General Floodplain Management Concepts and General Information
Introduction
Floodplain Determination Appeal Form
Base Flood Elevation Notices
New & Existing Floodplains & Floodways
Floodplain Management Information
State Floodplain Management Site
BFE Notices and Appeal Periods
Obtain Additional Assistance
Introduction
Flooding is the most frequent and costly disaster in the City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County. The risk for flooding changes over time due to erosion, land use, weather events and other factors. The likelihood of inland, riverine flooding in our area has also changed along with these factors. The risk for flooding can vary within the same neighborhood and even property to property. Knowing your flood risk is the first step to flood protection. A multi-year project to re-examine our City’s and County’s flood zones and develop detailed, digital flood hazard maps has been completed. Just released for public review, the new maps --also known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) --reflect current flood risks, replacing maps that are up to 26 years old.
As a result, you and other property owners throughout our community will have up-to-date, reliable, Internet-accessible information about your flood risk, on a property-by-property basis.
How will these changes affect you?
Letters were sent to all property owners to inform you that their properties have been mapped into or out of a higher risk zone, known as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), and shown as “A”, or “AE” on the FIRM. If they have a mortgage from a federally-regulated lender and the buildings on this parcel are within the SFHA, then by federal law, your lender must require you to carry flood insurance when these flood maps become effective. Flood insurance is available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federally underwritten program provided by nearly 100 insurance companies and written through licensed insurance agents. Contact your insurance agent to learn about lower cost “grandfathering” options offered by the NFIP for properties being mapped into higher-risk areas for the first time.
If you do not have a mortgage, it is still recommended that you purchase flood insurance. Over the life of a 30-year loan, there is about a three times greater chance of having a flood in your home than having a fire.* And most homeowners insurance policies do not provide coverage for damage due to flooding. For more information on flood insurance, visit the National Flood Insurance Program’s website, www.floodsmart.gov.
*FEMA – 2005 Statistic
The new maps help promote public safety. These flood hazard maps are important tools used in the effort to protect lives and properties in within our community. By showing the extent to which areas of our community and individual properties are at risk for flooding, the flood maps help business owners and residents make more informed decisions about personal safety and financially protecting their property. These maps also allow community planners, local officials, engineers, builders and others to make important determinations about where and how new structures and developments should be built.
If you feel there has been an error, you can file a protest or appeal. Starting June 15, 2010 and running through September 12, 2010 there will be a Public Comment Period. This is a time when citizens will have the opportunity to submit technical and/or scientific data to file a protest regarding their individual property, or an appeal regarding the accuracy of the mapping process in general.
When Do the Maps Become Effective?
The maps that were just released are still known as preliminary. Once our community finishes reviewing any appeals and protests and once whatever changes needing to be made are incorporated, FEMA will issue a Letter of Final Determination. Six months later, an ordinance approving the City’s new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map will be adopted. The maps will become effective, as will any new flood insurance requirements. However, please be aware that starting immediately these flood hazard maps will be used in helping to determine requirements for construction and development.
Here’s where to go for more information.
The City of St. Joseph will be holding community meetings throughout the City in early July and August. City staff will also be available to assist residents one-on-one and provide information at City Hall throughout August. You may also look up this parcel on the new GIS map by visiting http://www.stjoemap.info/ and clicking on the “Floodplain/Floodway Determination Map” link. Additionally, you can contact the your City Floodplain Manager at (816-271-4676; 8 am – 5 pm, during the week) for general information about the flood map modernization project.
This flood map modernization project is a joint effort between the City of St. Joseph, Buchanan County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in cooperation with association and private sector partners.
Floodplain Determination Appeal Form
FLOODPLAIN / FLOODWAY DETERMINATION APPEAL - All appeals must be received by September 12, 2010 so they can be reviewed, processed and sent to FEMA SEMA as appropriate by September 13, 2010.
Base Flood Elevation Notices
Part 67 of the National Flood Insurance Program regulations requires the publication of public notices each time the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) proposes new or modified Base Flood Elevations (BFEs). These notices are for new or modified Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) or Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs), which may be based on FEMA-contracted studies/mapping projects; studies/mapping projects performed by participants in the Cooperating Technical Partners Program; or community-initiated map revisions, including Letters of Map Revision.
New & Existing Floodplains & Floodways
The City / County Flood GIS website is an aerial view of Buchanan County. By following the attached instructions, you can zoom in to see your property and view the existing and proposed floodplains and floodways.
- National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) -- The program of flood insurance coverage and floodplain management administered under the Act and applicable Federal regulations promulgated in Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B.
- Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) -- Official map of a community on which FEMA has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
- Floodplain -- Any land area susceptible to being inundated by flood waters from any source.
- Base Flood Elevation (BFE) -- The BFE, as used by the NFIP, is the elevation of the floodwater surface relative to the datum specified on the FIRM that is expected to be reached by a flood having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Although the term is misleading, this flood is commonly called the “100-year flood.”
- Floodway -- The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than a designated height. Communities must regulate development in these floodways to ensure that there are no increases in upstream flood elevations. For streams and other watercourses where FEMA has provided Base Flood Elevations (BFEs), but no floodway has been designated, the community must review floodplain development on a case-by-case basis to ensure that increases in water surface elevations do not occur, or identify the need to adopt a floodway if adequate information is available.
Floodplain Management Information
The Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) depiction of the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), as determined by detailed studies of storm surge flooding, storm-induced erosion, and wave effects, is generally subdivided into six different zones, including:
- AE Zone -- The base floodplain where base flood elevations are provided. Zones are used on new format FIRMs instead of A1-A30 Zones.
- AO Zones -- Represent riverine hazard areas that are mapped with flood depths instead of base flood elevations. Depths are mapped from 1 to 3 feet, in whole-foot increments.
These SFHAs generally are located in areas of sheet flow and runoff from riverine flooding where a BFE cannot be established. - X Zone (shaded) -- Represent the riverine floodplain areas between the 100-year flood and 0.2% annual chance (500-year) flood. These areas are located outside the SFHA, but are depicted on the FIRM unless map scale limitations prevent detailed mapping of this area. They were formerly mapped and depicted as Zone B.
- X Zone (unshaded) -- Represent the areas on the FIRM that are located outside the limits of the 500-year flooding. They were formerly mapped and depicted as Zone C.
State Floodplain Management Site
State Emergency Management Agency provides a series of training materials which can be viewed and downloaded off their web site. You are welcome to used these training materials to obtain a better understanding of how floodplains are managed and how your property might be impacted by these rules.
BFE Notices and Appeal Periods
BFEs are the elevations of the flood that has a 1-percent chance of occurrence in any given year; the base flood is also referred to as the “1-percent-annual-chance flood” or the “100-year flood.” These notices are published twice in local newspapers with wide circulation and once in the FEDERAL REGISTER. Immediately before the start of the statutorily required 90-day appeal periods for the affected communities, FEMA sends letters to the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)—mayors, parish presidents, county executives, etc.—and floodplain administrators of the communities to notify them officially about the publication of the BFE notices The 90-day appeal period begins on the second publication date of the notice in the local newspaper(s).
During the 90-day appeal period, any owner or lessee of real property in the mapped community who believes his or her property rights will be adversely affected by the BFE determinations may appeal to the community CEO, or to an agency that the CEO publicly designates. It is important to note, however, that the sole basis for such appeals is the possession of knowledge or information indicating that the proposed BFE determinations are scientifically or technically incorrect. These appeal data must be submitted to FEMA during the 90-day appeal period. Only appeals of the proposed BFEs supported by scientific or technical data can be considered before FEMA makes its final determination at the end of the 90-day appeal period.
Appeals of the proposed BFEs shall be based solely on scientific or technical evidence contrary to that of the proposed FIRM or DFIRM and accompanying Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report. However, inquiries regarding data other than the proposed BFE determinations (e.g., incorrect street names, typographical errors, omissions) will be considered by FEMA, and any applicable changes will be made before the FIRM, DFIRM, or FIS become effective.
Obtain Additional Assistance
If you have any difficulty locating the BFE notice you are interested in, or if you have any questions regarding the BFE notice once you have located it, please call a Map Specialist in the FEMA Map Assistance Center, toll free, at 1-877-FEMA MAP (1-877-336-2627), for assistance.
- National Flood Insurance Program
- Flood Insurance
- Floodplain Management
- Flood Hazard Mapping
- National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Definitions
- What is the process and how long will it take?