New FEMA maps place more than 200 homes in floodplain
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BY ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star
A bureaucratic tidal wave of sorts hit Waverly recently when the Federal Emergency Management Agency informed the city that new maps place 204 homes in a floodplain, or flood-prone area.
None of those homes was in the floodplain before, city officials say, and now homeowners face the prospect of buying expensive flood insurance.
“This caught us all kind of by surprise. No one expected something like this — this big of a change,” City Council member John Hestermann said.
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The city of Waverly will hold an informational meeting Tuesday to talk about the impact of new proposed FEMA floodplain maps on 204 homes and 26 business properties. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the VFW Hall at 138 Guildford St. City officials will have detailed maps and information available on flood insurance requirements.
FEMA maps
To view the new FEMA floodplain maps, go to: lancaster.ne.gov. Type the keyword "watershed" and then click on "November 2008 Proposed FEMA Floodplain Maps" in the right column.
Most of the impacted homes are in the northwest part of Waverly along the Ash Hollow Ditch. Twenty-six business properties also are affected but some had been in the floodplain before.
The Ash Hollow Ditch runs south of the town of Prairie Home, through Waverly and into Salt Creek. Longtime residents say flooding has occurred along the ditch in the past.
Hestermann said the floodplain changes do not mean homes and businesses will flood tomorrow and affected residents don’t have to rush out and buy flood insurance.
The new maps are only proposed changes to the flood plain and must be finalized by FEMA. Hestermann said the city and residents have 90 days to appeal once they receive an official letter from the federal agency.
Glenda Wood, the city’s zoning administrator/building inspector, already has sent a letter of her own, telling residents about the new maps and possible flood insurance requirements. She, too, was shocked by the extent of the floodplain revision.
Wood encouraged affected property owners to attend a Tuesday informational meeting. Meanwhile, city officials have hired a civil engineer with HWS Consulting Group Inc. to help gather information for possible appeals.
Property owners will need specific topographic maps or a certificate from a civil engineer to appeal any of the proposed changes, Wood said. Appeals have to be based on scientific, not anecdotal, information.
The new maps are the result of a nationwide floodplain remapping process undertaken by FEMA. The federal agency sent letters to counties and cities, asking them if they wanted to participate in a project to update their floodplain maps.
Ben Higgins, a senior engineer with the Lincoln Public Works and Utilities Department, said all of Lancaster County is being re-mapped with a $460,000 grant from FEMA.
A handful of watersheds in Lincoln already have been re-mapped: Salt Creek, Beal Slough, Southeast Upper Salt Creek, Cardwell Branch and Deadman's Run.
Higgins said the re-mapping done in Lincoln is separate from the Waverly re-mapping project. “We had nothing to do with changing those maps. It was done all through FEMA,” he said.
FEMA periodically updates floodplain maps. The last time it did so was in 2001 when the federal agency digitized topographic maps. The latest maps are the result of laser-mapping technology, which has a much higher degree of accuracy.
Higgins said the mapping process works both ways. In Lincoln’s case, more homes were taken out of the floodplain than were put in.
He noted that anyone in a flood plain who has a federally backed mortgage — and most mortgages are — will need to obtain flood insurance. Flood insurance typically costs $400 to $500 per year for $100,000 worth of coverage.
Said Hestermann about the proposed floodplain changes in Waverly: “It’s unfortunate. We’re still looking at what we can do … and the repercussions.”
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at (402) 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.
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But what can you do? We must use the best available information for floodplain designations, and we don't want the government to subsidize building in flood plains. My big objection was that the city had allowed developers to build in the previous floodplain by placing buildings above the natural lay of the land. Naturally, this just served to push any flood waters into other areas, so when the floodplain was remapped, it had to be enlarged. Any way you look at it, this was wrong. I hope that's not still allowed. "
And it amazes me to hear someone think flood insurance is cheap. In the
first place ALL houses are way over assessed and priced. Having been in
the insurance business 45 years, flood insurance ain't cheap. And what
they call flood plains around here amazes me. At $800.00 a year in ten
thats $8,000. But of course if your guaranteed a city or state job where
the citizens pay your salary, I suppose its peanuts. Or see what ya
think if your a woman with half the pay of a man trying to survive and
maybe with a couple kids, that maybe the man doesn't pay child support!
I've seen that kind of attitude of people with good jobs here in Lincoln,
nice college education and, think nothing of the high property taxes and
THEN one day they retire, have a few medical bills, already out of sight
property taxes getting higher and higher, medical bills going thru the
roof, food costs going thru the roof, and all of a sudden they cry help,
my fixed income is going down down down. Well yes they saved all they
could when they worked and paid $800.00 a year flood insurance, but now
the shoe is on the other foot. Frankly I think all of Lancaster County
is in a flood plain, greed plain, and oh (yawn) you name it plain!! One
thing with Nebraska, when it rains the mud gets like grease, whereas the
state I lived in the ground is more like a sponge. Not that greasey
slippery stuff I grew up with here!! "