DI News History - March 15, 2018
TEN YEARS AGO – Coastal catastrophe insurance is available but it costs
Flood insurance and its associated costs were among the topics featured in the March 13, 2008 issue of The Daniel Island News. At the time, lots on the water in the Smythe Park neighborhood were listed in the $1 million price range. The article stated that homes constructed in the new neighborhood would have to be elevated because the area is located in a flood zone, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Insurance carriers use FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rating Maps (FIRM) to determine costs for property insurance. A VE zone has a 26 percent chance of flooding over the life of a 30-year mortgage. Despite the neighborhood’s proximity to the Wando River and Daniel Island’s overall flood-prone status, homeowners had not had difficulty obtaining flood-insurance coverage, even for multi-million dollar structures, according to local realtor Angela Black. “I think part of the reason is that Daniel Island is an inland island and not a barrier island,” Black said.
Beth Tibboel of Tibboel Insurance in Mt. Pleasant agreed. “Daniel Island does not have a problem now that I know of,” Tibboel said. “... The only V zone problems are when someone encloses below the elevated area when they shouldn’t have.” However, while catastrophe insurance was available for coastal homeowners at the time the article was written, the cost for coverage had risen dramatically, according to the Insurance Information Institute. For example, while upstate South Carolina homeowners saw rate decreases in 2007 of as much as 50 percent, insurance costs rose from 20-100 percent in coastal areas.
In other news, children and parents gathered at Bellinger Island for a Kid’s Island Exploration event. The event was an annual occurrence sponsored by the city of Charleston’s Recreation Department to help encourage children to learn more about the environments which surround them.
The 14 children in attendance explored three different habitats. According to the host of the event, environmental education coordinator at the time Matt Olson, “Bellinger Island is great for this program because of the proximity to three different habitats….tidal creeks, salt marshes, and maritime forests. The small size of the island is also nice because the activities are very centralized.”
FIVE YEARS AGO – Tree pruning project a success
In the March 14, 2013 issue of The Daniel Island News, Bob Sauer, the leader of the Daniel Island Pruning Project volunteer team at the time, wrote a letter to the editor to thank all the volunteers for helping with the project. He said, “As this season’s work draws to a close I’d like to thank all of the volunteers who made the Daniel Island Pruning Project such a huge success! The teams worked in all the neighborhoods across the island pruning close to two thousand trees over this past year. We received tremendous support from the Property Owners Association who provided some key equipment and from the Charleston Department of Urban Forestry who responded to the special situations beyond our capability that we encountered along the way.” He continued, adding, “Residents and business owners have told us that we’ve actually made a noticeable improvement in the appearance of the neighborhoods as well as the town itself. And we actually had fun doing it!”
In sports news, the USTA announced that Diane Barker from Daniel Island would represent the United States at the 33rd ITF Seniors World Team Championships. The nation’s top women and men tennis players in five age groups from 35 to 55 competed against teams from over 30 countries during the tournament, which was held March 18-23, 2013 in Antalya, Turkey. Over 1,000 athletes were expected to participate.