Castro Valley Property Owners Get New Flood Insurance Options

About 2,000 properties in the San Lorenzo Creek watershed may now be eligible for extended, lower-cost flood insurance.

The list of eligible properties includes about 150 in Castro Valley. Other affected areas include San Lorenzo and unincorporated parts of Hayward and San Leandro. Some property owners within the city limits of Hayward and San Leandro may also qualify.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has revised its Preferred Risk Policy under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to extend eligibility an additional year, according to an advisory from the Alameda County Public Works Agency.

Eligible property owners of buildings that have been newly mapped into high-risk flood zones due to a map revision on or after Oct. 1, 2008, and before Jan. 1, 2011, are eligible to receive a Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) for two policy years effective between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2012, the advisory said.

Policies issued as standard-rated policies or converted to standard-rated policies following a map change on or after Oct. 1, 2008, could be converted to the lower-cost PRP for two years beginning on the first renewal effective on or after Jan. 1, 2011.  On the third year, they may then be eligible for additional savings through “grandfathering.”

For local residents, that means properties newly designated to be within a Special Flood Hazard Area — the San Lorenzo Creek watershed — on the August 2009 Flood Insurance Rate Map for Alameda County may be eligible for lower insurance rates, according to Andrew Otsuka, an associate engineer with the county Public Works Agency. 

Otsuka said the affected area has about a 1 percent annual chance flooding. “It’s what we call the hundred-year storm,” he said.

Two lists of affected properties are posted on the county agency’s website at acgov.org/pwa, along with additional information about the FEMA policy. Castro Valley property owners should check both lists.

For more information on the revised Preferred Risk Policy, visit the FEMA National Flood Insurance Website at floodsmart.gov. Historic and current effective flood insurance rate maps are available through FEMA’s Map Service website, msc.fema.gov.  If you have questions or would like more information, contact the NFIP Help Center at 1-800-427-4661 for assistance.

Property owners should also ask their insurance agents about eligibility and to find out what the requirements are. 

In Castro Valley, eligible properties are located on Anita Avenue, Aspen Avenue, Baywood Avenue, Berdina Road, Castro Valley Boulevard, Earl Drive, Forest Avenue, Grove Way, Kahlert Avenue, Kahlert Street, Knox Street, Lake Chabot Road, Leavitt Court, Meadowlark Drive, Meg Court, N. Third Street, N. Sixth St., Orange Avenue, Pine Street, Redwood Road, Rutledge Road, Salem Road, San Carlos Avenue, Seaview Avenue, Tyee Street, Vegas Avenue and Vivian Street.