Idaho County residents run afoul of federal flood insurance regulations

Nov. 27--GRANGEVILLE -- The Idaho County commissioners plan to contact 18 or 19 rural residents who appear to be out of compliance with federal regulations governing flood damage prevention.

Because of a previous agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides the national flood insurance program, the commissioners could not discuss the matter publicly during their regular meeting Tuesday or identify the residents involved outside of executive session. Property owners who have flood insurance policies under the federal program will be contacted by letter and asked whether they want to talk with the commissioners over the phone, in a private meeting or, if they choose to waive their confidentiality, in a group meeting in January.

The commission was notified by FEMA earlier this year about 21 property owners who, the agency said, are not in compliance with federal flood insurance guidelines. All but three of those property owners live outside city limits and are subject to a county ordinance that allows them to buy federal flood insurance, but compels them to be in compliance with federal regulations.

In a news release, the commissioners said they are required by FEMA to force compliance by charging the property owners as much as $200 a day until compliance is met. In response, the commissioners have said they are considering repealing the 1997 ordinance allowing federal flood insurance policies.

"This consideration is being given in an effort to minimize the impact of sanctions imposed by FEMA on the citizens of Idaho County," the commissioners said in the news release.

In a county that prides itself on not having building permits, the federal flood insurance guidelines are among the few ordinances rural residents are required to meet. The county's 1997 flood insurance ordinance established a permitting system for new developments or property improvements and regulates building construction to help minimize potential damage from flooding.

The ordinance was passed a year after public and private property in the county suffered significant damage because of flooding.

According to National Weather Service history records, a bitterly cold winter in 1995-96 blanketed the Pacific Northwest in snow. Suddenly in February, warm winds drove temperatures as high as the 50s. Rivers swelled and triggered floods that washed out roads, highways and bridges, resulting in mudslides, destroyed homes and businesses, and contaminated drinking water.

The five counties of north central Idaho were declared disaster areas and damages were estimated at more than $30 million around the region. Several homes and businesses were heavily damaged by the floods and many were destroyed.

In the wake of that event, then-Idaho County commissioners passed the county ordinance that allowed property owners to obtain federal flood insurance. But the current commissioners have said the mapping and addressing of some of the residents now considered noncompliant with federal rules is out-of-date or inaccurate. They also said complying with the federal regulations would require some structures to be torn down or elevated, which would be expensive and unrealistic.

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.

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