Category: Flash Floods

Flood Safety Awareness Week

3/27/2015

Calfee Insurance Agency | Authorized Progressive Agent | Falmouth, MA

Flooding is the nation’s number 1 natural disaster, Federal, State, and local organizations use this time of heightened awareness to draw attention to flood safety and preparedness activities.

Key Facts about Flooding and Flood Insurance

·       Flooding can happen anywhere at any time.

·       In the past 5 years, all 50 states have experienced floods or flash floods.

·       There is at least a 1 in 4 chance that a home in a high-risk area will experience a flood during the course of a 30-year mortgage.

·       Most homeowner insurance policies do not cover damage due to flooding.

·       Changes such as new land development can increase flood risk, especially if the construction alters natural runoff paths. Everyone is at risk.

·       More than 20 percent of all NFIP claims occur in moderate- to low-risk areas.

·       There typically is a 30-day waiting period before a flood insurance policy will go into effect.

Contact Calfee Insurance Agency. Authorized Progressive Agency located on Cape Cod.
Calfee Insurance
508-540-2601
336 Gifford St.
Falmouth, MA

Source: floodsmart.gov

Click HERE For a FREE Flood Insurance Quote

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How To Prevent Frozen Pipes

2/5/2015

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Cape Cod Home Insurance

As the temperature continues to drop, the pipes in your home and your insureds home are at risk of damage from freezing conditions. Low temperatures can cause your water pipes to freeze, and in some cases burst. Being prepared and informed may help you to avoid the messy and often expensive issue of frozen pipes. The following tips can help you safeguard your home:

Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.
Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.
When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe - even at a trickle - helps prevent pipes from freezing.
Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.
If you will be going away during cold weather, leave the heat on in your home, set to a temperature no lower than 55° F.

Be Safe and Stay Warm!

Source: coastalagentsalliance.com

Click HERE for a FREE Home Insurance Quote

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Home Protection From Melting Snow

2/4/2015

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Cape Cod Flood Insurance

Your insurance may protect you against damage from melting snow, but that depends where the snow came from. If snow on your roof melts and damages your house, that's legally different than if it melts on the ground and floods your property. As snow is frozen water, some of the damage it can do is only covered by flood insurance.

Flooding
In the world of insurance, flooding and water damage are not the same thing. A flood is rising water moving over what's normally dry ground. Water damage is caused by water that hasn't touched the ground. If snow comes in through a broken window and melts on your computer, that's water damage, which homeowners insurance covers. If snow drifts in your garden melt, homeowners insurance won't pay for any flooding damage. Flood insurance will.

Other Damage
As long as snow stays off the ground, homeowners insurance covers damage from any melting. That includes ice dams blocking your gutters so the thaw flows into your house and snow blown into your house by a winter gale. Even collateral damage to snow that melts on the ground may be covered. If you leave your house because of flooding, for example, homeowners insurance would cover you if someone broke in and stole your stuff while you were gone.

Coverage
Homeowners insurance can cover either the replacement cost of your loss or the actual cash value. When it's actual cash value, you get what your damaged property is worth. If you've had, say, your snow-ruined couch for 10 years, it's worth much less than it will cost you to buy a new couch. Replacement-value policies have higher premiums, but work better for you: You get enough money to replace the couch, even if that's more than the couch's cash value.

Considerations
If your area get pounded by a major storm, call your insurer promptly if you have to file a claim. Chances are you're not the only one with damage, so you want to be at the front of the queue for getting a response. Take photographs that document the damage, and minimize further damage by covering leaks with plywood or tarpaulin. If the damage is minor, consider not filing a claim: Your company may drop your policy if it pays you more often than it considers profitable.

#Blizzard2015 #Juno

Source: budgeting.thenest.com

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New FEMA Laws Affecting Your Cape Cod Home

2/4/2015

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Cape Cod Flood Insurance

In June 2013 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a new map of Flood Zones for areas around the country. The new map reflected better data about the effects of waves, storms, and other flooding events. Many homes close to coastal areas and rivers were affected: their projected risk to flooding was increased.

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions:

Q. What relief, if any, will property-owners have if they are re-mapped up into a higher risk zone than they were in before?
A1. If re-mapped up from an AE to a VE flood zone: Affected property owners should be sure that they are “grandfathered” into the AE risk zone.

A2. If re-mapped up from an X zone (low to moderate risk, “not in a flood zone”) into a Special Flood
Hazard Area (AE or VE): Affected property owners may be able to take advantage of the FEMA Extended Preferred Risk policy that took effect on Jan. 1, 2011, and thereafter be “grandfathered” (locked into the lower risk rate that you were previously in). Besides offering cost savings during the first two years after the new maps become effective, it is our understanding that the Preferred Risk Policy extension offers the simplest route into grandfathering. See questions on the Preferred Risk Policy Extension, also on Grandfathering,
below. And see the FEMA Extended Preferred Risk Policy – Jan 2011 letter from FEMA, which details some limitations to eligibility for the Preferred Risk Policy, also a PRP Community Factsheet, dated November 2012, distributed to us by Congressman Keating’s office. If not eligible for the new extended Preferred Risk policy, you may still be able to be grandfathered under the regular FEMA grandfathering rules to lock into the lower risk rate for which you previously qualified.
A3. If you believe that your structure is not in a flood zone, you always have the option of requesting a review by FEMA, through the LOMA (Letter of Map Amendment) application process.

Q. For properties that are re-mapped up, will there be major consequences?
A. Yes. For structures that are re-mapped up from the X zone into a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA--AE & VE zones), flood insurance will now be required by banks or other holders of federally regulated or insured mortgages. Flood insurance is federally mandated for all structures that are located in an AE or VE flood zone. The higher the risk rate (AE is higher than X; VE is higher than AE), the higher the premium. For structures mapped up from AE into VE, premiums will jump to a higher level.

How will the new FEMA Flood Zone Mape affect my Cape Cod Home?

Q. If I do not currently have flood insurance, and am re-mapped up from X to AE or VE, but I have no federally regulated or insured mortgage and do not anticipate ever getting or wanting a federally regulated or insured mortgage or reverse mortgage, will I be forced to get flood insurance even if
I do not want to?

A. No, to the best of our knowledge, under those circumstances no one will force you to get flood insurance. If you have no mortgage, and do not anticipate ever wanting to get a mortgage, including a reverse mortgage, and do not want to be able to sell the house as locked in to the lower risk rate, then you can decide freely whether or not to get flood insurance. You can decide for yourself the level of flooding risk you can tolerate. You will want to consider this decision carefully, because the window of availability of the extended Preferred Risk policy, and the grandfathering that follows it, is limited. If you change your mind in the future, it will probably be too late.

Q. I am not in an AE or VE flood hazard zone, but I want to get flood insurance because I am worried about possible water damage not covered under my homeowners policy; or because I am near enough to a flood hazard zone that I worry about a catastrophic flood that could spill over the
lines drawn on the map. Can I get flood insurance? What would it cost?

A. Yes, absolutely, you can get flood insurance, and you may be able to get it at the much lower Preferred Risk Rate. The maximum coverage, $250,000 for the structure and a smaller ceiling for its contents, costs less than $400/year under the Preferred Risk rate. Coverage for lesser amounts costs somewhat less.

Q. What if my structure is re-mapped up and I do nothing?
A. You may wind up having to pay for flood insurance at the higher risk rate, even though you would have been entitled to a reduced rate if you had taken action in a timely way.

Q. How can I know for certain that I will be grandfathered?
A. Keep a copy of any paperwork you have regarding your flood zone risk rate, including any flood insurance policies. If you are able to take advantage of the Preferred Risk rate, you will notice, when your Preferred Risk period comes to an end and your policy comes up for renewal, that the difference between the new higher risk rate, and the old lower risk rate shown on your old paperwork, will show that you have been re-mapped into a higher risk zone. That is all that is required to show that you should be grandfathered. It is our understanding that you will NOT receive a notice stating that you will be grandfathered. You will want to get confirmation of some sort that you will be/are being grandfathered, probably from your insurance agent.

Q. Does grandfathering end when I sell or convey my property?
A. No. The grandfathering runs with the property. As long as federal flood insurance is kept continually in place on the structure, with no break in coverage, the grandfathered lower risk rate remains intact. You can sell or convey the property with the lower risk rate.

Q. Is my grandfathered lower risk rate jeopardized if I change insurance carriers?
A. No. The grandfathering runs with the property. So long as you keep federal flood insurance continually in place on the structure, with no break in coverage, the grandfathered lower risk rate remains intact.

Q. My insurance agent has never heard of grandfathering of flood insurance risk rates. What should I do?
A. Ask them if they participate in the FEMA Write Your Own Program (WYO). If not, check with other insurance agencies to find one that does participate in the FEMA WYO Program.

Source: floodsmart.gov

Click HERE For a FREE Flood Insurance Quote

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What is a Flood?

1/18/2015

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Protect your home & your family with flood insurance. Think and plan ahead!

Anywhere it rains, it can flood. A flood is a general and temporary condition where two or more acres of normally dry land or two or more properties are inundated by water or mudflow. Many conditions can result in a flood: hurricanes, overtopped levees, outdated or clogged drainage systems and rapid accumulation of rainfall.

Just because you haven't experienced a flood in the past, doesn't mean you won't in the future. Flood risk isn't just based on history, it's also based on a number of factors: rainfall, river-flow and tidal-surge data, topography, flood-control measures, and changes due to building and development.

Flood-hazard maps have been created to show different degrees of risk for your community, which help determine the cost of flood insurance. The lower the degree of risk, the lower the flood insurance premium.

Source: FloodSmart.gov

Click HERE For a FREE Flood Insurance Quote

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Severe Storms & Nor'easters

1/18/2015

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Best coverage for your home is now just a few clicks away. Are you paying too much for your home insurance? Are you looking to lower your cost of insurance, while improving quality? Contact us for a free, no obligation quote. Protect your home, protect your family.

Severe storms—known as hurricanes or Nor'easters—bring high winds and flooding. Winds combine with tides to cause storm surge, a huge wave that can push water miles inland. The storms also bring heavy precipitation that comes in bands. The bands can extend for hundreds of miles inland, causing widespread flooding. Slow-moving storms, such as Hurricane Irene in 2011, can travel into mountainous regions and produce especially heavy rain and significant flooding.

With a combination of soaking rain, flying debris, high winds, and tidal surges, hurricanes and tropical storms can pack a powerful punch. Besides causing extensive damage in coastal areas, hurricanes and tropical storms often bring flooding hundreds of miles inland, placing communities that normally would not be affected by the strongest hurricane winds in great danger. Just a few inches of water from a flood can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage.

Everyone needs to be financially protected from the dangers of hurricanes. Because most policies take 30 days to go into effect, the time to act is now.

Source: FloodSmart.gov

Click HERE for a FREE Flood Insurance Quote

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Winter, Rainy Season

1/18/2015

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Heavy rains are common in many parts of the United States during the winter months. These storms often lead to flooding.

Several large wildfires in the western United States have dramatically changed the landscape and ground conditions, resulting in fire-scorched land that can lead to flash floods and mudflows under heavy rain. Experts say that it might take years for vegetation, which will help stabilize these areas, to return.

In cold climates across the nation, heavy rain sometimes follows heavy snow. The frozen ground cannot absorb the rain-soaked snow pack, so flooding occurs.

Along the Atlantic Coast, nor'easters can bring heavy rains, snow, and wind-driven waves that can lead to flooding and beach erosion.

Be prepared! Purchase flood insurance for your home (and business) and its contents, take an inventory of your belongings and make an emergency plan for you and your family.

Many areas of the country are at heightened risk for flooding due to heavy rains. This excessive amount of rainfall can happen anytime throughout the year, putting your property at risk.

Storms over the Pacific Ocean bring heavy rains to the western United States between the months of November and April. Spring rains in colder climates can lead to flooding when the still-frozen ground cannot absorb the water. And summer months often bring heavy rains to the eastern and southern United States as warm air and moisture from the ocean move inland.

Cresting rivers, backed-up storm drains or saturated ground can cause significant, widespread floods during these times.

Source: FloodSmart.gov

Click HERE For a FREE Flood Insurance Quote

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Flood Safety Awareness Week

How To Prevent Frozen Pipes

Home Protection From Melting Snow

New FEMA Laws Affecting Your Cape Cod Home

What is a Flood?

Severe Storms & Nor'easters

Winter, Rainy Season

Cape Cod Home Insurance

Home Insurance Quote

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