Changes in the 100-year flood plain can affect your real estate dramatically! What the recent Coweta County floods could mean to property owners.

Coweta County Georgia was rather fortunate during the devastating Atlanta area flooding that occurred over the last few days. We did not experience the record rainfalls that pummeled the metro area with deluge after deluge of precipitation.

However, Coweta County is downstream from Atlanta and the Chattahoochee River serves as the western boundary. The Chattahoochee is the principle watercourse that stretches from north Georgia through Atlanta on to the Gulf of Mexico. The water crested yesterday at record levels setting a new 100-year flood mark for the region.

The short-term effect of the flooding is devastation for property owners in low-lying areas that had their homes inundated with water. It will take a lot of time and effort to rebuild and move forward with their lives.

The long-term effect can be as equally devastating. Many property owners will now find themselves suddenly thrust into the 100-year flood zone that will make their properties difficult, if not impossible to sell. Flood insurance is costly, and most buyers will shy away from the additional expense of insuring properties in designated flood areas.

The most important lesson to take from this is to be informed about the changes. As the new flood maps become available it is important to know which properties are now affected by the flood-zone designation.

The waters are receding and the clean-up will commence. Only time will tell what the long-term effects of this record-breaking flood will be.