ACSM Bulletin | October 2006 | #223
FEMA reports
Milestone reached: 5 million Americans now protected by flood insurance
The FEMA-administered National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) now includes more than 5 million Americans who are protecting their homes with flood insurance.
“Americans have begun to truly understand that flood insurance is an important part of protecting their home and property from the devastation of flooding,” said David Paulison, FEMA Director.
NFIP Administrator and FEMA Mitigation Director, David Maurstad, credited consumers, insurance agents, lenders, real estate agents, state insurance commissioners, industry leaders and the news media with helping to make Americans more FloodSmart.
“The program’s growth could not have been achieved without a concerted effort by the NFIP and the program’s partners, who have worked to encourage residents across the nation to understand the risks of flooding and learn about the limitations of traditional insurance policies,” Maurstad said. “Unfortunately, we’ve had a number of catastrophic natural events over the past few years which also made people very aware of flooding risks.”
In the last two years, the NFIP has experienced consistent growth, with the number of policies in force increasing by more than 11 percent. Policy growth has been strongest in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, but other states have seen increases as well. Still, Maurstad says, more needs to be done.
“Nationally, we have about 40 percent of homes in high-hazard flood areas covered by flood insurance, and that’s tragic. Some states are very well protected, some states only a handful of people at most risk protect themselves,” Maurstad said. “Americans inside and outside of high-hazard flood zones must recognize that flooding is America’s Number One natural disaster and that everyone faces some level of risk.” [To learn more about flood insurance, visit www.FloodSmart.gov, or call 1-800-427-2419.]
FIRMs and levees
New guidance on assessing the protective capabilities of levees gives communities more time to obtain data while still allowing new Flood Insurance Rate Maps to be released on time.
In 1986, through Section 65.10 of Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations, FEMA was directed to review levee accreditation criteria, determine the risk of flooding behind levees, and depict these flood risks on flood hazard maps.
“When levees fail, they fail catastrophically. The flooding may be much more intense and damaging than if the levee was not there,” said David Maurstad, FEMA’s Mitigation Director and Federal Insurance Administrator.
No levee system will provide full protection from floods. Levees are designed to provide a specific level of protection, and they can be overtopped in larger flood events. People need to be aware of the risks they face living behind levees—including levees credited as providing protection from the one percent annual chance flood.
Many of the nation’s levees were first put in place by farmers to protect agricultural areas from frequent flooding. Some date back as much as 150 years. But since that time, land use has changed and development has taken place where these farms were once located. And levees can decay over time. Accurate mapping of the risks of flooding behind levees depends on knowing the condition and level of protection the levees actually provide.
FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working together to make sure that flood hazard maps clearly reflect the flood protection capabilities of levees, and that the maps accurately represent the flood risks posed to areas situated behind them.
Levee owners—usually States, communities, or, in some cases, private individuals and organizations—are responsible for ensuring that the levees they own are maintained to their design. In order for their flood protection structure to be considered creditable on FEMA’s flood maps, levee owners must provide documentation to show that the levee meets design, operation, and maintenance standards for protection against the “one-percent-annual chance” flood.
If the levee does not meet the criteria, the map will show the area as a high-risk zone, or Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), and most mortgage holders within that area will be required to purchase flood insurance.
Based on feedback from numerous communities, states and other stakeholders, FEMA learned that it may be difficult for levee owners to produce the required information because documentation is not always immediately available and, in some cases, additional assessment may be required.
Inability to provide full documentation immediately does not mean that the levee no longer provides the level of protection to which it was designed. But, neither does it mean that flood hazard maps can fully credit the levee with providing protection against the one-percent-annual-chance flood.
In late September, FEMA announced that it clarified guidelines for levee documentation, while keeping the map modernization effort on track. Levee owners have 24 months to gather information on the extent to which an elligible levee meets current flood protection standards. In the interim, areas behind the levee are mapped as moderate risk areas, and the levee itself is noted to be a Provisionally Accredited Levee.
“The new guidance accommodates the needs of local officials, levee owners, and the public, while acknowledging and communicating flood risks,” Maurstad said. “It provides a realistic timeline for levee documentation and alerts the public to the levees’ provisional status and associated risks. A note on the map explains that; and all flood hazard maps note that levees can be overtopped, encouraging insurance protection and adherence to evacuation procedures.”
The flood map modernization initiative is a five-year, $1 billion effort to modernize and digitize the nation’s flood hazard maps. Communities use this information for land-use planning, floodplain management, and flood insurance rating purposes.
The current goal is to map the areas where 92 percent of America’s population lives, covering 65 percent of the land area in the United States. The focus is on improving the flood hazard data level of detail in communities at greatest flood risk.
The maps provide reliable, up-to-date flood data, and are created using the latest mapping technology. The maps indicate areas at high risk of flooding, known as special flood hazard areas, as well as areas at low to moderate risk. In special flood hazard areas, flood insurance is a requirement for federally backed mortgages.
To learn more, visit: http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/fhm/lv_intro.shtm.
How people protect themselves from nature’s wrath ?
One year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, FEMA released a new series on best disaster mitigation practices. The collection details steps taken by citizens, businesses, and governments in the Gulf Coast region to build more strongly and for safety.
“Mitigation—strengthening yourself and your investments in the face of disaster—is the keystone to emergency preparedness,” said FEMA’s Director of Mitigation David Maurstad. “Studies show that for every dollar spent on mitigating disasters, four dollars are saved.”
There are more than 30 mitigation projects from Gulf Coast states highlighted at http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/bestpractices/katrina.shtm. The following are some examples.
Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, a marine science institution with academic and research distinction, was awarded Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds from FEMA to install hurricane shutters. As a result, the sea lab was soon operational again after Katrina, with classes resuming when roads became passable and power was restored.
Miami Children’s Hospital in Florida underwent a state-of-the-art retrofit to enable it to withstand a Category 4 hurricane —thanks to a $5 million FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant, which helped pay for the $11.3 million project. Medical and nursing care for the hospital’s young patients continued uninterrupted throughout all phases of the renovation, and MCH sheltered patients, staff and their families during Hurricanes Frances, Katrina, and Wilma.
New Orleans WWL TV station’s innovative building design enabled the 1000-foot broadcast tower at Gretna, La., to broadcast without interruption during Hurricane Katrina—as a result of incorporating in the design of the station’s new 4,400 square foot transmitter tower protection from potentially catastrophic storm surges and winds. Katrina tested the hurricane-resistant building with winds of more than 120 mph.
Long aware of Mandeville’s (La.) vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding, the city, which has been a member of NFIP since 1979, raised its building standards to reduce the flood risk in the community. In 1993, Mandeville voted to exceed the minimum NFIP requirement and increase its elevation standard to one foot above the Base Flood Elevation. Most elevated properties, including some of Mandeville’s historic buildings, withstood Hurricane Katrina— thanks to the city’s strict building regulations.
A homeowner in Slidell, La., chose to elevate his house to 16.4 feet and incorporate several hurricane-resistant features into its construction, all of which helped the house withstand the winds and waters of the 2005 hurricane season. The floodwaters beneath the house rose to 15 feet, yet the breakaway walls survived intact, no water entered the home, and the roof was not damaged.
FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.