Residents hear FEMA’s floodplain plan

Reaction ranged from annoyance and resignation to relief at a Wednesday meeting that focused on updates to Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain maps in southern Davison County.

Approximately 50 people attended the meeting, which was called to explain the changes and at which property owners were shown preliminary maps that will become final in August 2010.

Among the relieved were homeowners Norman and Maria Houston, who were told that recent map changes will keep their Taft Place home south of Enemy Creek out of the floodplain. The same information was given to homeowners living on Regan Place.

Those subdivisions were originally shown as being in the floodplain, but input from property owners convinced mapping engineers that the areas sit on higher elevations that cannot be reached by floodwater.

Recommendations will be made to keep such pockets out of the final floodplain map, said South Dakota Mapping Coordinator Karen Amrhein Price, a private consultant from Castle Rock, Colo. She said the updated map incorporates parts of Dry Run Creek, James River, Enemy Creek and Kibbee Ditch. Some areas were expanded and others reduced, she said.

County Floodplain Coordinator Dan Sudrla told the audience that some areas in the county were never mapped, including those areas south of Enemy Creek and east and west of Highway 37. As such, they were considered unmapped; that means they were in Zone D, or areas for which no flood risk has been determined. As such, they would be required to pay the highest rates if homeowners decided to purchase flood insurance.

Marijo Brady, from FEMA’s Denver office, said those who own their homes outright are not required to purchase flood insurance if their property is in a floodplain, but those who do not carry such insurance might run into problems if they try to sell their properties. Any federally-backed home loan requires flood insurance for the life of the loan, she said.

The owners of properties whose status has changed due to the updated map will be given the opportunity to purchase flood insurance at lower rates under a grandfather clause. Those considerably lower flood insurance rates can be transferred to future owners as long as the insurance policy is not allowed to lapse.

“If you were out of the floodplain before and you’re now in the floodplain, you might consider purchasing insurance before the map becomes official in August 2010.” Brady said.

Amrhein Price said there’s a 26 percent probability that a home in a designated floodplain will flood sometime during a 30-year mortgage.

The insurance issue became a conundrum for homeowners Jim and Connie Lynde, whose home is the former Prosper Center School on 409th Avenue.

“We’re dead center of the floodplain,” said Jim Lynde, “but the water doesn’t come near our property.”

The area wasn’t mapped as a floodplain when they purchased the property 35 years ago, said Connie Lynde. The Lyndes don’t know if they will qualify for the reduced insurance.

One attendee pointed out that the culverts on Enemy Creek at Highway 37 doubled their water carrying capacity when the highway was reengineered. FEMA should be notified of any changes that significantly affect stream flows, said Brady, but she had no information that any such notification was made.

Mitchell Public Works Director Tim McGannon said such notification has been lax with both private and public entities.

Davison County Commission Chairman Jerry Fischer, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, said “I’m happy with the turnout. There were a lot of concerns about the map changes and I hope the meeting gave residents an opportunity to have those concerns answered.”

Tags: news, fema, floodplain