Understanding Iowa Communities' Substantial Damage Surveys
Release Date: July 20, 2008
Release Number: 1763-103
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DES MOINES, Iowa -- Recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been collecting data on the extent of flood damage to homes in Iowa communities. Here are some questions and answers that clarify the purpose and use of the damage surveys.
Why is FEMA collecting damage data?
Among its other duties, FEMA administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). NFIP requires that communities that participate in the program evaluate the damage to individual properties after a flood. Many communities do the damage assessments themselves. In Iowa, however, FEMA is helping communities by conducting the damage surveys. This saves local taxpayers from having to fund the cost and ensures that the work is completed quickly.
What data is being collected?
The inspectors record the actual observed damage to a structure. Subsequently, that data is used to estimate what it would cost to repair the structure.
What does FEMA do with this information?
FEMA turns the data over to local officials.
What is substantial damage?
A building is considered to be substantially damaged when the total cost of repair equals or exceeds 50 percent of the pre-damage market value of the structure. Land value is excluded from this determination.
Does FEMA determine which structures are substantially damaged?
No. That determination is made by local officials when they compare the estimate of the repair costs to their record of the property's assessed value. For example, if the property's assessed value is $200,000 and it is estimated to cost $120,000 to repair it, that property is substantially damaged.
Does FEMA require property owners to meet certain requirements if they want to rebuild a substantially damaged structure?
If a community participates in the NFIP, it must have and enforce a floodplain management ordinance that helps to protect lives and property from future floods. Reducing future losses helps keep flood insurance premiums down. FEMA does not write or enforce a community's floodplain zoning ordinance.
At a minimum, for NFIP participants, the ordinance must require owners of substantially damaged structures to obtain a floodplain development permit from their local government before they rebuild. Owners must then comply with their community's floodplain management ordinance.
Who is responsible for enforcing a community's floodplain management ordinance?
The local permitting authority is responsible for making sure that all permits issued in a community comply with minimum NFIP standards.
What is the significance of a substantially damage finding?
Owners of substantially damaged properties may feel unable to afford the costs of compliance with their local floodplain management ordinance. Owners may voluntarily request to be included in a community-sponsored acquisition program primarily funded by state and federal agencies. However, a request to be included in such a program is not a guarantee that there will, in fact, be a program or that there will be funding to acquire all properties whose owners request acquisitions.
What happens if a community in the NFIP fails to enforce its floodplain management ordinance?
A community's failure to enforce the ordinance could lead to flood insurance becoming unavailable in that community.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Monday, 21-Jul-2008 09:24:23