# Ask the Certified Floodplain Manager **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113 "2007-08-10T07:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/1 "2007-08-10T07:22:19Z")
(this pertains to the US) In my 20-year career my focus has been on hydrology & hydraulics; the study of rainfall and runoff. I’ve been fortunate to participate in the mapping of our nation’s floodplains. Athough the NFIP was created through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, many folks are unaware of what floodplain mapping is all about. Common fallacies: “My house flooded, so I can’t get flood insurance.” As long as your community participates in the NFIP, _any_ property owner can buy flood insurance. “My house is not in a mapped floodplain, so I can’t buy flood insurance.” See above. Any property in an NFIP community can be covered. “I’ve never seen this creek flood. Why am I in a flood zone?” The zones are mapped for the 1% chance flood; That is, the flood which has a 1% chance of occuring in any given year (commonly called the 100-year flood). “We had a 100-year flood last year. It will be 99 years before that happens again.” This is why I prefer the term “1% chance flood”. That 1% chance is there EVERY year. FEMA estimates that a person living in the 1% chance floodplain has a 24% chance of experiencing that flood within 30 years (average mortgage life). What else would you like to know? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/2 "2007-08-10T12:02:09Z")
How’s your knowledge of New England? Our dock has floating fingers, the restraint piling on the outer fingers must be at the Hurricane height [top of piling down to High Water Line] 17.2 feet for us. Now I do not believe we are on a flood plain in southeastern CT, but we may be. What constitutes a flood plain and how are they monitored and administered to? We recently had to change our flood insurance because we are within a half mile of the ocean [Long Island Sound] is that legal, and does that have anything to do with what you do? ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/3 "2007-08-10T13:56:28Z")
> [@](#): > > “We had a 100-year flood last year. It will be 99 years before that happens again.” This is why I prefer the term “1% chance flood”. That 1% chance is there EVERY year. FEMA estimates that a person living in the 1% chance floodplain has a 24% chance of experiencing that flood within 30 years Thank you for that information! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/4 "2007-08-10T14:18:35Z")
We all learned about floodplains and “100 year floods” here in Decatur in the summer of 1990, when Stevens Creek, a mostly ignored tiny tributary of the Sangamon River that runs through the expensive suburban northwest and Far North of Decatur and the “bedroom village” of Forsyth, overflowed its banks catastrophically twice in a month, putting water in the basements of all those $200,000 homes whose backyards faced the hitherto “scenic” small creek. To secret great rejoicing among those of us who _didn’t_ own a $200,000 home, of course. 😃 Anyway, those homes were all built backing onto “100 year floodplains”. You could look right on the paperwork, and there it was in black and white, “Your backyard is a 100 year floodplain for Stevens Creek”. And the first time it happened, everybody said, “Well, it won’t happen again for 99 years then.” And then the next thing you know, they’re getting out the sandbags–_again_. It was quite traumatic. So traumatic, that the City of Decatur spent the next couple of years and umpty-ump federal and state dollars in concretely channelizing the creek all along where the houses are. It’s not nearly as scenic now. Gee, that’s too bad. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/5 "2007-08-10T15:59:55Z")
I had a long post all typed out. I live in Florida, the place where people are amazed if they have cypress trees in their yard that they might possibly get flooded. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/6 "2007-08-10T18:02:18Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] How’s your knowledge of New England? Our dock has floating fingers, the restraint piling on the outer fingers must be at the Hurricane height [top of piling down to High Water Line] 17.2 feet for us. Now I do not believe we are on a flood plain in southeastern CT, but we may be. What constitutes a flood plain and how are they monitored and administered to? We recently had to change our flood insurance because we are within a half mile of the ocean [Long Island Sound] is that legal, and does that have anything to do with what you do? [/QUOTE] I’m not so familiar with the modeling of the Hurricane Zones, but I can interpret the maps fairly well. There are V zones and A zones on costal areas; the V zones indicate flooding from storm surge; the A zones indicate riverine flooding (usually). 17.2 feet sounds like storm surge height to me - our standard for years on the Gulp was 13 feet (from Camille). Of course Katrina blew that away with 38 feet in some areas. To check if you are in a flood zone: check out [www.msc.fema.gov](http://www.msc.fema.gov), they have flood maps which you can view on-line. On the maroon colored bar near the top of the page, choose “Product Catalog”. Next page: choose “latest available maps”. Next is a page with a succession of pull-downs. Choose Connectiuct, then choose your county & then your community. For example, I pulled up Middlesex Co. then Fenwick. Locate your property and you will see whether or not you are in a flood zone. Alternatively, [www.floodsmart.gov](http://www.floodsmart.gov) has a [page](http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/riskassesment/findpropertyform.jsp)where you put in your address and it gives you your ‘approximate flood risk’. I’d rather look at my street on a map, but YMMV. The flood plain (as per NFIP uses) is that area of the river valley taken up by floodwaters during the 1% chance flood. The hydrology is done by regression equations and the modeling is done with a 2-D computer model. The mapping is done on topographic mapping (often on the USGS quadrangle mapping). The NFIP is monitored and administered on a local level. Although the regulations are set forth at the federal level, the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance is adopted by the community, and they are tasked with enforcement. That’s one reason why the Certified Floodplain Manager designation is being encouraged; to become certified you must take courses in the administration of the NFIP and pass an exam. Usually it is the building inspectors who actually check new construction for adherence to the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. Link to a [model ordinance](http://www.msema.org/flood/documents/ModelOrdinanceMarch2006.doc) (PDF WARNING). If you had to change your insurance because of a relocation to the coastal area, it sounds like you are now in a coastal flooding zone. One-half mile is not very far. Katrina’s surge pushed inland 17 miles in some areas. Is it legal? If your property is mortgaged with a federal loan, it’s a Fed requirement for the property to be insured for flood. Private lenders have the prerogative to do as they choose; most, however, will also insist on it. NFIP [FAQ’s](http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/fhm/fq_term.shtm) For the true information geeks: [Code of Federal Regulations](http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/44cfr65_02.html) ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/7 "2007-08-10T19:34:35Z")
“We sure needed that rain”. Do you ever get a chance to use that phrase? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/8 "2007-08-10T20:23:55Z")
I live close to the Mississippi, but I am in zone “C”, with a zone “B” about 1/2 mile away. I assume I’m reasonably safe. Brian ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/9 "2007-08-10T21:29:19Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] “We sure needed that rain”. Do you ever get a chance to use that phrase? [/QUOTE] No, but many times I tell people, “I LOVE the rain. It makes my phone ring… :D” ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/10 "2007-08-10T21:32:21Z")
[QUOTE=N9IWP] I live close to the Mississippi, but I am in zone “C”, with a zone “B” about 1/2 mile away. I assume I’m reasonably safe. Brian [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Zones B, C, and X are the flood insurance rate zones that correspond to areas outside the 100-year floodplains, areas of 100-year sheet flow flooding where average depths are less than 1 foot, areas of 100-year stream flooding where the contributing drainage area is less than 1 square mile, or areas protected from the 100-year flood by levees. No BFEs or depths are shown within this zone. I agree that your risk seems low. 'Course, as someone else mentioned, certain places in MN you can wade across the Mississippi. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/11 "2007-08-11T00:22:49Z")
Being a little creek means nothing. Look at the fact it’s in a valley. Baraboo had a downpour. The flood started at the border of Devils Lake park and when the water reached the Baraboo river, it left a deposit of mud about 5 to 8 feet deep on the adjacent properties. The only place that won’t flood is the top of a high hill, then you just slide down with the soil. What can people who are in a community that doesn’t have the option of federal flood insurance do to change it. Last year it was announced that a certain town that has residents that really wanted it, couldn’t get the insurance. How do they make the community one that participates. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/12 "2007-08-11T00:47:35Z")
In Wisconsin? The State NFIP Coordinator for Wisconsin is listed on the Association of State Floodplain Managers’ website as: Robert Watson/ Gary Heinrichs Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Res. 101 S. Webster Madison, WI 53702 608-266-8039/ 608-266-3093 There’s a link to that email address under their [State Coordinators](http://www.floods.org/StatePOCs/stcoor.asp) page. Folks wanting to learn how to get their community to participate can contact that person and get the discussion started. Wisconsin has a [state chapter](http://wi.floods.org/) as well, with a little over 200 members. Reading their site, it looks like they welcome anyone as a member - here’s a chance to be an activist. 😉 It’s truly a shame that some communities refuse to participate. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/13 "2007-08-11T01:10:33Z")
We’re in Maryland, about six blocks from a river that empties about a mile farther on down into the Chesapeake Bay. My husband keeps scoffing at the chance we could flood, but looking at the info you’ve provided, and seeing that we are indeed in theoretical danger of flooding. We don’t have more than a few feet elevation, and if a storm decided to march up the Bay? Here’s a question, though: We’re renters. So if our landlord purchased flood insurance, would it cover us living in his house? Or would we have to get it for ourselves? We had it, obviously, when we owned our home in New Orleans, but I’ve never been in an area where we might need it as renters. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/14 "2007-08-11T01:18:18Z")
**Harmonius** , looks like Wisconsin is being remapped: [quote=] Public Open House Schedule Representatives from the DNR and FEMA will be hosting a Flood Risk Information Open House at the following times and locations to provide the public with an opportunity to review and discuss the recently released Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). All public Open House meetings will begin at 6:00pm and continue until all questions are answered. August 15, 2007 Brown County University Extension, Room 114 Donovan Hall 1150 Bellevue Street Green Bay August 16, 2007 Washington County County Courthouse 432 E. Washington St., Room 1020 West Bend [/quote] Those meetings might just be for those two counties, tho. From [here](http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/wm/dsfm/flood/mapping.htm). ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/15 "2007-08-11T01:24:58Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Tiger] Here’s a question, though: We’re renters. So if our landlord purchased flood insurance, would it cover us living in his house? Or would we have to get it for ourselves? [/QUOTE] If your landlord has it, it probably covers the structure - not the contents. NFIP says yes, renters can get flood insurance (presumably for contents): [quote=] Can I get flood insurance if I’m renting a property? If you live in a community that participates in the NFIP, you can get flood insurance to cover the contents of your home or business. [/quote] . It’d be well worth looking in to. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/16 "2007-08-11T12:35:37Z")
It’s not me, but a town relatives live in. We’ve had it for decades. It’s going to be up to them to rally the neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/17 "2007-08-11T17:05:49Z")
What’s the most fun and/or exciting aspect of your job? Any good, funny anecdotes? ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/18 "2007-08-11T18:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=bluethree] What’s the most fun and/or exciting aspect of your job? Any good, funny anecdotes? [/QUOTE] Sadly, engineers are not well known for ‘fun and/or exciting’. 😛 One of the things I enjoy is developing a flood study from the ground up. It’s like putting together a puzzle. As the different portions are completed, I can tell a little bit more and a little bit more about the site - and then finally I’m plotting the Base Flood Elevations and drawing in the floodway and floodplain boundaries; and bam, there it is. I dunno about ‘exciting’ but it’s very groovy. Another interesting thing is doing field work. Once I worked on a scour analysis project where we analyzed about 165 bridges, which included a site visit to each. I saw a lot of things, but I never saw the first snake … I think they were hiding. When I served as the Floodplain Administrator for one of the small cities here, I was in charge of a lot of construction projects - that’s another neat thing, to watch something get built. Anecdotes? Hmm… I’ll have to think about that … ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/19 "2007-08-11T21:27:44Z")
So what if our community is NOT in the NFIP? Are you screwed then in a flood? Who decides to participate or not? ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113/20 "2007-08-11T22:27:59Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] So what if our community is NOT in the NFIP? Are you screwed then in a flood? Who decides to participate or not? [/QUOTE] See post #12 ( what is it about Wisconsin?? 😛 ) The local government of the city, county, whatever votes on whether or not to join the NFIP program. If a city/county/parish/whatever is not in the program and the citizens would like for it to be, they can lobby to have it done - similar to trying to get other ordinances passed. Personally, I’d also ask for help at the Floodplain Managers’ Association; those folks are knowledgeable about implementing the program in that particular state. Oh, but yeah, unless you have magically gotten some private flood insurance, you’re screwed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-certified-floodplain-manager/415113.md?page=2)