Communities must take lead in flood control
The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)
October 24, 1997
Author: GREG GARLAND
Estimated printed pages: 3
NEW ORLEANS - The problem of houses that flood over and over again is "a nightmare" for the federal flood insurance program, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt said Thursday.
But Witt said local communities and individual homeowners have to be the ones to initiate flood mitigation efforts, such as elevations and buyout programs, to break the disaster cycle.
Witt talked about the costly problem of repetitive flood losses, and about an Advocate series of articles this week on that subject, during a brief interview after speaking at a national housing conference here.
The news stories detailed how the federal flood insurance program has paid out $200,000-plus in damage claims on oft-flooded houses originally bought for as little as $30,000.
Nationwide, nearly 40 percent of the $6.8 billion in claims paid from 1978-95 went to the 2 percent of policyholders who own repetitive flood loss properties, FEMA's own records show.
"It's a nightmare," Witt said, referring to the problem posed by houses that flood repeatedly.
The flood insurance program currently owes the federal treasury - taxpayers - $917 million because the premiums collected from policyholders are far less than the amount paid out in claims.
Witt said FEMA is very much aware that such repetitive flood-loss properties are a drain on the federal flood insurance program and that it is a problem that needs to be addressed.
But Witt said the problems stem largely from development decisions made at the local government level and the solutions need to come from the local community.
Some critics say the flood insurance program contributes to the problem of flood losses because it offers low-cost protection for people who live in flood-prone areas.
They note that there is little incentive for homeowners to spend money trying to protect their houses from flooding since flood insurance pays to repair damages when they do flood.
Witt conceded that people who flood frequently might do more to protect their property from flooding, or at least to limit damages, if more financial incentives were offered for floodproofing measures.
But Witt said local governments and individual homeowners should be the primary source of funding for such floodproofing projects and should spearhead them, not the federal government.
"Mitigation is a local issue," Witt said. "It should be a local issue. It should come from the local level up."
FEMA has been willing to work with and help local communities that do show initiative in trying to address the problem of houses that flood repeatedly, Witt said.
As an example, Witt said, FEMA has worked with local communities around the country to buy out 20,000 repetitive flood-loss structures since the massive Mississippi River flood of 1993. Both federal and local funds were used for the buyouts, he said.
In his speech to the American Association of Housing Educators, Witt said natural disasters in all their variations - floods, hurricanes, earthquakes - are extremely costly for the nation.
Witt said FEMA alone has spent $14 billion just since 1993 to deal with one disaster after another spread out among the 50 states. That doesn't include billions more spent by local and state governments and other federal agencies that respond to disasters, he said.
"Over the past 10 years, the intensity of violent storms has increased," Witt said. "Scientists tell us the number and severity of destructive storms will increase with the rise in temperatures and global warning."
Witt said it only makes sense for local and state governments to prepare for disasters and take practical steps that can reduce their impact, in terms of economic losses and the threat to the population.
"We need to spend money on prevention," Witt said. "It will cut costs and it will save lives. ... Mitigation is a long-term effort, not a short-term solution, but it is a long-term investment that will pay off."
To illustrate why mitigation efforts make sense, Witt talked about the impact on Des Moines, Iowa, when the 1993 Midwest flood inundated the city's water treatment plant, cutting off the city's water supply.
"We had to furnish water for 250,000 people for 11 days," Witt said. "The businesses in the city had to shut down."
Witt said it only cost $12.8 million to fix the water plant so it would not flood again, but economic losses to the paralyzed city during the 11-day business shutdown were $200 million to $300 million.
"We've got to change the way we're dealing with disasters," Witt said.
Witt said FEMA is trying to work with communities to help them create "disaster resistant communities." A $30 million pilot project to help seven "high-risk communities" do that is about to commence, he said.
Witt's appearance at the housing conference was arranged by the LSU Agricultural Center and School of Human Ecology, which organized a program on "Breaking the Housing Disaster Cycle."
Disaster experts from the state and around the country were on panels to discuss the issue during the daylong conference.
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Again I'd like to see a list of the names who owned these properties and whether they were owned by "SLUM Lords"