Richwood Advisory Council Issues Public Comment on FEMA Notice

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 -- Kevin McKinney, board chairman of the Richwood Advisory Council, Texas, has issued a public comment on the Federal Emergency Management Agency notice entitled "Request for Information on the National Flood Insurance Program's Floodplain Management Standards for Land Management and Use, and an Assessment of the Program's Impact on Threatened and Endangered Species and Their Habitats". The comment was posted on Nov. 15, 2021:

* * *

My name is Kevin McKinney, and I am the Chairman of the Board for the Richwood Advisory Council in Richwood, TX. We are a group of 480 families that were flooded 4 days after Hurricane Harvey had left our area. The City of Lake Jackson, and Velasco Drainage District, diverted over (27) twenty seven billion gallons of water into our neighborhoods. They sandbagged, pumped, and flooded our homes. All of us in these neighborhoods lost everything we had in this disaster. We continue to be in litigation because of these damages. We ask for your help with the following.

Thank you,

Kevin McKinney

In response to questions posed in the FEMA RFI, we ask that you:

* Question # 7: "increase resilience to flooding"

Prohibit all construction within the 100-year floodplain and prohibit the use of fill in the 500-year floodplain. This would cause major flooding in the communities that have already been affected by previous flooding.

* Question # 9- "enforcement"

Improve monitoring, tracking, and public disclosure of community compliance with NFIP requirements. Find ways to help communities comply. Keep municipalities and drainage districts accountable for their actions.

* Question # 11 - "disclosure"

Ensure that new home owners can find out about flood risks by requiring states to pass disclosure laws.

* Question 12 - "accounting for climate change"

Ensure that FEMA flood maps, modeling and calculations take account of climate change. Take account of future development and land use change when creating and updating maps. Continue to update annually LIDAR Data in high flood prone communities and share the data with municipalities and drainage districts for future planning for our communities.

* * *

The notice can be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/document/FEMA-2021-0024-0001

TARGETED NEWS SERVICE (founded 2004) features non-partisan 'edited journalism' news briefs and information for news organizations, public policy groups and individuals; as well as 'gathered' public policy information, including news releases, reports, speeches. For more information contact MYRON STRUCK, editor, editor@targetednews.com, Springfield, Virginia; 703/304-1897; https://targetednews.com