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This site is dedicated to informing the Real Estate Professional. I Blog each Friday, to keep you informed of upcoming changes, statistics, rates and lending news.  There is also links to program brochures on the right, as well as charts and news to keep informed.

Flood Zones in Boise, Nampa and Caldwell

Researching Flood zones in Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and the Treasure Valley

Flood zones

Recently we were taken to task by a listing agent over our requirement for a property to have Flood Insurance In Nampa in order to get the mortgage.  It was not disclosed on the Real Estate Listing or on the Real Estate Forms.  But when we pull a flood zone certificate for Nampa, it came up as a flood zone.

The Treasure Valley is full of flood zones, in areas where you might night even think they would exist.  Most of us consider the Boise River to be a flood zone, and that is the only area.  But you would be surprised, Five Mile Creek, Ten Mile Creek in Meridian and Boise are Flood Zones, and Indian Creek, which stretches from Kuna/Mora to Nampa to Caldwell is also a flood zone, along with lots of smaller creeks in Star, Middleton, Eagle and for the most part South West Idaho.

So how do you protect your homeowner/Seller/Buyer….be educated.

Federal Emergency Management Administration or FEMA make is pretty darn simple to determine if you are in a flood zone, they have an EXCELLENT, interactive map on their web site that shows specific FEMA Flood Zones, you can find that link here: FEMA Flood Zone Map Link

There are many different type of flood zones, each one is listed below and each one will have a different insurance premium, from a couple of hundred of dollars per year, to a boatload of dollars per year:

Zone C, Zone X:      Areas determined to be outside 500-year floodplain determined to be outside the 
                             1% and 0.2% annual chance floodplains.

Zone B, ZoneX500:  Areas of 500-year flood; areas of 100-year flood  with average depths of less than 1 
                              foot or with drainage areas less than 1 square mile; and areas protected by levees 
                              from 100-year flood.  An area inundated by 0.2% annual chance flooding.

Zone A:                   An area inundated by 1% annual chance flooding, for which no BFEs have been determined.

Zone AE:                An area inundated by 1% annual chance flooding, for which BFEs have been determined.

Zone AH:                An area inundated by 1% annual chance flooding (usually an area of ponding), 
                              for which BFEs have been determined; flood depths range from 1 to 3 feet.

Zone AO:               An area inundated by 1% annual chance flooding (usually sheet flow on sloping 
                            terrain), for which average depths have been determined; flood depths range from 1 to 3 feet.

Zone AR:               .An area inundated by flooding, for which BFEs or average depths have been determined.  This is an area that was previously,
                             and will again, be protected from the 1% annual chance flood by a Federal flood protection system whose 
                             restoration is Federally funded and underway

Zone A1-A30:       An area inundated by 1% annual chance flooding, for which BFEs have been determined. .

There are a bunch more, but you get the picture,  Zone X is the best, no insurance may be required.  And I say No insurance MAY, but tell that to people on the Boise Rive in the spring, who were categorized NOT to be in a flood zone, buttheir backyards had beach front this year.

Below are 3 maps of small sections of Nampa, Meridian, and Boise, where flood insurance is required, just as an example of some of the areas requiring Flood Insurance, Areas are colored.

Nampa, Idaho