The Buy Dry Land Campaign Educates the Public on the Dangers Facing Homes Built in Wetlands
The housing boom in Florida began with the saying, "I have some swamp land to sell." The burgeoning growth is moving up the coast to Georgia. The Buy Dry Land Campaign is sponsored by conservation groups to educate the public on the flood dangers facing homes built in wetlands.
Richmond Hill, GA (PRWEB) November 11, 2006 -- According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, floods are more damaging and costly than any other kind of natural disaster in the United States. That's as true in Georgia as it is anywhere else. Across the state, many new homeowners are finding that the home they purchased is severely flooded during moderate to heavy rainfall.
That's why the Georgia Water Coalition and Georgia Watch are teaming up to educate consumers and elected officials about the dangers of flooding through a new campaign called "Buy Dry Land" www.BuyDryLand.org. The campaign will kick-off with an event at the University of Georgia Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens on Saturday, November 18th.
In Coastal Georgia, where the population is expected to reach 844,000 over the next two decades, developers are building more and more homes in drained and ditched wetlands. With merely a moderate rain, property that appears dry in some seasons will revert back to wetlands - for days, even weeks.
"Developers can dry out the land with ditching and draining, but when the rains come the water has to go somewhere," said Deborah Sheppard, Executive Director of the Altamaha Riverkeeper. "As one property is drained, another one is flooded and the cycle of property damage and environmental damage accelerates."
Flooding is also becoming more prevalent in other parts of the state, including metro Atlanta, which in 2005 suffered devastating floods caused by rains associated with Hurricane Dennis. Much of the flooding occurred outside of mapped flood plains. State officials estimate that 70 percent of Georgia's flood plain maps are 20 years or more behind the times. As a result, many homeowners do not realize that their property now lies in an unmapped, expanding flood plain, and never purchase flood insurance through FEMA until the damage is done.
Sheldon Vick bought his first house for $154,000 in 2004, a surveyor's note claimed that the property wasn't in a flood plain. Vick didn't purchase flood insurance, which can cost more than $400 a year for $100,000 of coverage.
Vick's Cobb County house sustained $51,000 worth of damage in July 2005, when rains from Hurricane Dennis flooded his property. Because homeowner's insurance alone will not cover the cost of repairing flood damage, Vick took out a loan from the Small Business Administration to pay for the repairs. Since then, he has also purchased flood insurance.
"It was hard not living in my home for six months and still having to pay the mortgage," Vick says. "All the paperwork I had to do really stretched out the repair process."
Speakers at the "Buy Dry Land" campaign kick-off will discuss the pitfalls of buying property in converted wetlands, as well as flood insurance and flood plain maps. The campaign will also provide educational "Buy Dry Land" yard signs, fact sheets, and unveil a Web site designed to help homebuyers ask the right questions before purchasing property in a converted wetland or flood-prone areas.
The event will take place at the University of Georgia Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens on US Highway 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided.
Directions: Take I-95 Exit 94 (Rt. 204) and turn right. Take a right at Gateway Boulevard and then take the next left at Canebreak Rd. Go 1/4 mile to gate and take a left. For additional directions, call (912) 921-5460.
Georgia Water Coalition is a collection of individuals and organizations working to ensure that water is managed fairly for all Georgians.
Founded in 2002, Georgia Watch is a non-profit, nonpartisan 501-(c)(3) watchdog group focusing on consumer education and research in the areas of health care, insurance and personal finance.
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