Rate hike coming for flood coverage

By year's end, new federal maps of Sutter County's flood-prone zones are expected to raise insurance rates and determine where and how homes can be built.

With the change less than two months away, county authorities this month will step up efforts to spread word of the upcoming requirement to buy flood insurance in about a third of the county.

"We are not really up against anything, except that a lot of folks aren't aware," said Dan Peterson, the county's director of water resources. Homeowners in a third of the county have until Dec. 2 to lock in lower rates for flood insurance before premiums increase. Meanwhile, new rules will require more floodwater clearance for homes and commercial buildings.

Maps produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency brand the county at "high risk" for flooding south of Stewart Road, east of the Sutter Bypass and south to the Sacramento County border. Homes inside the zone must be insured for flooding starting Dec. 2 if they carry federally backed mortgages.

Homeowners can fix lower rates if they get policies by the December deadline. Those waiting until after the cutoff will pay rates about double the levels for "grandfathered" customers.

According to FEMA, a $250,000 coverage policy within the hazard area will cost $1,385 a year if bought before Dec. 2, but $2,766 a year if purchased later.

Some 2,800 residences will fall within the flood-risk area, including 1,780 that FEMA had not previously labeled at high risk, according Peterson.

A county ordinance also will impose flood clearance standards on buildings started in the flood risk area after Nov. 13. New homes must be elevated at least a foot above the site's base flood elevation, or the level where waters are forecast to crest in a 100-year flood. Commercial building must either be built at that level or have a waterproof design.

Major floods wracked the Yuba-Sutter area in 1955, 1986 and 1997. But as more newcomers have moved into the region, knowledge of its flood history has declined — something Bill Hampton, general manager of Levee District No. 1, said raises the urgency of reminding residents of the risks.

"It's been dry over 10 years," said Hampton. "So many people have moved into this area, it's going to be hard to sell some people on the fact they live in a floodplain and they need insurance on their homes."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com