FLOOD05030 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

5. Fa~ilitate the administration of flood hazard areas by establishing requirements that must be met before use or development is permitted. The Board's model flood plain regulations offer two options for management of the 100-year flood plain. These are the Hazard Area Concept and the Floodway Concept. The Hazard Area concept defines the areas of the flood plain in which waters of the lOO-year flood attain a maximum depth greater than one and one-half feet as a high hazard area and a depth less than this as a low hazard area. The Board recommends that no basements should be allowed for structures located within the low hazard area and all habitable living quarters (first floors) should be constructed a minimum of one foot above the lOO-year floodwater surface elevations. Development is prohibited in high hazard areas. The Floodway concept, used In this study, defines the channel of a stream and adjacent flood plain areas that must be kept free of development in order to safely pass the lOO-year flood with a minimal rise in the water surface elevation. The rise must be no more than one foot to meet Federal Insurance Administration standards. FlOOd Insurance The National FlOOd Insurance Act of 1968 (Title XIII of the Housing and Urban development Act. P,L. 90-448) recognized the necessity for flood plain management. This Act makes federally subsidized insurance available to citizens in communities th6t adopt regulations controlling future developments of their floodplain. In respect to encroachment on the flOOd plain, the regulations require: (I) New residential construction or substantial improvement of existing homes must have the lowest floor level above the elevation of the IOO-year flood, (2l Non-residential constructlon must lIlE'et the salllE' standard or be flo od ~roofed to that level. The 1968 Act benefits owners of structures already in the flood~prone areas by providing insurance coverage that had been unavailable through private companies. The Act created d cooperative program of insurance against flOOd damage by the private flood insurance industry and th e federal government. The amount of coverage available and the premium rate varies considerably depending on property location within the flood plain and the property value. All property owners shown in this study to be within areas subject to flooding should consider the purchase of flOOd insurance. -19- 20