OFFICIAL: CITIES MUST PLAN FOR FLOOD DISASTERS

Dick Gaffney, chief of flood plan management for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, knows how important it is for cities to plan for flood disasters.

Gaffney was in Cape Girardeau Wednesday to help conduct a workshop on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides federally funded flood insurance to cities and other governmental units.

The 30 people who attended the workshop at the Port Cape Girardeau restaurant included local NFIP administrators from Bootheel-area cities and counties, officials from lending institutions and representatives of an engineering firm.

Gaffney stressed the importance of community flood-disaster preparation by contrasting the Missouri cities of Times Beach and Blue Springs.

Times Beach, which wasn't covered by NFIP, was indirectly destroyed by a 1982 flood that forced the city to disincorporate after the flood decimated property values and the city's tax base.

"Times Beach didn't take flood disaster prevention seriously, and the city was literally flooded out of existence," Gaffney said.

But Blue Springs, which also suffered a devastating flood in 1982, endured the disaster thank in large part to $8.5 million paid in flood-insurance payments to its residents, he said.

Gaffney said NFIP is crucial to "flood-prone" states like Missouri. He said more than 500 Missouri communities are in the program but another 98 identified as having flood-hazard areas still aren't covered by the federal insurance program.

"Missouri is one of the top 10 states in the nation for floods," Gaffney said. "About five-sixths of the areas we're most concerned about are covered. So NFIP has been good to Missourians.

"There have been a lot of claims and a lot of payments."

In order to insure property against floods, the land must be within a community that participates in NFIP, Gaffney said. To qualify, a community adopts and enforces a flood-plain management law to regulate development in flood-hazard areas.

He said that when local governments join NFIP, flood insurance is made available for all properties in their jurisdiction, not just the flood-hazard areas.

"That's important because 40 percent of all flood insurance claims are paid outside the flood area," Gaffney said. "Making flood insurance available becomes very valuable."

Nationwide, more than 2.2 million policies are in effect through NFIP and, since 1978, 350,000 insurance losses totalling $3.5 billion have been paid. Nearly 18,000 U.S. communities participate in the program.

"We're trying to use both sides of the coin," Gaffney said. "We're not just concerned about the structures to keep water away from people, but we also want to keep people away from water."

Gaffney said that by regulating development in flood-hazard areas, as required by NFIP, cities can avoid the worst effects of a flood.

He said that cities that don't participate in NFIP also aren't eligible for federal flood disaster assistance and loans.

"Flood insurance is the carrot hanging from the end of a stick," he said. "If you don't eat that carrot, you get beat with the stick."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) establishes the regulations and requirements for NFIP. Gaffney said participating cities are required to adopt either FEMA's regulations or ones as stringent.

"FEMA expects the same thing from small or large communities whether they're in a flood-hazard area or a minimum-hazard area," he said.

In addition to a flood-plain management law, FEMA also requires cities to establish an appeals process to deal with requests for variances. Although Gaffney said some variances from flood-plain regulations are justified, they should be considered carefully.

Another requirement of the program is that a penalty provision be set up. "You have to have enforcement teeth of some kind," he said.

The Federal Flood Insurance Act, adopted in 1968, also gives flood-insurance responsibilities to groups other than local NFIP administrators.

Gaffney said financial institutions are free to determine whether flood insurance is required before lending money for property in flood-prone areas. Also, insurance agents base their premium rates on the property's flood susceptibility.

Gaffney said the NFIP workshops are conducted across the state to update member cities on new regulations and requirements and to familiarize new administrators with the program.