09-17-07 Meeting of Drainage and Flooding Committee

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YOUR COMMUNITY'S FLOOD - PLAIN management regulations probably have specific provisions for the repair or reconstruction of buildings that are damaged in a flood. Most communities use the National Flood Insurance Program standard. That is, if a building is "substantially damaged," (more than 50% of its pre flood market value), it can only be repaired or rebuilt to meet the same requirements applied to new construction in flood hazard areas. Because very few citizens likely will be aware of this restriction, you should immediately see to it that this information gets out, along with the fact that they will need a permit for repair and rebuilding. You should also be prepared to explain the community's rationale for having such measures and the long-term benefit that they confer on present and future owners of the property. agencies that have helped your community in the past can help provide answers to this and other questions. DEALING WITH THE EXPECTATIONS OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS After a flood, be prepared for an emotional citizenry who want something done immediately. The human tendency is to want to repair the damages and to restore conditions to the way they were before the flood. People will want to get on with their lives as soon as possible. They will want you to allow them to do what they want, restore community services, and provide public assistance for cleanup and recovery. They will probably demand that you do something to prevent this from happening again. After a flood, you have to balance a number of conflicting needs. • How do I support the people who want to restore their lives and businesses as rapidly as possible and yet not place people back in harm's way? • How do I restore community services quickly without putting them back in their at -risk, pre -flood condition and repeat our past mistakes? Perhaps the most contentious situa- tion you will face is that involving people who want to immediately repair or rebuild their flood -damaged homes or businesses. In many cases, public safety concerns will prevent people from re-entering the flooded area for several days. Even when repairs can begin, people may be surprised to learn about local permit requirements and ordinances that "restrict" what they can do. Or they may expect you to waive all such restrictions because of the disaster. One way to ensure that repair and rebuilding takes place carefully and in accord with your local regulations is to enact a temporary moratorium on issuing building permits for repairs or reconstruction after the flood. That way you and other officials buy valuable time to figure out what course of action the community needs to pre- vent a return to the status quo. The time required will be far shorter if your commu- nity has planned in advance for this situation. OBTAINING OUTSIDE AID Your community will probably need to supplement its own resources with outside aid in order to recover from a flood. In most cases, a community does not know exactly what type and amount it can obtain. However, page 22