- Click here or Martin County
- Click here for St. Lucie County
