Flood rates will not increase

Citizens' Voice, The (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

Jan. 25--PLAINS TWP. -- Officials from three municipalities learned Friday that flood insurance premiums for residents in flood zones protected by two non-accredited levee systems will not increase as federal agencies work with Luzerne County officials to address the accreditation.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials met with local and county officials at the offices of the county Flood Protection Authority in Plains Twp. to discuss the Plymouth and Wilkes-Barre Hanover levee systems and the current flood risk in those protected areas.

Flood insurance rates for nearly 6,000 properties in the three municipalities could eventually increase if the levee systems aren't eventually re-accredited.

The meetings were the first step in a multi-year process to discuss how to map flood risk around the levees, according to Nick Morici, Congressional Affairs representative for FEMA, Region III.

Morici said the top things to pull from discussions at the meetings are that:

--The levee systems remains sound, are well-maintained and have no structural risks, according to the county Flood Protection Authority.

--Flood risk along the Susquehanna River has changed over time, and the meetings were the first step in a multi-year process to evaluate options for mapping the new flood risk as a result of the changes.

--There are no near-term changes to the Flood Insurance Rate Maps around these levees as a result of the meetings. Changes to the maps will only be made in consultation with the county Flood Protection Authority and the communities of Wilkes-Barre, Hanover Twp. and Plymouth. This means there are no changes to flood insurance requirements for residents behind the levees.

--The Flood Protection Authority has requested additional analysis from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to pursue accreditation.

--Officials in each community will be working to engage residents about flood risk associated with the levees.

What is the problem?

Authority Executive Director Chris Belleman said the levee-raising project that occurred in the mid 1990s through the 2000s was based on a hydraulic model from the mid 1980s designed to protect the Wyoming Valley from the level of flooding that devastated it following Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972.

Since then, there's been a lot of new development that increased stormwater runoff into the river, and global warming has increased the frequency and severity of storms, resulting in more runoff as well, Belleman said.

The flooding that followed Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 set a new record for the river's base flood level. Following Lee, FEMA tasked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to re-examine the hydraulic model. The Army Corps found that the 100-year flood elevation height changed dramatically -- by 3 to 4 feet -- and that the levee no longer met requirements for freeboard height. Freeboard is considered a minimum of 3 extra feet in levee height above the 100-year flood level to account for design inconsistencies.

"Because of that, they could not accredit the entire Plymouth and Wilkes-Barre Hanover (levees) reach," Belleman said. "But, we think we have a path forward."

Working on a solution

"The Army Corps has revised how they evaluate flood protection systems, using a new engineering directive. It's a risk-based evaluation, and freeboard is not a significant part of this evaluation. So we feel if we go through this process -- and the Corps feels the same way -- we feel very strongly that we can accredit both ... levees," Belleman said.

Sometime this spring, FEMA will come out with new Flood Insurance Rate Maps, but the communities behind the levees will retain the current risk designation, he said.

"Essentially, FEMA is calling off the dogs on those areas while we go through this evaluation process, which could take up to two years and cost as much as a half-million dollars," Belleman said, adding that there is a 25% to 50% cost share for which the authority would be responsible.

Belleman said he would seek grants to cover the costs.

Despite the seemingly high costs, Belleman said the work to get the levees accredited won't be the physical type, such as raising portions of the levee or clearing sediment or vegetation from the river.

"It's going to be calculations -- a lot of risk-based, pretty technical stuff," Belleman said. "It's just using existing data, just doing a different type of analysis on the system."

Contact the writer:

[email protected]

570-821-2110, @MocarskyCV

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