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<br />
<br />Mitigation Success: Beaufort County - Protecting Homes by Elevation
<br />The Town of Belhaven (population 2,100)
<br />and the City of Washington (population
<br />9,300), were settled in the late eighteenth
<br />century in the floodplains of the Pamlico
<br />Sound in Beaufort County. The rural
<br />economy is based on agriculture, light
<br />manufacturing, and retail trade, Over the
<br />past 20 years, the growth of coastal
<br />Beaufof[ Count): and other coastal counties as recreational and retirement centers
<br />has had a negligible impact on the population and growth of Washington and
<br />Belhaven, where per capita incomes fall well below the state average,33
<br />
<br />
<br />Flooding has helped shape the history of these twO communities, During the past
<br />70 y/ears, moderate and severe events have occurred on 12 occasions. Eighty
<br />percent of the City of Washington is located in the mapped Aoodplain, while almost
<br />90 percent of Belhaven is Aood'prone,
<br />
<br />Although Belhaven is 70 miles inland from the coast, it has been Aooded by hurti-
<br />cane and tropical storm surges and rains on four occasions since t 996, On July 12
<br />and 13, 1996, Hurricane Bertha drove a SA-foot surge through Belhaven, Only two
<br />months later, Hurricane Fran spawned 6,8,foot floodwaters, damaging 60 percent
<br />of the town's homes. Subsequently, Tropical Storm Josephine created a 3,5,foot
<br />surge on October 10, 1996, flooding about 40 percent of the homes that were
<br />damaged during Fran, Finally, on August 27 and 28, 1998, Humcane Bonnie
<br />caused additional flooding in Belhaven and Washington, wilh storm surges reaching
<br />six feet above the base Aood elevation (BFE),
<br />
<br />Elevation Versus Acquisition oj Damaged Homes, Following Hurricane Fran, a
<br />central question surfaced: 00 rhese commUnities, with assistanceJrom the state and
<br />FE/vIA, acquire and relocate thej1ood'prone structures, or elevate them above the BFE?
<br />Acquisition reduces or even eliminates the risk of future flooding, Because a
<br />substantial number of the Belhaven homes would be removed well beyond (Own
<br />limits, anention quickly focused on elevation-in-place, Similar conditions existed in
<br />the City of Washington, and similar sentiments prevailed, As one official reasons:
<br />"The acquisition option was not seriously debated, since It would mean that
<br />we would have to move at least half the town.., which would cause major
<br />disruption. Relocation was not considered as a realistic alternative because
<br />oj the distances involved,"
<br />- Nat Van l\ortwick, Belhaven Code Enforcement Officer,
<br />March 6, 1999
<br />
<br />Home Elevations: The Process. Elevation-in-place involves raising an entire
<br />existing structure so that the lowest habitable floor is above the BFE, commonly
<br />known as the 100-year flood elevation, The steps required (0 elevate a building are
<br />essentially the same in all cases,"' A cradle of steel beams is inserted underneath
<br />(0 allow hydraulic jacks to raise the structure above the desired height, a new
<br />
<br />Part Two: Mitigation Success Stories
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