{"id":32448,"date":"2013-11-12T06:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=32448"},"modified":"2013-11-14T10:48:21","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T16:48:21","slug":"in-regulating-floodplains-many-texas-communities-follow-minimum-standards-or-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/11\/12\/in-regulating-floodplains-many-texas-communities-follow-minimum-standards-or-less\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Texas Communities Follow &#8216;Minimum Standards&#8217; Or Less When Regulating Floodplains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/fusiontables\/embedviz?q=select+col2%3E%3E2+from+1KRHQvspjRH1Ggo3oFvYlUkC9l2izazMXGhdfjHE&amp;viz=MAP&amp;h=false&amp;lat=31.434071554024378&amp;lng=-98.67101250000002&amp;t=1&amp;z=5&amp;l=col2%3E%3E2&amp;y=2&amp;tmplt=2&amp;hml=GEOCODABLE\" height=\"400\" width=\"600\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>MAP BY MICHAEL MARKS. A map of Texas Counties that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Counties in gray have insurance, counties in yellow have never had insurance, and counties in red do not currently have insurance, but have at some point. NOTE: Cities and towns may participate in the program even if their county does not.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0floods that killed five people and damaged over 1,000 homes in Austin<a href=\"http:\/\/kut.org\/term\/halloween-floods\"> on Halloween morning<\/a> threw\u00a0the danger of floods into stark relief. But when it\u00a0comes to guarding against risky development in flood-prone regions, there\u2019s little consistency from one Texas community to the next, with some areas still lacking any regulation.<\/p>\n<p>The reason goes back to the way the state and local communities choose to adopt, or not adopt, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fema.gov\/national-flood-insurance-program\">National Flood Insurance Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4><!--more-->&#8216;I&#8217;d rather move out&#8217;<\/h4>\n<p>Patti Farr is one of the thousands of people impacted by the Halloween Floods. In a waiting room of a Red Cross temporary assistance center in Austin, she told StateImpact Texas how she lost everything.\u00a0But she still counts herself luckier than many, because\u00a0Farr and her husband had flood insurance required as part of their mortgage.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32504\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Patti Farr says she lost &quot;everything&quot; in the flood. She's waiting to see what her flood insurance will pay out. \" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/IMG_4663.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32504\" alt=\"Patti Farr says she lost &quot;everything&quot; in the flood. She's waiting to see what her flood insurance will pay out. \" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/IMG_4663-300x199.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/IMG_4663-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/IMG_4663-620x412.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Mose BUchele<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patti Farr says she lost &quot;everything&quot; in the flood. She&#39;s waiting to see what her flood insurance will pay out.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When she spoke to StateImpact Texas she didn&#8217;t know how much she would receive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d rather just move and get out [of the floodplain]. But I don\u2019t know what options I have [because] I owe a mortgage,&#8221;\u00a0she said.\u00a0&#8220;So the flood insurance may be enough to just cover that, and then of course I\u2019ll just have to replace everything else.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Farr\u2019s insurance is made possible because Austin participates in FEMA&#8217;s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).\u00a0Under that program, local governments promise to regulate building in floodplains. In exchange for regulating, residents can access federally-subsidized insurance.<\/p>\n<p>But many people who work on flood issues say the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fema.gov\/pdf\/floodplain\/nfip_sg_unit_5.pdf\">federally-mandated regulations<\/a> are often not enough.<\/p>\n<h4>&#8216;Basic Level&#8217; of Protection<\/h4>\n<p>&#8220;I would call it the &#8216;basic level,'&#8221;\u00a0Chad Berginnis, the Executive Director of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.floods.org\/\">Association\u00a0of\u00a0State Floodplain\u00a0Administrators<\/a>, told StateImpact Texas. \u00a0\u201cWe like to say that while the standards of NFIP are a good start, they should never ever be a finish point for states as they deal with flooding.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32501\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"First responders pull flood victims from a flooded South East Austin neighborhood.\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/flood-picture-1.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32501\" alt=\"First responders pull flood victims from a flooded South East Austin neighborhood.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/flood-picture-1-300x194.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/flood-picture-1-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/flood-picture-1-620x402.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/flood-picture-1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon\/KUT News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">First responders pull flood victims from a flooded South East Austin neighborhood.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the case of Austin, City officials say local regulations are more stringent than FEMA standards. They point to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fema.gov\/media-library-data\/20130726-1651-20490-3916\/_19_crs_may2013_3.14.13.pdf\">a ranking<\/a> awarded by FEMA to back up the point.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fema.gov\/pdf\/nfip\/manual200605\/19crs.pdf\">The Community Rating System<\/a> is a FEMA program that rewards communities that go above and beyond, by providing a discount on flood insurance premiums for anybody in the city,&#8221; Kevin Shunk, a City of Austin Floodplain Administrator told StateImpact Texas.<\/p>\n<p>The city of Austin ranks a &#8220;class six&#8221; out of ten with &#8220;class one&#8221; being the best rating. But even within that framework, building on floodplains<a href=\"http:\/\/austintexas.gov\/page\/floodplain-development-information\"> is still allowed<\/a>\u00a0under exceptions in city code.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignright\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/09\/17\/lack-of-floodplain-maps-could-leave-rural-texas-unprepared-for-next-big-storm\/\">Lack of Floodplain Maps Could Leave Rural Texas Unprepared for Next Big Storm<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/10\/15\/how-hundreds-of-significant-hazard-dams-escape-state-inspection\/\">How Hundreds of &#8216;Significant Hazard&#8217; Dams Escape State Inspection in Texas<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/10\/16\/want-to-learn-about-a-nearby-dam-in-texas-some-questions-are-off-limits\/\">Want to Learn About a Nearby Dam? In Texas, Some Questions Are Off Limits<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/11\/LCRA-copy.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/topic\/water-plan\/\">What is the Texas Water Development Board?<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;If anyone would like to develop in the hundred-year floodplain, they would need to get a variance, and that variance needs to go to city council for approval,&#8221; Lynne Lightsey, a spokesperson for the City&#8217;s Watershed Protection Department told StateImpact Texas.<\/p>\n<p>North of Austin, in the booming suburbs of Williamson County, it\u2019s possible to see<a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/10\/17\/aging-dams-booming-growth-and-the-search-for-solutions\/\"> other ways<\/a> growth can push the limits of safety. Below an old soil conservation dam, houses and roads have sprung up that would be in the direct path of a flood if the dam were to fail.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the NFIP minimum standards, there are actually zero road construction or road resiliency requirements,&#8221; the\u00a0Floodplain Administrators Association&#8217;s Berginnis said when told about the road.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Either you go by minimum standards, or the state has some standards or requirements that go above the minimum standards.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h4>A Patchwork of Regulation<\/h4>\n<p>Because floodplain management is left up to local governments in Texas, the state is a patchwork of different rules and regulations. It\u2019s not like that in some other states.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In Illinois, in Wisconsin, in Indiana, you have some higher standards, for instance, for flood ways,&#8221; says Berginnis.\u00a0\u201cOther states actually have programs where they may have a state permit that\u2019s required in addition to a local permit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But in Texas, there are still counties that have no regulation for building in floodplains<\/p>\n<div class=\"module pull-quote left half\">\u201cWe\u2019re a very strong private property rights state, so any time you start talking about more regulation and more enforcement it always meets with a lot of opposition.&#8221; &#8211; Roy Sedwick<\/div>\n<p>Roy Sedwick, director of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tfma.org\/\">Texas Floodplain Management Association<\/a>, says his group tried to get a law passed that would mandate communities to participate in the flood insurance program, but were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Texas, you know, we\u2019re a very strong private property rights state, so any time you start talking about more regulation and more enforcement it always meets with a lot of opposition,&#8221; Sedwick told StatImpact Texas.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s still an open question how the Austin will respond to recent floods. If it can find the money &#8212; possibly with disaster aid from the federal government &#8212; \u00a0it could try to buy out properties in the floodplains of South East Austin.<\/p>\n<p>Sitting in the assistance center waiting room, flood victim Patti Far said she\u2019d love to move to higher ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will check with the city and find out where the flood zones are, and not go there,&#8221; Farr said. &#8220;I might go find me a mountain \u2026 or build a mountain myself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MAP BY MICHAEL MARKS. A map of Texas Counties that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Counties in gray have insurance, counties in yellow have never had insurance, and counties in red do not currently have insurance, but have at some point. NOTE: Cities and towns may participate in the program even if their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[243,85],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32448"}],"version-history":[{"count":63,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32512,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32448\/revisions\/32512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}