Wednesday, September 21, 2011
JUST LIKE THAT
The Suffolk Planning Commission could have said “no” just as easy as they said "yes" and not approve a new floodplain plan. For crying out loud, as we used to say, if 554 homes are to be added to a flood zone and 700 being removed, what technology were they using back when they determined the original flood plain? Or have we since then been hit with earthquakes and a tsunami. Charles Jordan’s property lies in the flood zone in the new maps. He has hassled the Council at every public meeting. “I stand before you today not in favor of this ordinance, because the maps are wrong and I can prove it.” So where is this going?
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The flood elevations determined on the revised NFIP (National Flood Insurance Maps) are determined by survey information, are typically turned into the maps by the Army Corps, and aren't negotiable and subject to City rejection. However, it is my understanding that whether or not an individual structure is or is not in the flood plain can be challenged based on the actual base elevation of the lowest occupied living space compared to the base flood elevation reflected on the NFIP map. While I don't do this kind of work, I worked as a FEMA post-disaster evaluator for a few years and saw several individuals challenge claims that they wouldn't get paid for damages that would have been covered by NFIP insurance that they didn't have by establishing that the elevation of the lowest living space was above the base flood elevation.
Bottom line here (and I hope I'm not leading you astray), even though your property may be listed as being in a flood zone, it may be that only part of your property is in the flood zone, and perhaps this does not include your home. So if your property has a lot of topographic elevation, and your home is on high ground, it may be worthwhile to investigate this further. Suspect someone at the City should be able to point you in the right direction.
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