“The largest geographic areas that are having map changes are Lolo Creek, LaValle and Butler Creek, and the Clark Fork downstream of Frenchtown,” Klietz said last week.
It isn't clear how many properties won't be in the floodplain anymore. Those landowners will end up saving some money in flood insurance, but the other 500-plus folks won't be so lucky. Klietz said people can see if their property sits within the newly designated floodplain by going to www.montanadfirm.com. They also may call Klietz at 258-4657, head to OPG at 435 Ryman St., or show up at a meeting this week.
The new maps already are raising questions from both citizens and local officials. Some Mullan Trails subdivision residents are frustrated the new maps still show they're in the floodplain. Missoula County is finishing a $5 million project to make sure Grant Creek doesn't swamp septics again, as it did in 1997. On paper, though, a flood still looks possible.
“We've been through 10 years of this on again, off again stuff, and we were told that we would be out of it when they spent this $4 million,” said Vern Sandberg, president of the Mullan Trails landowners association.
Recently, rain partly filled an overflow basin there meant to hold in floodwaters. Sandberg said people were concerned because they were told there'd be no standing water. Plus, they didn't want the pool to turn into “mosquito heaven.” But he said some residents feel like the construction has protected them.
“Everybody feels that other than having to buy flood insurance, it's not too bad a deal,” Sandberg said. “(But) nobody knows how high the water will get in a bad year. They can predict things, but they don't know.”
Flood insurance varies widely but Sandberg said he's heard estimates in that area of anywhere from $600 to $900 a year.
Some of those residents may be out of the floodplain once the work is complete. A map amendment is possible, and Missoula County is making its case to FEMA. At the same time, County Public Works director Greg Robertson said the reason some folks will likely remain in the floodplain despite the project's goal is that FEMA changed the rules after Hurricane Katrina.
In the past, FEMA considered some structures - such as roads, embankments or interstates - as offering a level of flood protection. But after the levies failed in New Orleans, Robertson said FEMA's answer was to ignore such structures - even though New Orleans is below sea level.
“Now, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, we have to consider those structures as if they do not exist. They must be physically removed from the model for mapping purposes,” Robertson said.
So some homes will remain in the floodplain although they're more protected. But Robertson has some concerns of his own about FEMA regulations and the way the agency applies them. For instance, do barrow ditches provide protection? Or not? Robertson said it appears to depend on the map.
“We're being held to a higher standard than the maps they're developing themselves,” he said.
Robertson said he plans to turn up at the meeting this week and state his case, and FEMA officials agreed that was a good idea. FEMA national flood insurance program specialist Marijo Brady said officials will take questions then - but won't be able to remove people from the floodplain. At such meetings, she said people mostly are concerned about their standing.
“Most folks want to find out if they're in - and if they're in, is there an opportunity to get out,” Brady said.
OPG's Klietz said people newly in the floodplain should consider buying flood insurance before the final maps are adopted. It's cheaper to buy when a property is technically out of the floodplain - and the good rates are grandfathered in.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at keila.szpaller@missoulian.com.
Information
The floodplain administrator at Missoula's Office of Planning and Grants sent over a bunch of information about being in the floodplain and getting flood insurance. Get that material online at MissoulaRedTape.com.
Map meeting
Officials will be in Missoula on Thursday, May 14, to visit with the public about being in the floodplain - and seeing if a way out is possible. The maps won't be considered official for at least another year, according to a FEMA official. The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 140 W. Pine St.
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Thomas wrote on May 11, 2009 10:09 AM:
" The map that shows the Russell St / Broadway area uses a satellite photo that is at least 15 years old (the building where a friend lives is not on the photo, and it was built in 1994). In its Note to Users, it also states, "Flood elevations on this map are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988."
Construction projects have certainly changed some of those vertical elevations in the past 20 years! How, exactly, are these 'new' maps? How am I supposed to rely on a map that uses data that is more than 2 decades old? "
Construction projects have certainly changed some of those vertical elevations in the past 20 years! How, exactly, are these 'new' maps? How am I supposed to rely on a map that uses data that is more than 2 decades old? "
Chuck wrote on May 11, 2009 3:11 PM:
" This whole thing smells like another OPG fiasco. If I owned property in this supposed new flood plain I think I would start digging and pouring concrete on my land now, before OPG takes away your right to build. Get a septic , barn, foundation or whatever in now before it's to late folks. Also note that Anyone in the new flood plain will lose the value of there land so they won't even need any insurance. "
James wrote on May 13, 2009 2:11 PM:
" I'm bothered by the quote of $600 to $900 a year for flood insurance.
I am one of the unlucky people who with these new maps must pay more than $3,700 a year. It is likely I may lose my house, as I can not afford these sort of payments.
These are just more goverment standards imposed by the feds because of the idiots who buy property on the Ocean in LA and assume it will never flood.
Thank you FEMA for regulating my insurance rates. I trust you are doing the right thing.... not. "
I am one of the unlucky people who with these new maps must pay more than $3,700 a year. It is likely I may lose my house, as I can not afford these sort of payments.
These are just more goverment standards imposed by the feds because of the idiots who buy property on the Ocean in LA and assume it will never flood.
Thank you FEMA for regulating my insurance rates. I trust you are doing the right thing.... not. "
Elwood wrote on May 11, 2009 8:29 AM: