Homeowners meet with FEMA and NFIP representatives to discuss, seek help with flood map changesA meeting was held Thursday to help homeowners understand recent changes to area flood plain maps. Mark Lujan, National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional manager; Vearl Wolverton, NFIP bureau and statistical agent; and Mike Borengasser, state climatologist, were at the Hughes Center in Russellville to address questions and concerns about the maps and flood insurance costs and procedures.
Mayor Tyrone Williamson was in attendance, along with various other city and county officials, insurance agents, real estate agents and concerned homeowners.
One of the issues raised addressed a creek bed near Vancouver Avenue, which is depicted incorrectly on the most recent flood maps.
Kurt Jones of Kurt Jones & Associates Inc. said during the meeting he had been in contact with the engineering firm who created the flood maps, and he believes even though the creek bed is drawn in the wrong position, the actual flood contours were mapped correctly.
Residents in other areas, including Cove Landing near the Pottsville/Russellville border, also have misgivings about the flood maps.
“We need to get that map corrected as soon as possible,” Borengasser said, adding he hopes the changes can be made at no cost to the city.
Borengasser has also acknowledged Jones’ comment the flood plain may be drawn correctly and hopes to get a definite answer about the map’s correctness soon.
Lujan spent time talking about flood insurance and how homeowners can get the best rates. He also addressed how homeowners who do not believe they are in a flood risk zone, even though the maps put them in one, can avoid costly premiums.
“Please do not let your lender force-place a policy for you,” Lujan said. “Go get your own policy.”
Rates purchased through the NFIP are subsidized and will be significantly lower than what a lender will purchase, he said.
Two NFIP programs that can help lower insurance premiums are the grandfathering program and the preferred risk policy.
The grandfathering program allows homeowners whose homes were not in a flood plain when they were built to obtain flood insurance at that low-risk rate, even if they are in a flood risk zone now.
A second option to reduce premiums is the preferred risk policy, which give homes outside of high-risk areas low premiums for two years, beginning in 2011.
“I like to think of it as a safe-driver policy,” Lujan said.
Other options discussed were processes for possibly having a home removed from the flood zone completely. Homeowners can have their house surveyed and obtain an elevation certificate. Depending on the information in the certificate, if the lowest point of the ground immediately surrounding the house is a certain height above the determined base flood elevation, a letter of map amendment (LOMA) may be approved. If a LOMA is issued for a particular property, that property could be removed from the high-risk zone entirely.
The concern surrounding the flood plains comes after FEMA issued revised the flood maps for Pope County, which came into effect in March. Since then, some property owners have received notice from their lenders that they are now in a flood zone and have 45 days to purchase flood insurance. Some homeowners do not think they are in a flood zone and believe the maps that put them in a flood zone are incorrect.
Lujan stressed each property is different and urged homeowners to call him to discuss their specific properties. He can be reached at (425) 417-3159 .