Flooding in Martinsville: FEMA presents initial flood risk data to city officials

MARTINSVILLE — The city of Martinsville held a meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials to review the city's preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map and Flood Insurance Study report.

The meeting also covered a comprehensive analysis of Zone AE flood zones for the West Fork White River located near the Martinsville Levee.

AE flood zones apply to geographic areas that are vulnerable to experiencing inundation by the one-percent-annual-chance flood. AE Zones are considered a higher risk special flood hazard area.

The primary purpose of the meeting was to review the updated flood risk data associated with the county and city, and to outline the subsequent steps in the map adoption procedure. Flood plain management was also discussed as part of the process of updating local ordinances to reflect any revised map adoptions to adhere to the regulatory structure of the National Flood Insurance Program.

If the city opts to participate in the National Flood Insurance Plan, it must also integrate newly updated flood risk data into its local flood protection regulations. This step must be completed by the time the new Flood Insurance Rate Map goes into effect.

Martinsville city officials, including Mayor Kenny Costin and County Commissioner Don Adams, engaged in discussions with FEMA during the meeting to learn more about the maps and the appeals and comments process that will begin in January of 2023. Officials from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources also attended the meeting.

Gary Oakes, director of planning and engineering, said 479 structures are included in the preliminary mapping area.

FEMA Senior Engineer Ken Hinterlong explained why the majority of the structures in the mapped flood zones do not currently have flood insurance.

"Many of these structures do not have insurance because they're not required to. The first indication they will receive from a lender is a letter which asks them to either purchase a policy or the lender will purchase it on their behalf at a higher cost," Hinterlong said.

Insurance options for property owners were also discussed. A discount is available for property owners due to the fact that the designated structures are in the process of being newly mapped.

In order to utilize the newly mapped discount, flood insurance must be purchased within 12 months of the effective date of the new map. The discount provides 70% off of the first $35,000 of building coverage. The rate will undergo a 15% glide path every year until the actuarial rate is reached.

Property owners will have numerous opportunities to learn more about insurance possibilities during the two open house meetings that are set to take place next month. It is also recommended that they contact their insurance agents to get a flood insurance quote.

For property owners already participating in the National Flood Insurance Program who have an active flood insurance policy, their full premiums will not exceed an 18% increase each year.

Project timeline

A virtual open house is scheduled on Monday, Sept. 12 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. This will offer property owners the opportunity to participate in digital map viewing and a one-on-one Q&A session with FEMA experts.

It was decided during the meeting that the original date proposed for the in-person open house would need to be rescheduled. The date, time and venue will be confirmed in the near future.

The open houses are intended to provide property owners with multiple chances to ask any questions they may have concerning map changes and insurance options. Input from those in attendance will be collected as well. It will also provide a platform for local officials and experts involved in the mapping process to deliver important information.

Once both of these open houses take place, the 90-day appeal period will go into effect. This is projected to start in January and conclude in April 2023.

Property owners and anyone else who might be interested in submitting comments or appeals are encouraged by FEMA to send these directly to city officials. FEMA will then review all comments and appeals after the appeals process wraps up in April.

Before the 90-day appeals period starts, each affected community will receive an appeal letter from FEMA.

"All appeals or comments will be reviewed or responded to before FEMA finalizes the products and issues a letter of final determination or a LFD. The LFD for this project is projected to occur in the fall of 2023," Ben Schattschneider, project manager, said. "The LFD date starts the six-month compliance period during which the state will be working with the communities to adopt the maps. The effective date comes at the end of the six-month compliance period, which is projected to occur in the spring of 2024."

The preliminary maps will not become effective until six months after the LFD date, which has yet to be determined so far.

"Once you go LFD, basically a community has six months prior to the effective date to update their floodplain ordinance. I know the communities in Morgan County have adopted ordinances that have the as amended language in it that would normally cover these updates but we have a new model ordinance," Darren Pearson, state NFIP coordinator, said. "So when we get to the point where communities need to update their ordinances, we're going to be asking the county and the city to update their ordinance to the new model standards and we'll incorporate whatever needs to be in there at that point in time."

FEMA & Martinsville

Hinterlong spent a portion of the meeting providing background on the partnership between FEMA and Martinsville, which stretches back more than a decade.

FEMA initially provided a Provisionally Accredited Levee (PAL) to Martinsville for its flood mapping on August 26, 2009. FEMA designates levee systems as PALs when the agency has previously recognized these areas for providing base flood hazard reduction on an effective Flood Insurance Rate Map. In these instances, FEMA is often waiting to receive additional data illustrating that the levee system in question is compliant with minimum National Flood Insurance Plan requirements.

Martinsville's PAL designation expired on Aug. 5, 2011.

"It actually was established under a non-binding agreement. It was signed in 2009 and carried a 24-month option for you to give us data," Hinterlong said. "In 2011, when it became apparent that you could not give us that data, we began additional discussions about what potentially we could do together to show risk and to bring about a modern hydraulic model that can be used to evaluate your options."

Hinterlong went on to reveal that FEMA started developing a Levee Analysis and Mapping Procedure in 2014 to explore more options for designated areas that had not received full accreditation status.

Between 2016 and 2021, FEMA funded a physical map revision as part of its process to complete an analysis of levee risks and to update flood maps for the county. This featured a more up-to-date analysis of the West Fork White River and Natural Valley analysis for Martinsville's levee.

More recently, FEMA provided Martinsville with its preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map and Flood Insurance Study three months ago on May 13.

Flooding in Martinsville

Martinsville is certainly no stranger to flooding. In 2008, the south side of the city became inundated with flooding, heavily damaging homes, businesses and a school in the process.

Southern Martinsville has developed a reputation for being especially vulnerable to flooding. Sartor Ditch and Hilldale-Cemetery Ditch are commonly used in the area to drain excess stormwater and divert it away from the city. Water from both ditches travels into Indian Creek before eventually winding its way into the White River. Sometimes, the water levels in the river become too high, preventing water from Indian Creek from flowing into it. This has led to flooding when combined with heavy rainfall.

Important resources

Morgan County's preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map and Flood Insurance Study report can be viewed online here.

Property owners are encouraged to visit FEMA's map viewer online to view the preliminary maps to get up to date on all the changes that have been applied since the previous Flood Insurance Rate Map.