[StBernard] Army Engineers to release list of levees at risk

[Westley Annis]

WASHINGTON (AP) - One hundred twenty-seven levees around the country are at
risk of failing, according to a list to be released Thursday by the Army
Corps of Engineers.
Communities near those levees were being notified as the list was readied
for release in response to Freedom of Information Act requests filed by news
organizations, including The Associated Press.
 
The figure was provided by Butch Kinerney of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency's national flood insurance program. Earlier reports had
said the list would contain the names of 146 levees at risk of failure, but
recent inspections whittled that number down. Kinerney did not provide a
list of the levees or where they are located.
 
the Corps determines a levee to be at risk of failing, homeowners in that
area could be required to purchase flood insurance, though exceptions can be
made. 
 
Kinerney said he's concerned that the risky levees present not just a chance
of higher insurance costs, but a risk to the safety of those living in
nearby communities. FEMA maps flood plains and helps determine the flood
risks that communities face.
 
Kinerney said people living near the levees should have an evacuation plan,
a family emergency plan, and a disaster supply kit, along with flood
insurance.
 
The Corps has been warning communities they need to take care of routine
levee maintenance, said Larry Larson, director of the Association of State
Floodplain Managers. Larson said he was glad the Corps was putting out the
word on the levees.
 
"The feds are saying, 'Wait a minute, we haven't been doing our job,'"
Larson said. "'We better get on top of this. Your people are at risk. You
need to get something done.'"
 
The Corps historically has constructed the levees and has turned most of
them over to local communities for operations and maintenance. Some
communities may not have kept up with needed repairs, while others may
merely lack the documentation, Kinerney said.
 
As the Corps decertifies the adequacy of a particular levee, it also
notifies FEMA, which can take away the credit communities get on their flood
insurance rate for having a levee.
Kinerney added that if residents of the communities at risk were to purchase
flood insurance now, before the community's designation changes, they can
still pay the cheaper rate.
The Corps can give communities 12 months to make corrections - sometimes
it's just a matter of "filling gopher holes," Kinerney said.
 
Also, FEMA can issue for up to 24 months a provisional accreditation if a
community requests it, giving it up to two years to correct the problems or
contest the finding that the levee is not sound. During that period,
residents are not required to purchase flood insurance.