1985-09-16 Public Hearing and Special Meeting

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".. ( c l' " e e detailed map called a Flood Insurance Rate Map which shows flood elevations and risk zones used for insurance purposes. 5. Q. How does a community qualify for the National Flood Insurance Program? (6) A. A community may apply for the Emergency Program by adopting preliminary flood plain management measures. After FEMA completes a detailed on-site survey to determine flood levels, the community can qualify for the Regular Program by adopting and administering more comprehensive flood plain construction measures. 6. Q. When should a community already enrolled in the Emergency Program upgrade its local building standards to qualify for the Regular Program? (30) A. No later than the effective date of the Flood Insurance Rate Map - usually six months from the date FEMA gives a community final notice of base flood elevations. 'These flood elevations, as explained in No.4, are derived from FEMA's on-site field survey for an area, published twice as proposed findings in a local newspaper, and shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map. The community ;s kept informed of the study and its results through meetings with FEMA representatives, newspaper notices, and letters to local officials. (Before any of the Program's prohibitions become final, however, the community has an opportunity to appeal FEMA's determinations.) 7. Q. What happens if a community does not upgrade its flood plain management measures to qualify for the Regular Program by the recommended date? (31) A. The community will be suspended from the Program. This means that flood insurance can no longer be purchased in the community. Also, the lending restrictions (listed below), including the denial of disaster relief in most circumstances, would apply for as long as the community remained out of the Program. Lending Restrictions Federal agencies may not approve grant money, mortgage backing (FHA mortgage insurance, VA mortgage guarantees, etc.), direct loans, disaster relief in most circumstances, or any other taxpayer funds to support the purchase, construction, or improvement of property located in the community's identified flood-prone areas. This ban, which applies only in the commu- nity's flood-hazard areas, would remain in effect for as long as the commu- nity chooses not to participate in the Program. The law prohibits Federal benefits for buildings in flood-prone areas of communities that will not require reasonable construction practices to address known flood risks. To do otherwise would be a poor investment of taxpayers' money since floods inevitably will occur.