Aiken County hosts FEMA flood insurance rate maps open house

Sept. 15--With the recent rain events causing heavy rains and the potential for flooding in the state, residents in Aiken County have a way to learn about their flood risk.

On Wednesday, Aiken County government hosted a public open house on revisions to the FEMA flood insurance rate maps.

Among other things, residents who attended the open house in Aiken were able to learn what their flood risk is and ask questions about flood insurance or the three-year mapping study conducted by AECOM.

For Aiken County, Maria Lamm, state NFIP coordinator at the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, said there were two areas that were studied, mainly on the Savannah River, including 11 miles on the Savannah River, as well as the Savannah River Site, which was unmapped because it is federal property.

Lamm said the open houses are being held in areas in the state where mapping studies are being finished so residents can be informed and ask questions.

FEMA funds the mapping program and partners with state agencies like the S.C. DNR, said Danon Lucas, external affairs specialist with FEMA. The maps are flood insurance rate maps and are for the communities to let people know what their flood risk is at the local level, he said.

Part of what the flood insurance rate map shows is the one percent annual chances, or the one percent of area flooding in any given year, he said.

"A lot of people have heard in the past of it referred to as a 100-year flood, but we try to get away from that," Lucas said. "If you think about it, if flooding happened last year in October, a 100-year flood might indicate that it might not happen again for another 99 or 100 years, but Mother Nature doesn't read flood maps. Rains could come, something could happen where you could have that type of event next year or the year after."

Aiken County Planning Director Stephen Strohminger said every building permit received is checked for flooding, and he said the checks have been conducted for years. But he thinks there is some heightened awareness because of last October's flood and recent flooding in Louisiana.

Another direct result of the extensive rainfall the state received last fall, Lamm said, is that people also "really paid attention" to Tropical Storm Hermine, which recently came through the state.

"Being flood aware is a very good thing to be," Lamm said, adding people should know things like evacuation routes and level of risk. "The October flood event that was so extensive, it really helped to bring this to the forefront."

The event caused heavy flooding mainly on the South Carolina coast and Midlands, though other parts of the state, including the eastern portion of Aiken County, received heavy rains.

Lamm said every county in the state has flood plains and has a risk of flooding. In terms of measuring risk, she said S.C. DNR talks about it as a low, middle and high risk depending on where someone is in relation to the special flood hazard area or what most people call the flood plain.

She said someone is at a high risk if they are actually in the flood plain or right adjacent to it, a moderate risk and as they move a little further and further than that, is at a lower risk.

"We do a low, middle or high instead of an in or out because an in or out doesn't really relay your level or risk, because you could be sitting just outside of it and you get a big enough rainfall event and you can be completely devastated by a flood," Lamm added. "That line drawn on that map doesn't mean the water is going to stop there. It can go beyond that."

Lucas said those who live in a special flood hazard area and have a federally backed mortgage, are required by law to carry flood insurance.

Flood insurance is available to anyone who lives in a municipality or county government participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. Anyone can purchase it but how much they pay can differ for those who live in the special food hazard area, according to Lamm.

Lamm estimates that the map should be effective around next August or September.

Another FEMA flood risk open house will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. today at 304 Gray St. in Edgefield.

For more information in Aiken County, contact Rick Hallman at 803-642-1518 or at [email protected].

Christina Cleveland is the county government reporter at the Aiken Standard.

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