Flooding Outside of Designated Floodplains Becoming More Common

Thursday, March 14th, 2024 -- 9:01 AM

(Elizabeth Dohms-Harter, Wisconsin Public Radio) As climate change continues to impact weather patterns, flooding outside of designated floodplain areas is becoming more common.

According to Elizabeth Dohms-Harter with Wisconsin Public Radio, one way property owners can protect themselves is by purchasing flood insurance, said Sarah Smith, the director of public affairs for the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.

Smith recently joined WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show,” where she explained how flood waters damage property and pocketbooks, noting that even just 1 inch of water inside a building can cause $25,000 in damages.

“(It) might seem like a lot, but if you think about if your first level floods and that’s where you have your washer and dryer, you have furniture that’s sitting on the floor, all of those things get soaked to within the first inch. They all have to be replaced,” she said.

The average claim in 2019, she said, was $44,000. “So if you kind of look at (the cost of the premium) compared to that average claim amount, that may help people reconsider their risk tolerance of whether they are comfortable going without this coverage or whether getting the coverage is the right move for them,” Smith said.

Flooding is happening more often in urban areas, especially as a result of climate change, said Sarah Rafajko, a floodplain management program coordinator with the state Department of Natural Resources, who joined Smith on the show.

She said instead of normal precipitation patterns, now heavier rainfalls are dropping a couple days’ worth of rain within hours. And more instances of flooding are occurring outside of mapped floodplains.

Average annual precipitation increased between 5 and 10 percent in most of the Midwest over the past 50 years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Rainfall has increased 35 percent during the four wettest days of the year.

The EPA predicts these factors will lead to more flooding in Wisconsin over time. As for now, flood insurance is required for anyone who owns property in a mapped floodplain. But anyone outside of that area isn’t required to have it.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.