Floods are a fact of life. Recently, the massive damage caused by Storms Helene and Milton made this even more apparent. It’s important to remember when looking at a stream peacefully flowing within its channel that at high flows, the stream occupies the land adjacent to the channel called the “floodplain.”
Historically, small communities in our region have been situated on or near large floodplains, sometimes at stream confluences. Our challenge now is to manage and reduce the risk of flooding and erosion to communities. One way to approach this is to maintain the ability of streams to move water, sediment, and debris through populated areas while using the natural capacity of floodplains to store water and reduce hazards elsewhere in the stream system. Water flows onto the floodplain during a high-water event.
Flood Insurance
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) offers flood insurance to homeowners, renters, and business owners. Participation in the NFIP is based on an agreement between communities and the Federal government. Through the NFIP, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides maps of hazardous areas and provides federally backed flood insurance. In return, communities agree to enact and enforce floodplain regulations intended to minimize the threats to life and property. Many communities in the State of Alabama and the Southeast Region participate in the NFIP.
Flood Mitigation Funding Programs
In response to the destruction caused by Tropical Storms and Hurricanes, various levels of government (federal, state and local) have allocated money to grant programs to help with recovery and revitalization.
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides grants to states and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration. The purpose of the HMGP is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster. The HMGP is authorized under Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
Funding Available: Varies by disaster declaration.
Eligibility: State and local governments.
Match Required: 25% local share
Administered by: Federal Emergency Management Agency and Alabama Emergency Management Agency
Website: http://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program
Flood Hazard Maps
The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 directed the federal government to identify all flood prone areas within the United States and establish risk zones within those areas. In response, FEMA created maps depicting areas modeled to have a higher risk of flooding. (Areas not in mapped zones can still flood!) The maps are called Flood Insurance Rate Maps, although most people simply know them as FIRMs.
The FIRMs depict areas subject to additional regulations because of the flood hazards, or the “regulated floodplain.” As part of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the federal government provides FIRMs and flood insurance to communities that agree to regulate development in high-risk flood areas. FIRMs form the basis for federally back flood insurance rates.
Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)
FIRMs can be viewed on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. The FIRMs are available as pdfs for download. (These are large files and may take some time to download.)
Where We Make An Impact
GeoCiv assists communities and property owners with the entire range of Floodplain management from engineering analysis to the FEMA Community Rating System (CRS). Our Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) will aid you in implementation of actions to reduce flood risks, for example avoiding future development in areas subject to repetitive flood damages; flood proofing and elevating structures to reduce damages where existing infrastructure is at risk; developing early warning systems, flood response plans, and community flood mitigation plans.
Learn more about GeoCiv Floodplain Management Services