What you can learn from these case studies . . .
• The time to anticipate flood damage is ahead of time before you buy a property, not after flood damage occurs. If water comes at the wrong time and in the wrong way, it can sweep away a lot of the value of your investment.
One way to assess the potential damage to a property is to determine whether it is located in a designated flood zone. While no one can predict precisely where floods will strike, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does maintain maps of areas in the United States that are especially prone to flooding. To find out whether a property you are considering is located in a high-risk area, call the Flood Map Service Center at (800) 358-9616 or write:
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Flood Map Service Center
P.O. Box 1038
Jessup, MD 20794-1038
Or for faster information, visit FEMA’s Flood Map Center at store.msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FemaWelcomeView?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1
Another Earthquake Hazard
Fires in the aftermath of an earthquake can often pose just as much of a threat to property value as the earthquake itself.
If you have property insurance, but not earthquake insurance (either as a rider in your main policy through as a separate “stand alone” policy), make sure that you are covered in the event that an earthquake causes a fire.
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