FEMA maps raise flood of concerns

About 60 people gathered in the Calaveras High School library Wednesday night to voice their concerns and get their questions answered about new county flood maps.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently released updated flood maps for Calaveras County as part of a process started in 2001, when a state senate bill required the agency to make all its maps digital, according to Dan Pastizzo, the county’s flood plan coordinator.
  

The update, the first since 1990, was based on U.S. Geological Survey maps and engineering judgments, but also added more than 700 river miles of “awareness flood areas” compiled separately by the California State Department of Water Resources, said Pastizzo, who is also a planner III.

That change has drawn a number of homeowners’ attention, as those in flood zones must buy insurance if their mortgages are backed by the federal government.

Attendees were able to mark up printed copies of the maps with their arguments against their properties inclusion and ask questions of Kathy Schaefer, FEMA engineer with the National Flood Insurance Program.

  Perry Beesinger, 53, who lives outside Burson, expressed a concern voiced by many at the meeting. His 5-acre parcel has a stream at the bottom and a house at the top.

It is impossible for enough water to collect to flood his house, yet his property is considered to be in a flood plain, he said. He wondered if he would be required to buy insurance.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t worry,” Schaefer said. “If your home is out, you’re good. Don’t worry.”

Homeowners in Beesinger’s situation, if asked by their lender to buy insurance, generally need only to prove their house is not on the flood plain and the bottom floor is at least two feet above the risk area, she said.

However, those who are definitely in a danger zone should buy before the map goes into effect on Sept. 30, 2010.

“If your home is in a high-hazard zone, then you’ll probably want to purchase flood insurance the day before the maps go into effect,” she said.

For those currently in a lower-risk flood zone today, insurance can be bought and grandfathered in at $400 year, said Schaefer.

But should the homeowner wait until after the new maps go into effect, and their property is due to become a high-risk zone, the premium will rise to as much as $1,800 a year, she said.

In the worst case, those who ignore the notice from their lender could face a rate set by their bank, according to Schaefer, who said she’s seen rates up to $3,000 a year.

Those without a loan, however, need to make their own decision. “If you don’t have a mortgage and you choose not to buy insurance, it’s on you,” Schaefer said.

“In other words, you’re not going to jail or anything like that?” asked Pam Taylor, 63, of San Andreas, to audience laughter.

“No,” said Schaefer.

In response to another question, Schaefer said homes not included in the current flood map wouldn’t be added to the September version.

Notice will be sent to the county Board of Supervisors and to the Angels Camp City Council before April that the maps will go into effect in six months, and the public will have another opportunity to review them before they go into effect in September, she said.

Mike Fortado, 60, a San Andreas resident, expressed another concern. In his opinion, the flood risk on his property is due to a three-foot culvert put in by the county under a large block of concrete.

“As far as I’m concerned, if I flood it’s going to be because the county built a dam,” he said.

One advantage of the map, responded Schaefer, is that the county can use it to pursue grants and other funds to increase the size of culverts and perform other flood counter measures.

Darcy Zimmerman, 49, of Vallecito, appeared to benefit from the system. She said she has been paying about $1,000 a year for flood insurance due to her home’s position in a high-hazard zone, as has her neighbor. But the updated maps seem to exclude them.

“We’ve both been paying all this money for all these years,” she said. “It’d be really nice not to have to pay the full amount anymore.”

Schaefer said they should be able to get their rate adjusted, if they bring the data to their insurer.
 Virtually all requests from homeowners to be at least temporarily removed from the maps during the two Wednesday meetings will be honored, said Schaefer.    

However, additional engineering work will revise the maps once again to assure that those requests accord with the reality, she said.

FEMA promised to do $1 million worth of studies in Calaveras County in August 2008 in exchange for Board of Supervisors’ approval for including the state’s “awareness flood areas” in their map. The work will be completed over the next two years.

“If they’ve pulled the rug over our eyes, then two years from now we’ll have the mandate,” she said.