interflood has bad data!

[Pat Butler]

I just subscribed to interflood today and have run 3 determinations. On all three occasions their output told me the subject was in Zone X, when in reality it was in Zone C. I checked the accuracy against the actual maps that I have. Those maps were the exact same ones (panel # and date) that were shown to me from interflood.

FEMA is trying to eliminate Zone C and replace it with Zone X as they update their maps. So ultimately, Zone C will turn into Zone X. But until that happens Zone C is Zone C, not Zone X.

I called FEMA and the guy told me the same thing-- until a particular map is actually reprinted with the new Zone X's, the Zone C's are still Zone C! Apparently interflood has taken it upon themselves to make these changes prematurely. Talk about liability.

I called interflood and they are 'checking into it'. I told them I had called FEMA and the inteflood rep asked if I had their phone number! I said, "You've got to be kidding- you guys don't have any phone numbers for FEMA?"

I should have known better that to subscribe to something sold by Alamode. Their advertising has always promised more than what they provide.

Pat

 

[Gayle Cumbus]

Pat,
I have checked out several flood info. websites. My favorite is floodsource. It actually gives you jpeg images of flood panels, and you can insert an actual FEMA panel into your report. That way, I can determine if my property lies near a flood zone, and which zone it is. If it is at a border of two or more panels, they will give you all the panels. We currently subscribe to another website where if it is an obscure area, the map is not available, so I go onto floodsource for these. Will change to it when our current subscription elsewhere is up.

 

[Ray Ohler]

I have tried several flood maps on Transamerica's site. Type in the address and zip and it pulls up that portion of the map or you can zoom out and get a larger portion of the map. It "locates" your subject on the map and tells you whether it found an "exact point match". Small problem with a few of them, the subject AIN'T there, it's over THERE. As long as you are doing your own work you can put it in the right place. If not, and using Transamerica, you better check.

 

[Pat Butler]

I tried the free trial on Transamerica's Floodinsights and actually liked the way it worked. I especially liked the fact that you could move the location of the subject if it wasn't in the right place.

However, floodinsights is based upon FEMA's Q3 data which was intended for large scale flood management purposes, not individual determinations. So while I like their interface, there location of the actual adverse flood zones could be way off.

I subscribed to Interflood because I liked seeing the actual map itself. Who would have thought that they would have made their own wrong changes to the maps! Their advertising blatantly lies when it says that their system pulls up the 'offical FEMA flood map for any US address.' THEY ARE NOT THE OFFICAL MAPS-- THEY ARE MAPS MODIFIED BY INTERFLOOD!

 

[Les Brant]

Thank you for the warning. I [/u]was interested, but no longer. Will just keep mu hard copy handy and work from them.

Les in Sunny Coastal (N)Carolina

 

[Ross (CO)]

It is not so impressive to have flood data for everywhere and anywhere in any county of any state in the country.......when 99.8% of us are probably working in upwards of 3 or 4 or 5 counties around the very one we live in ! If I could subscribe to just that area, maybe it could cost me about 17cents/month. The 1997-vintage map data I use now seems sufficient, and with our average elevation in this state most everything is down-hill from here.

 

[Ross (CO)]

It is not so impressive to have flood data for everywhere and anywhere in any county of any state in the country.......when 99.8% of us are probably working in upwards of 3 or 4 or 5 counties around the very one we live in ! If I could subscribe to just that area, maybe it could cost me about 17cents/month. The 1997-vintage map data I use now seems sufficient, and with our average elevation in this state most everything is down-hill from here.

 

[Larry Lyke]

I have never checked into the cost of flood maps once having purchased the 7 counties I wanted about 10 years ago for $185 + the $100 kitty deposit. Now I figure the annual expense is about $7.50 or LESS. I've received 8 new replacement maps in 6 years and 2 brand new ones for the counties I'm signed up for.

Paper maps are real easy to use, just like old friends. Keep them in the lateral file behind me at arm's length sorted by county and alpha. Couldn't be quicker. I've color coded the high-use ones by marking them with highlighter on fold crease.

 

[BigBlueGA]

1997 is vintage?

Our's were done in 1982 and that's the last time they were updated by FEMA as far as I know...

 

[Joe Birrell (NY)]

"C" and/or "X" neither requires flood insurance (no liability there).

When in doubt I always defer to lenders flood cert co. - lenders I work with order their own flood certs.

Bad data ? All data sources in this business are half-assed. There isn't a single piece of data that dosn't have to be deciphered many times over, i.e. MLS, public records, etc. before going into a report. I'm cross-eyed at the end of each day.