Flooding in Canton started during the rain and wind storm on Dec. 18 with much of the flood not cleared away until Dec. 20. The white building in the center on the left is the Baptist church on School Street which is part of Route 108. Submitted photo by the Maine Forest Service
In the wake of one of the stormiest years Maine has seen — with five weather-related disaster declarations in 2023 in a state that rarely has more than one — lawmakers are considering ways to minimize the hardships caused by a growing risk of flooding.
One bill under consideration by lawmakers in Augusta would require property sellers to tell prospective buyers if a parcel is in a known flood hazard zone or if they know about any past flooding damage.
Most states have a law in place that ensures property buyers are told if the parcel they’re plunking down money for has flooded in the past. Maine, though, has no requirement.
With climate change spurring ever more severe storms, the lack of a “right to know” law in the Pine Tree State means that many owners of the 33,000 homes and businesses located in flood-prone areas may not realize the danger they face.
Scott Dutcher looked for representatives from the Red Cross and FEMA on Dec. 31. He hoped to get aid after a powerful Dec. 18 storm flooded his Bethel home. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen
The state director of resource information and land use planning, Judy East, told the Judiciary Committee last week that many buyers are unaware of flood risks or of the necessity for securing flood insurance for some properties. Standard homeowners insurance doesn’t provide coverage for flood damage.
One clue that it’s a potentially serious problem is that three-quarters of Maine properties within flood zones are not covered by flood insurance, according to the Maine Floodplain Management Program.
The proposed disclosures, sponsored by state Sen. Stacy Brenner, a Scarborough Democrat, are “an essential tool for communicating flood risk,” according to Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers.
Berginnis told legislators that flood losses nationally have been doubling every decade since the 1990s, one big reason that South Carolina, New York, North Carolina, New Jersey and Hawaii opted last year to impose requirements for sellers to make sure buyers are aware their properties are in a floodplain recognized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Matthew Foster, director of Farmington Parks and Recreation, points Tuesday to where floodwater reached the Hippach Field field house door in Farmington during last month’s rainstorm. Firefighters saw the new ice skating rink liner floating down the Sandy River, Foster said. The baseball equipment shed floated across the field, and the deck to the Kiddie Pool was all bunched up near the pool. Four dumpsters not belonging at the recreation field floated onto it. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal file
A large storm a week before Christmas that caused flooding damage across much of Maine emphasized the risk that property owners in flood-prone areas face in an era where heavy rains, coastal storms and other weather woes are growing more frequent and more severe.
East said the five federal disaster declarations in Maine last year represent “an extraordinary number” and are an indication the state’s “flood regimes are changing and they’re changing significantly.”
It’s an issue becoming an ever-hotter topic among policymakers seeking to limit the damage to the economy and to the lives of Mainers.
Supporters said that greater transparency when real estate changes hands will lead to more awareness, more insurance coverage and more steps to limit the havoc that high waters can cause.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who signed legislation establishing a “right to know” about flooding in any property sale, said in September that the new law in the Empire State “marks a monumental step forward” in the effort to protect residents “from the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events.”
But Andy Cashman, a lobbyist for the Maine Association of Realtors, told the Judiciary panel the proposed law isn’t needed.
He said there are “many factors that could create harm, confusion and liability for parties involved in a real estate transaction” if the measure were to become law in Maine.
As it is, Cashman said, sellers are already mandated to disclose known defects about a property when they list it for sale, something that would include any known flood damage.
But advocates aren’t so sure.
A national scorecard prepared last year by a nonprofit pushing for greater disclosure during real estate transactions of potential flood risks gave Maine an F for its lack of any requirements. Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council, which gave Maine an F for its flooding disclosure requirements, said that “many Americans who are about to make one of the biggest financial investments of their lives have zero knowledge of whether a house has flooded and is likely to flood again.”
“This problem could be solved simply by having access to information — information that the seller of the home may have,” the council said.
Butcher Burger in Bethel remains closed Dec. 31 following flooding. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen
Without disclosure, it can be tough, and perhaps impossible, to learn that a particular home or business has been flooded in the past.
Simply being in a designated flood zone doesn’t mean a flood ever occurred in any given area, though it’s a valuable piece of information for assessing risk. But some places outside the mapped zones have suffered from flooding as well.
“Flood risk goes well beyond the special flood hazard areas,” East said.
James Nadeau, a land surveyor from Portland with extensive experience with floodplain issues, said there should be a section on a seller’s property disclosure form that makes it clear if there are known flooding issues, something with the potential to impact a property’s value.
“With a changing global climate, expanding real estate development, and vegetation loss, bringing actual flood risk more in line with real estate value requires improved seller flood hazard disclosure,” Nadeau said.
In an April 2023 letter to congressional leaders, FEMA urged them to take steps on Capitol Hill to require sellers and landlords to provide information about flood risks to home buyers and renters.
Richard Pike of Naples wades across a flooded Crooked Way toward his property Dec. 20 while pulling an ice fishing sled carrying a newly purchased generator. Flooding has displaced residents living along the Crooked River in Casco and Naples. With water receding that afternoon, Pike and his wife, Shirley, returned home. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald
It said the lack of information in real estate transactions is “a significant barrier to addressing the nation’s flood risk.”
In a 2022 report examining flooding disclosure requirements in each state, FEMA cited a list of 10 items that ought to be mandated. Only one state, Louisiana, required all of them at the time.
Maine got a zero in the FEMA report — but so did most of New England.
Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire also came up short on every requirement FEMA seeks to lock into law.
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