The Federal Emergency Management Agency told Dallas officials that it will redraw flood maps in 2011 if the city doesn’t address problems with the Trinity Levees. If that happens, it seems likely that parts of Oak Cliff would fall into a flood plain. That means  mortgage companies would require flood insurance, which is more expensive in a flood plain. Flood insurance on homes in areas with low-to-moderate flood risk costs between $119 a year for $28,000 worth of real estate and personal property, and $1,385 to cover $350,000 in assets. In a high-risk area, such as a flood plain, the price jumps to between $509 and $2,766 a year.

Most homeowners only buy flood insurance when mortgage companies require it, which is fairly rare, insurance agents say. State Farm agent Ruben Saucedo, who has an office in Oak Cliff, says he can remember writing two flood insurance policies in the past year — one in Midlothian and one in Pleasant Grove.

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You can find your property’s flood risk here. And you can find the current FEMA flood maps for the area that includes Oak Cliff here.