Introduction
The practice of floodplain management known in the U.S. today began when members of Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program in 1968. The program calls for a cooperative effort among the federal government and local communities and citizens, so all can enjoy greater protection from flood loss.

FEMA is responsible for Risk Identification.  The floodplain maps and flood map studies are funded by flood insurance premiums and appropriations from Congress.  Individual communities elect to participate in the flood insurance program.  Each community must accept and adopt floodplain maps, then agree to control building in the floodplain through a permitting process.  In return, property owners in the community are eligible to purchase flood insurance.

Mitigation is the term used to identify steps taken to prevent the disaster damage from recurring.  After disasters, FEMA works with communities to institute programs to help them in recovery.  A prime part of the recovery mission is to avoid damage from similar events in the future.  Studies have shown that for every $1 spent on mitigation, $4 is saved.

In the almost 40 years since the enactment of the National Flood Insurance Program legislation, Louisiana has made significant progress in managing areas subject to flooding.  Most of the developed parishes and cities now have floodplain managers.  Many of them are Certified Floodplain Managers with significant training and experience in addressing flood issues.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development serves as the Louisiana State Hazard Mitigation Office.  FEMA pays for 75% of their budget while the state pays 25%.  Their role is to assist local floodplain managers in meeting flood program requirements.

The Louisiana chapter of the Association of State Floodplain Managers is one of the most active in the nation.  These dedicated professionals share their best practices with each other and address common issues.  As an association, they are a strong advocate for Louisiana floodplain issues.  As the people of Louisiana rebuild their homes and businesses, LaMP urges you to seek out floodplain managers and heed their advice.  Even though it may seem more expensive in the short term, building safely will reduce insurance cost and prevent the misery inflicted by a flood damaged home.  

Recovery

The Gulf Coast Louisiana Flood Data Recovery Project (LaMP) is funded through the Stafford Act.  The LaMP mission is to provide flood related data to communities so that they can make informed decisions about rebuilding for a safer future.

When the President of the United States declares a disaster, FEMA is charged with response to the disaster.  The primary mission is safety and shelter of the disaster victims.  After the needs of the initial response are met, FEMA shifts to the recovery mode.  Most of the federal programs dealing with recovery from natural disasters are authorized by the Stafford Act.   

Most Presidential Declarations are made due to flooding disasters.  If a community has Special Flood Hazard Areas identified, it MUST PARTICIPATE IN THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR MOST FEDERAL DISASTER FUNDS.  Participating NFIP Communities should carry flood insurance on buildings owned by the community.  Public buildings such as courthouses, offices and libraries must be insured for the risk of flooding.  If a public building is not insured, the amount for which flood insurance is available will be deducted from any federal assistance to restore the building.

Over $32 billion in flood claims has been paid to NFIP policy owners in Louisiana since the beginning of the program.  Since 1978, over $2.5 Billion in premiums has been paid into the NFIP from policy owners in Louisiana.  Unfortunately too many people in Louisiana have flooded while not owning an NFIP policy.  They are still dealing with finding funds for recovery.  Yet, almost all of the flood insurance claims from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita have been paid.

Flood insurance is the smart way to protect against the financial damage caused by flooding disasters.  To find out more about flood insurance go to http://www.floodsmart.gov.

Part of Map Mod, LaMP Supports Recovery

The Louisiana Mapping Project is closely related to certain other activities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, particularly nationwide map modernization and Louisiana hurricane recovery.

The modernization of Flood Insurance Rate Maps, sometimes called Map Mod, originated in the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994. Until then, the insurance program relied on maps that had been produced, printed and distributed with traditional paper methods. Congress first appropriated funds for Map Mod, a presidential initiative, in fiscal year 2003 and voted for additional support in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The goals of modernization include improving and updating the nation’s flood maps and making them available in an easy-to-share digital format.

Risk identification in connection with Map Mod was well under way in Louisiana before the 2005 hurricane season. Extensive data had already been collected using a recent technology called Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR).

Following the hurricanes, a variety of assistance is available to support recovery, much of which is provided through the Robert T. Stafford Act. Individual Assistance programs serve the post-disaster needs of individuals, families and businesses. Public Assistance includes grants to publicly owned facilities for emergency work, repair and restoration, and debris removal. Mitigation involves both pre-disaster and post-disaster grants to reduce long-term risks to life and property from repeated actual or technological disasters. The Stafford Act also provides funding for the Louisiana Mapping Project.

Permitting

Louisiana was one of the first states to adopt the National Flood Insurance Program rules required by Congress to make flood insurance available to state residents.    In turn, each community must also adopt program rules into their local codes so that flood insurance will be available.

Communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program must adopt rules into their local codes that require all new construction in floodplains to be at least as high as the base flood elevation, which is the level of a flood that has a one-percent chance of occurring in any year. The elevation shown on flood maps is considered to be a minimum.  Some Louisiana communities add a foot to the requirement on the map.

When the program first started, only new buildings had to meet the elevation requirement in the floodplain.  When a building is in the floodplain, an Elevation Certificate is used to determine the height of the building in relation to the required level.  For every foot above the minimum, rates for insurance are lower.  Already existing buildings in the floodplain were given a different rate because their elevation was unknown at the time of construction. These buildings are likely to be below the flood level.  The term Pre-FIRM is used to refer to construction before the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) went into effect for a community.  Buildings that were constructed after the flood levels were known are called Post FIRM.

This distinction between Pre-FIRM and Post FIRM becomes important after a flooding disaster because the community has agreed to another rule.  The NFIP requires that if a building constructed before the rate maps is flooded more than 50%, it must be elevated above the flood level on the current map.  The NFIP policy calls this substantial damage.  Local permit officials have the role of enforcing this rule.

If it is determined by the state or FEMA that the local community is NOT enforcing this rule there could be consequences.  The community could be placed on probation or dropped from the NFIP.  If the community is placed on probation, each policy has a penalty fee added to the cost of the policy.  If a community is suspended from the NFIP, then banks and mortgage companies with federal guarantees are not allowed to make loans in the community that are in the floodplain.

The rules also allow for a way to reward communities that go above and beyond the basic requirements.  The Community Rating System (CRS) provides premium discounts for policy owners living in progressive communities.  The discount can be as much as 45% of the premium.  Communities must ask for a CRS evaluation and then undergo an evaluation to learn what discount is available for them.

The new maps being made for the coastal Louisiana parishes will NOT affect the rules of already existing buildings.  They will however affect substantially damaged building requirements.  These structures may be required to be built even higher.  Flood insurance premiums will NOT be changed by the maps IF the policy existed before the new maps and is kept in continuous coverage.  This is known as grandfathering.

Mitigation

Mitigation is a term that means to make something less severe.  FEMA’s mission is to implement mitigation strategies to protect life and property and reduce long term risks from hazards like flooding. Typical federal mitigation actions involve supporting local governments in the identification of hazards and development of techniques to lessen these risks by supporting community-based actions.  One of the basic tools is the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) was created in November 1988, by Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The HMGP assists both States and local communities in implementing long-term mitigation measures following a major disaster declaration. In December 1993, President Clinton signed the Hazard Mitigation and Relocation Assistance Act to increase federal funding of HMGP projects to up to 75 percent of the project's eligible costs. States and communities provide the other 25 percent of the cost.  The objectives of the program are to: prevent future losses of lives and property due to disasters, implement State or local Hazard Mitigation Plans, enable mitigation measures to be implemented during immediate recovery from a disaster, and provide funding for previously identified mitigation measures to benefit any communities within the declared State.

FEMA also has an initiative called the Severe Repetitive Loss Program.  Structures insured by the NFIP that have had multiple claims paid are placed on a list for special attention.  Prior to Katrina/Rita, repetitive loss properties represented more than one-third of all NFIP losses and cost the program an average of $200 million a year. There are about 40,000 buildings across the country currently insured under the NFIP that have been flooded more than once and have received flood insurance claims payments of $1,000 or more for each loss. Over the past 21 years, FEMA has paid out nearly $1 billion in NFIP for these extreme cases.  Katrina advanced many Louisiana properties to the top of the list.

To address the repetitive loss issue, the Mitigation Division has initiated a Repetitive Loss Properties Strategy. This strategy's primary objective is to eliminate or reduce property damage caused by repeated flooding in the same areas. This strategy identifies a specific group of the nation's most repetitive loss properties and services this group separately from other NFIP policies through the Special Direct Facility (SDF). The SDF includes NFIP policies for properties that, since 1978, have experienced:

• four or more paid losses of $1,000 or more
• or two paid flood losses within a 10-year period that equals or exceeds the current value of the insured property
• or three or more paid losses that equal or exceed the current value of the insured property

FEMA's repetitive loss target group consists of the properties that are costliest to the NFIP and represents about $80 million per year in loss claims payments. To date, FEMA has transferred approximately 11,000 repetitive loss property policies to the SDF.  This will allow FEMA to closely monitor claims activity on these properties and to provide increased attention to these areas when mitigation decisions are made.

Surveying

Surveyors play an important role in the National Flood Insurance Program.  They provide the information and certification for both community permitting for new construction and rating of NFIP Post FIRM properties.  As the new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps become available, surveyors will be responsible for determining Base Flood Elevations and as-built elevations for newly included areas. 

The LaMP team has identified surveyors as one of our key stakeholder groups.  Surveyors will be participating in meetings LaMP will hold in 2007.  Surveyors should check this website for announcements of dates and times for the meetings. 

A community’s permit file must have an official record that shows new buildings and substantial improvements in all identified Special Flood Hazard Areas are properly elevated. This elevation information is needed to show compliance with the floodplain management ordinance. FEMA encourages communities to use the FEMA Elevation Certificate developed by FEMA to fulfill this requirement since it also can be used by the property owner to obtain flood insurance. Communities participating in the Community Rating System (CRS) are required to use the FEMA Elevation Certificate. Click here for more information on the Elevation Certificate.

Only a registered surveyor, architect or engineer can complete and sign an Elevation Certificate.  The surveyor uses information on the flood map to determine the proper Base Flood Elevation.  Then the level of the lowest floor of the building is measured and compared to the required elevation.  A difference in elevation either positive or negative is derived to indicate that the building is either above or below the required elevation.

In addition to the change to the new digital flood maps, surveyors also have new benchmarks to use in Louisiana.  As of January 1, 2007, new Elevation Certificates should show the new Vertical Datum NGVD88 2004.65 epoch.  Consumers, Agents, Lenders, Realtors and Community Officials should check to see that new Elevation Certificates reference NGVD88 2004.65 epoch.

Surveyors may use the following links to learn more about the new Vertical Datum.

Resources:
Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors
Army Corps  New Orleans District  Survey Section
Conversion tool
National Geodetic Survey