Flood zone information key for residents | Write for Arkansas

DeWitt, Ark. ? Are you in a flood zone?

It?s a question that Arkansas County Judge Glenn ?Sonny? Cox says many Arkansas County homeowners may not be able to answer, but they should. Flood zones show the severity of an area?s 1 percent chance of flooding in a 100-year period. According to the National Flood Insurance Program?s floodsmart.gov, ?everyone lives in a flood zone ?it?s just a question of whether you live in a low, moderate or high risk area.?

For Arkansas County, Cox said this question is most likely a yes. The county?s land is surrounded by bayous and rivers making it a flood plain, or land susceptible to floodwaters from any source.

?We?ve had four years of record flooding,? Cox said. ?So we?ve had people flooded four years in a row and it was only a 1 percent chance in 100 years.?

Cox said it?s also necessary for residents to learn whether they live in a flood zone since it will be a large factor when they go to build on a property or to purchase, refinance or mortgage property. Residents should contact their flood plain administrator ? Cox for county residents and typically the mayor for the county?s incorporated towns ? to find out if their property is in a flood plain. If it is, Cox said residents will have to take further steps, such as finding out the property?s Base Flood Elevation (BFE).

Cox said the BFE, or the difference between sea level and the ground level a house is built upon, helps determine how deep the water will get if it floods. There are 988.77 square miles in Arkansas County and only the City of Stuttgart has an established BFE that was completed in 1998 and redone in March 2009.

?Every city and county has an ordinance passed that says houses must be built 2 feet above the BFE,? Cox said. ?So, if it?s 198.6 feet than you need to build at a minimum 200.6 feet.?

The ordinance, established in 1977 and redone in 1989, grandfathered in older homes.

He added that raising buildings to the proper heights is important because ?we had water get to places we?ve never seen before since the 1920s? during the Spring 2011 flooding. An established BFE may also be used to certify that a pocket of land in a floodplain is high enough to be declared out of it ? meaning the landowner would not have to purchase flood insurance. The certified engineer/surveyor that completes the BFE will typically handle the paperwork and forms needed to prove this, Cox said.

It?s stressful to deal with, but Ruby Allen, the county?s deputy plain administrator, said knowing a property?s flood zone status and BFE will help residents know whether they need flood insurance, which isn?t cheap. Cox said 95 percent of Arkansas County residents have home insurance. However, he said most of these policies do not cover natural- caused flooding. Typically, these policies only address man-made flooding, such as busted pipes. ?Until (residents) make a change, they never know,? Allen said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said federal disaster assistance also doesn?t always pay for flood damages and, if it does, most assistance is in the form of loans that must be repaid with interest. Flood insurance is only offered through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which allows residents in participating communities to purchase the insurance while also requiring local and state governments to enforce flood plain management ordinances to reduce future flood damages. Arkansas County and it?s six incorporated cities all participate.

Only 21,283 of 1.3 million Arkansas households have purchased NFIP flood insurance policies. According to FEMA in early March, its only 2 percent of households when the state has received 15 major disaster declarations involving flooding in the past 12 years. The average flood plain policy was around $600 a year in 2010, while the average total paid claim over the last five years was $34,000.

?Many people assume that their homeowners? insurance covers floods, but it usually doesn?t,? FEMA Region 6 Regional Administrator Tony Russell said in March. ?Others think that if they don?t live in a flood zone than they don?t have to buy flood insurance or simply can?t because it?s not offered; both assumptions are incorrect.?

According to FEMA, anyone in a NFIP-participating community can purchase flood insurance including business owners and business and residential renters.

With four past years of record flooding, Cox said it?s information that all county residents should take into account while answering the simple question: Do you live in a flood zone?

Tagged as: Arkansas County, FEMA, flood zone

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