Some homeowners may soon need Flood Insurance

Jan. 27--Some homeowners in Appanoose County may soon be needing to add flood insurance. This comes as, for the first time, all areas of the county will be mapped based on flood risk.

The exact number of homes that will have to buy flood insurance is not directly known. There are a little more than 100 addresses that fall within newly defined flood zones in Appanoose County.

Homes with mortgages that fall within a flood zone will be required to purchase flood insurance once the new mapping goes into effect on Feb. 16. Homes without mortgages are suggested to buy insurance, still, but aren't required. Any other homeowners in the county will be eligible to buy flood insurance if they desire.

Affected homeowners living in the new flood zones should receive a letter by March from the county making them aware their property is within the flood zone.

Preliminary flood maps are also available at http://bit.ly/IowaFloodMaps. Maps are also available at the Appanoose County Secondary Roads office.

Appanoose County Engineer Matt Haden has been appointed the floodplain administrator for the county. Residents with questions can also reach out to him at Secondary Roads by calling 641-856-6193.

Why is this happening?

In 2008, 85 of Iowa's 99 counties received disaster declaration after a wide-spread flooding event. Sometimes referred to as "Iowa's Katrina," it goes down as one of the costliest disasters ever for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA spent some $6 billion on that disaster in Iowa. Many homes were destroyed in those floods.

At the time, much of Iowa was not on a floodplain map. Only larger towns and cities were typically mapped, many with less accurate topography maps. Thus, many Iowans did not have access to flood insurance.

To try and lessen FEMA's burden during flooding disasters, a new effort was launched for a long-term, grant-funded project to design and implement flood maps.

"This is something that's come down from the federal government as a way to control risk during natural disasters," Haden said. "This is not a choice [for the county]."

So, the project was started at the federal level and overseen by the state level. Once the maps are created for a county, their implementation is all but required. If a county does not approve and implement the maps, they most notable lose out on FEMA funding for natural disasters.

The consequences of losing that funding would be, at best, nearly catastrophic. Appanoose County averages a federal disaster roughly every other year.

From the 2008 disaster alone, which in large part began the flood mapping effort in the state, Appanoose County received more than $1 million in federal funding.

Replacing just a bridge damaged from flooding could quickly exceed $200,000 into the half-million-dollar range. That doesn't include scenarios that might wipe out several bridges, nor does it account for other damages to gravel, pavement or other infrastructure.

For perspective, the secondary roads budget for the current fiscal year is around $3.5 million -- the 2008 disaster amount alone would amount to almost one-third of this budget.

"Some of these bridges that we are looking at replacing at $900,000 apiece," Haden said. "Imagine if you had two or three of those taken out in a flood, which has happened before, and you had no FEMA dollars to back you up. We'd be closing roads. So, it's not a choice for us."

All of the money to fund the project came from federal grants. The project was overseen by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

WHO CAN BUY FLOOD INSURANCE?

Residents of Centerville, Moravia, Mystic and Unionville were already able to buy flood insurance. Those communities already had some type of flood maps in place, though using the less-detailed topography maps.

Those towns were updated with more specific topography, so the floodplains in those towns have been updated a bit. Thus, requirements may change from previous requirements once the new maps take effect. Costs of that insurance might, too.

All other areas of the county will become eligible once the new maps go into effect in February, and the county passes ordinances to implement them.

SO, IT'S REQUIRED?

Anyone living in a flood zone, that has a mortgage, will be likely required to purchase it. Anyone in a flood zone that owns their property, doesn't have to, necessarily. But, they will be on the hook for damages sustained in the flood.

Federal law does require properties in a high-risk area to buy flood insurance whether they own the home or not. According to FEMA, one-in-four flood claims come from moderate or low-risk areas.

Disagree with what the flood maps say? There are avenues to take in that situation, but it will take some proof. And building that proof would be paid for by the homeowner.

WHERE ARE THE FLOOD AREAS?

The newly mapped flood zones almost exclusively fall in rural areas of the county, near creeks, rivers and lakes.

In Centerville, the flood-prone areas mostly circle around city limits. Some homes in the Golfview subdivision, for example, don't fall within the flood areas, but they are very close to them.

Mystic, a place quite familiar with the 2008 flooding event, has a significant portion of its south side included in the flood zone.

Honey Creek Resort is located within feet of a flood zone. A couple of the cabins there are in the flood zone.

In short, if a home is near a creek, Rathbun Lake or Sundown Lake, it's potentially in or rather near the new flood zones. And it might be a good idea -- or required -- to purchase flood insurance.

The maps are calculated using hydrology tendencies for the area, hydrology not always being an exact science.

There are two types of flood zones marked on maps. One representing so-called 100-year and 500-year storms.

In the case of a 100-year flood, there'd be a 1 percent chance of them happening during any given year. Though that's not necessarily how it's worked out.

"If you actually looked at statistics, this flood would happen about every 25 years," Haden said.

Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Daily Iowegian and can be reached at kocker@dailyiowegian.com or by calling (641) 856-6336. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker

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