Flood plain issue farce, public says [The Daily Star-Journal, Warrensburg, Mo.]

Oct. 23--WARRENSBURG -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency can go soak its head, residents said during the City Council meeting Monday at the Municipal Center, 200 S. Holden St.

FEMA put sections of the city into a flood plain arbitrarily, forcing Marr Park-area residents to pay hundreds more for flood insurance, Stan Moreland said. He asked for council help.

"What you could do as a city would have a lot more weight," he said

City Manager Paula Hertwig Hopkins said she attended a meeting between city residents and FEMA representatives and did not like what she heard from FEMA.

"They admitted they had insufficient dollars to do any type of flyover," she said, that would help in determining which areas should or should not be in a flood plain.

FEMA's map seems based on old data and created with the care of a child with a crayon, Moreland said.

Based on land elevation, if his house ever flooded, then City Hall will be under water, he said.

Marr Park area resident Kirsten Richardson said she does not understand how her house could be listed in a flood plain.

"I don't understand where this flood is going to come from," she said.

For an individual to take action to get an elevation map made is expensive, she said.

"It isn't everybody who has $500 lying around," Richardson said.

Hopkins said city staff could review options for having a better review of city topography made to establish the flood plain. Mayor Don Butterfield endorsed the action.

"We can certainly take a look," he said.

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