Some parts of Lubbock saw localized flooding Wednesday after the rain moved through the area, and some of the areas that saw flooding are in the flood zone.
Wood Franklin, the Director of Public Works for the City of Lubbock, said the flood zone maps are set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
“It’s a high risk area, and engineering and studies have shown that in certain time and in statistically, it will flood within a certain period of time,” Franklin explained.
According to Franklin, homeowners who have homes in the flood zones can be required to have flood insurance.
“It just requires you to carry insurance if you have a federally backed loan,” Franklin said. “The federal government wants you to carry flood insurance so that when you meet those statistical analysis of being flooded, you have insurance to alleviate the damage and repair your damage.”
Stephen Fannin with Cam Fannin Insurance Agency said for people who may now be interested in adding flood insurance won’t be able to have that added immediately.
“To buy flood insurance, unless you’re going to a closing, like if you buy a house and it closes tomorrow, your flood coverage goes in instantaneously on the day you start that loan,” Fannin said. “If you called me today and said, ‘Steve, I need a flood insurance policy’, there’s a 30 day waiting period before you can even get the flood insurance.”
The City of Lubbock has the flood zone maps available online here.