Chesapeake Bay and Insurance Thoughts

Ahh, the Chesapeake Bay. One of the many things that I love about Maryland. Whether it is getting out on a boat near the Choptank, looking for sharks teeth down at Chesapeake Beach or fishing off the pier at Downs, the Chesapeake Bay offers recreational activities galore.

But did you also know the following about the Chesapeake?

The surface area of the Bay and its tidal tributaries is approximately 4,480 square miles.

Two of the United States’ five major North Atlantic ports – Baltimore and Hampton Roads – are on the Bay.

The Bay is surprisingly shallow. Its average depth, including all tidal tributaries, is about 21  feet.    A person who is 6 feet tall could wade through more than 700,000 acres of the Bay and never get his   or her hat wet.

About 150 streams, creeks and rivers drain to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

There are more than 700 public access points on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

The Bay produces about 500 million pounds of seafood per year.

Forests cover 58 percent of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The region loses about 100 acres of forest each day to development.

Source: www.chesapeakebay.net

But living so close to a this great body of water can also raise some concerns...did you hear about this...?

Bill Could Increase Flood Insurance Premiums

Daily Real Estate News / Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A bill winding its way through Congress has the potential to more than double flood insurance premiums over the next four years for owners of vacation homes and commercial properties in flood-prone areas, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The proposed jump in premiums is to help ramp up finances for the National Flood Insurance Program, which is a government run program that makes flood insurance mandatory for certain property owners in flood-prone areas. The program currently owes the Treasury Department nearly $18 billion. The increase in premiums is expected to save NFIP $4.7 billion by 2021.

More than 20 percent of the home owners currently in the program receive subsidized rates. The bill would set out to gradually remove subsidies for second homes, commercial properties, and properties with a history of multiple flood damage, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some residential property owners will continue to receive subsidies.

The proposed increases under the bill would likely more than double premiums for about 44,000 policy holders, according to estimates. Those policy holders currently pay on average $1,174 per year.

The Senate is expected to consider the bill this week.

Source: "Senate Bill Would Drive Up Flood-Insurance Premiums, The Wall Street Journal (June 25 2012)

What are your thoughts?

Erik Hart
REALTOR®, BPI Analyst
Severna Park Sales
Long and Foster Realtors
410-544-4000 Office
443-889-6860 Cell
http://www.erikhart.lnf.com/
http://www.topofthemarket.blogspot.com/