Effective March 27, 2024 new flood zone maps go into effect for Sarasota County, Florida as determined and decided by FEMA, the federal organization responsible for floodplain management in the United States. This means approximately 6,000 homes that were not located in a FEMA-designated High-Risk flood zone before, soon will be. And if these homeowners have a mortgage or are insured by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, that means they will be forced to buy flood insurance.

RELATED: City of North Port - FEMA Flood Map Updates

After reviewing the new flood zone maps, it appears that most of the high-risk zone expansion area is occurring along the Myakka River corridor, and more specifically the Wellen Park area of development in south Sarasota County. Some of the larger communities that will see homes placed into high-risk flood zones include Gran Paradiso, The Preserve, Renaissance, Oasis, Lake Geraldine, and portions of Wellen Pak (aka West Villages) – all of which are located along Tamiami Trail along the South Venice – North Port, FL line.

How to tell if your home is affected?

If you would like to see if your home is affected, simply follow these steps:

• Visit the Sarasota County Property Appraiser website and enter your address to locate the public record of your property parcel. https://www.sc-pa.com/propertysearch
• When you locate the record in question, scroll to the bottom of the page where there should be a box labeled “FEMA Flood Zone…”
• In the lower portion of that box, there will be a clickable link labeled “map” – CLICK IT!
• A new tab should open up and after a moment should zoom right over your property parcel. (Note: You can zoom in and out.)
• Refer to the right side of the screen where there should be a list of “Layers”. There should currently be two boxes checked on that list: “Preliminary FEMA Flood Zone” (this is the new map version), and “Effective FEMA Flood Zone” (this is the current map before the changes). You’ll notice that the areas deemed as high-risk flood zones in either version produce various shades of color. The most common shade will in the affected area will be “blue” which stands for AE flood zone (this is determined to be High-Risk).
• I suggest unchecking both boxes and start with a clean slate. Zoom in and out a bit to get familiar with the program.
• Then, begin by checking the “Effective” box – this is going to give you a baseline of the current flood zones.
  • If any portion of your dwelling crosses into the blue or other “color” (not gray) shaded area, then that means your home is already in a high-risk flood zone.
  • Now uncheck that box.
• Now, check the “Preliminary” box to see the new flood zones that will take effect 03/27/2024.
  • If any portion of your dwelling crosses into the blue or other “color” (not gray) shaded area, then that means your home is located in an area that will be considered “high-risk” as determined by FEMA.

RELATED: Sarasota County hosts several open house meetings for new FEMA Flood Zone Maps

If your home has a mortgage, this may mean you will soon be required to carry flood insurance by your lender as a requirement of your mortgage. If your home is currently insured by Citizens, this may mean that in order to qualify for a renewal offer you will have to show proof that you purchased acceptable flood insurance.

If you or someone you know would like to talk about the flood insurance options available to you, our team of agents would love to assist. Please give us a call at 941-244-2760 or send us an email via the Contact Us button above and we’d love to chat with you.

Thank You,
Evolve Insurance Agency

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