FEMA officials on Tuesday night basically told Plaquemines Parish residents that they likely will have to elevate their homes to massive heights if they want to avoid exorbitant annual flood insurance costs. The information is particularly relevant to residents hard-hit by Hurricane Isaac who are thinking about how to rebuild their homes, but it will affect most Plaquemines residents outside of Belle Chasse.
?Should I repair my building to the current flood map? Well you could, and it will be legal ? but in a year or so you might find your premium to be a little bit high, probably a lot high,? said Brain Bartley, a National Flood Insurance Program specialist based in Baton Rouge, who gave the Tuesday evening presentation in Belle Chasse. ?You should take a look at the preliminary map and at least have a sense of what that means with this new reform act.
?You will simply be rated for whatever your current risk presents," he told residents.
The proposed new flood insurance maps ? which will be discussed in more depth at public meetings in Plaquemines beginning in March ? likely will place base flood elevations at 17 to 21 feet for areas of Plaquemines outside of Belle Chasse, which is the only parish area that meets the Army Corps of Engineers' current standards for a so-called 100-year storm.
The presentation on Tuesday evening drew about 70 people and specifically focused on the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012, commonly referred to as the NFIP Reform Act. The meeting did not focus on the flood maps. But, the two are obviously intertwined.
Basically, the NFIP Reform Act means that the federal government will no longer subsidize insurance rates in areas with certain classes of risk. Instead, the insurance rates will ?accurately reflect current risk of flood to such property.? For Plaquemines residents, those rates will largely depend on the revised or updated flood insurance rate maps. Any increase in the risk premium will be phased in over a five-year period.
Already beginning at the start of this year, all second homes now fall under this new actuarial flood rate category.
In terms of others who fall into this new category, there are many factors involved; home owners are urged to call FEMA at 866.331.1679 on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. for specifics. But, if the new flood maps are adopted, most Plaquemines residents outside Belle Chasse will be hit hard if they don?t elevate to at least the new 17- to 21-foot base flood elevations, if not higher.
Based on initial FEMA estimates, the new NFIP premiums for a $250,000 single-family, one-story home in a high- to moderate-risk zone that sits 4 feet below base flood elevations could come to $9,500 a year. If the structure is at the base flood elevation level, it still would cost about $1,410 a year.
If the home is 3 feet above base flood elevations, it would fall to a more reasonable $427 a year.
Public meetings specifically on the flood maps are expected to begin in early March. After a 90-day appeals and comment period, FEMA likely will provide a "letter of final determination," which officially starts the six-month adoption period, during which time local governments must officially adopt the new maps or opt out of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Details on the proposed new flood maps are available by clicking here. A more user-friendly website likely is the LSU AgCenter flood maps portal, which can be accessed by clicking here.
More meetings on the NFIP Reform Act will continue this week and next week. Each will be held at 6:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, the meeting is at the Port Sulphur Community Center, 278 Civic Drive;? and on Friday, the only east bank meetings will be held, at the Percy M. Griffin Community Center, 15511 Louisiana 15, Braithwaite. On Monday, the meeting will be at the Buras Auditorium, 35619 Louisiana 11.
To view a summary of the Biggert-Waters National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, and what changes can be expected, click here.
Source: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/01/fema_tells_plaquemines_parish.html
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