Thursday

Flood Zone Determination When Buying Property

By Randi Boyer


One of the biggest concerns that many people have to address when they are buying a new house or a new piece of land is if whether they would easily be hit by floods during a storm. So before purchasing property, make sure to do a thorough flood zone determination. This is a small area check to see if the area is prone to heavy floods.

Of course this has to be done so that people will be able to know what to do when a disaster like that strikes. One thing to consider is the location of the land. Be extremely cautious if the area is near beaches or coasts because if there are storms, the waters will all rush to the streets.

Aside from geographical location, one must also look into the surroundings of the place. So when surveying lands, one must look out for nearby lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds and the like. If there are bodies of water like these in the vicinity, then be very careful because the water in these areas rise fast resulting in flash floods.

Aside from checking for nearby water bodies, it is also important to take note of the shape of the land in the vicinity. Obviously if the land is low, then the chances of water filling up the place is higher. If the place is on a rather high rising land like on a hill or is even slightly elevated, then most likely, floods will not be a problem.

Another factor that causes strong floods is garbage in the area. Notice that in some areas, people just leave their trash and garbage bags on the streets. The problem with doing this is that all the litter that is left there would clog up the whole sewage system of towns or cities. When this happens, water will not be able to go into the sewers and will just keep on building up on the surface until it floods.

Now land surveillance may not be very accurate because one cannot determine a flood zone just by looking at it. So another thing that can be done is to dig up any history of floods in the area. Usually local government agencies would be able to provide such data.

Lastly, one can also use online tools for determining whether his land is easily flooded. There are websites where in he can just type in his location and the site will instantly determine whether it is a danger zone or not. One can also search for his area using a flood rate map which will tell him how much an area can be flooded.

So basically, if one would want to take safety measures against floods, the first thing he must do is to do a simple flood zone determination. That way, he will know whether he should be on high alert and what to do if he is. Always make sure to check carefully for all the factors that were stated above. With this, one will be able to keep his family safe whenever a disaster like this arises.




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