Reducing Flood Risk: It's Up To You
Release Date: November 12, 2002
Release Number: 1437-125
» More Information on Louisiana Hurricane Lili
Baton Rouge, LA -- Federal, state and local governments do all they can to reduce flood hazards that can cost lives as well as billions of dollars in damages and losses to residential and business property.
They build levees, dams, dikes, floodwalls and berms, dredge channels, clear waterways, remove debris and provide incentives to elevate, relocate or even acquire and demolish structures that suffer recurring damage.
And yet, every year, Americans sustain more than $1 billion in flood-related damages. Of all natural disasters that have occurred in the last five years, floods caused 61 percent of all property damage.
In Louisiana the frequency of flooding makes flood-hazard risks and costs crystal-clear. Over the last ten years the state has received ten federal disaster declarations.
"Floods destroy homes and devastate families and communities," said Carlos Mitchell, federal coordinating officer for Tropical Storm Isisdore and Hurricane Lili disaster recovery operations. "The best way to deal with this vulnerability is from the ground up, one house, one neighborhood, one community at a time," Mitchell said.
He said that the first step in lowering the flood risk to your home and family is to talk to your local building code enforcement officer.
"One-to-one, these local officials can show you the latest flood maps, they can explain the 'why-and -how' of floodplain ordinances and they can offer practical advice on reducing future damages," Mitchell said. Examples include such things as elevating circuit boxes and household appliances including washers, dryers, hot-water heaters and air-conditioning units.
Local officials will have copies of the Flood Insurance Study and Flood Insurance Rate Map published for all NFIP participating communities by FEMA. Local officials can also pinpoint whether a structure is in a regulatory floodplain and, if so, the base flood elevation (BFE) standard that must be met. The BFE is the difference between the lowest floor elevation (including basement) of a structure and the one-percent-annual-chance ("100-year") flood elevation. They also can provide information on federal, state and local programs that provide financial assistance for homeowner retrofitting projects to reduce flood risk.
Responsibility for floodplain management may vary in different parishes. However officials such as a city clerk, mayor or parish administrator can put interested applicants in touch with the responsible office.
Art Jones, state coordinating officer, said that state and local governments were fully behind the effort to rebuild and repair with prevention in mind.
"Mother Nature is telling us something and we have to listen. It doesn't make good sense to rebuild without first making sure the structure will be more disaster-resistant than it was before the flood," Jones said.
Jones said that buildings constructed in compliance with National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) standards suffer 77 percent less flood damage than those built prior to local enforcement of these standards.
The officials also urge those who don't already have a flood insurance policy to buy flood insurance coverage regardless of whether it's required or not. Floods are far-reaching and can happen in areas where the coverage isn't required by law.
NFIP coverage provides reimbursement to repair the physical damage from flooding, and, in addition to this protection, any flood policy bought or renewed since June, 2000 offers extra Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage. This added coverage provides $20,000 toward the cost to bring a flood-damaged structure into compliance with current State or local floodplain management ordinances that will eliminate or reduce future flood damage. The four compliance options ICC will pay for are: relocation, elevation, floodproofing (for non-residential structures) and demolition.
The NFIP is a self-supporting program. All claims and operating expenses are paid from policyholder premiums, not tax dollars. Furthermore, it is estimated that NFIP building standards prevent $1 billion in flood losses annually and reduce the burden of disaster relief costs on all taxpayers.
You can buy NFIP flood insurance through most major private insurance companies and licensed property insurance agents who sell homeowners' or property insurance or call the NFIP's toll-free information line at 800-427-4661.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 22-Apr-2003 15:49:18