Living & Buying a Home in a FloodplaiN
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In the U.S., a typical home mortgage is for 30 years. Suppose a family decides to purchase a home in the 100-year flood plain and plans to live in their home for 30 years. While the family's annual exceedance probability is at least 1% (100-yr return period), the likelihood that their home will flood in 30 years is at least 26% (more than 1 in 4). In other words, the chance of flooding in 30 years is 20 times more likely than winning $2 from one $1 Megamillions ticket (1 in 75).
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Likelihood of flooding in a 30 year period, by return period.
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Acknowledgements & Credits: This material is based upon work supported by the Texas Department of Public Safety's Division of Emergency Management. Background photo courtesy of Mark Moran (Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0)
© 2019 Jennifer L. Irish & Steven M. Quiring. All rights reserved.
© 2019 Jennifer L. Irish & Steven M. Quiring. All rights reserved.