What elevation is used when rating a structure for a flood insurance policy?
The difference between the lowest floor elevation (including basement) of your structure and the 1% annual chance flood elevation is used to determine the insurance rating. Note: Only buildings are insurable, other structures are not. • My family has lived in our house for many years, and we had a big flood that was called the “100-year flood.” We weren’t damaged. Why do I need flood insurance? The term “100-year flood” is often incorrectly used and can be misleading. It does not mean that only one flood of that size will occur every 100 years. The term is a statement of probability that scientists and engineers use to describe how one flood compares to others that are likely to occur. Today, we use the phrase “1% annual chance flood.” What it means is that there is a 1% chance of a flood of that size happening in any year. Over a 100-year period, it has a 63.5% chance of occurring. Even more surprising is that over a 30-year period (typical mortgage period) the 1% annual chance flood
