[StBernard] Lawmakers call for transparency from FEMA

[Westley Annis]

Lawmakers call for transparency from FEMA

By Nikki Buskey
Staff Writer


Published: Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 11:46 a.m. 


HOUMA - FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers need to address local
critiques of new flood-risk maps, according to a bipartisan group of
national lawmakers including Louisiana Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Mary
Landrieu, D-La.

The new maps, being reviewed now by FEMA, are used to calculate an area's
risk of flooding. That determines flood-insurance rates for communities and
how high new homes and businesses must be raised in order to quality for
coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program.

A letter drafted by senators from California and Mississippi River Valley
states that are having flood maps redrawn by FEMA spells out several areas
of concern with the process, Vitter said in news release. The lawmakers
requested a meeting on the issue with top corps and FEMA officials.

Local officials say FEMA has been silent about levees and other
flood-protection upgrades left out of the maps, errors in elevation data and
how the maps could affect the local economy. 

"FEMA has maintained all along that they have worked with us and
corresponded with us, but unless there's another person here they're talking
with, that's not the case," Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph
said.

FEMA officials have scheduled an April 15 meeting to discuss concerns with
Lafourche, Terrebonne and Morgan City officials and independent contractors
hired to evaluate data in the flood maps.

Terrebonne Parish Manager Al Levron and Randolph said the meeting was the
result of intervention by Vitter, Landrieu and other elected officials.

Lafourche and Terrebonne filed appeals in late summer, saying some of the
information used to create the maps, such as land elevations, is incorrect.
FEMA is reviewing that information but has not yet said when the appeals
will be decided nor when the final version of the maps will be released.

Appeals were submitted to the FEMA mapping section in Denton, Texas.
Engineers will review protests and compare them to the FEMA data collected
in the field and calculated by federal modelling, FEMA officials said. If
regional FEMA officials need additional information to resolve each appeal,
they will contact and work closely with the respective parish or community.

"It's been close to a year now that we've filed our appeal. We've heard
nothing until fairly recently," Levron said. "Our consultants have
recommended a number of areas where they felt the maps were technically
flawed. FEMA has been unwilling to discuss the particulars with us, so we're
very interested in addressing all the technical issues at this meeting."

Lawmakers cite poor communication with FEMA about flood-protection levees
and whether they'd be taken into account in the maps. 

That's a key concern for south Lafourche because the main flood protection
for that area, the Larose-to-Golden Meadow hurricane protection system, an
Army Corps of Engineers levee, is not included in the flood maps because
FEMA says it's too low to provide adequate flood protection to the area.
Local levee officials have pointed out that the system withstood storm surge
from hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 and prevented much of the flooding
that occurred in neighboring Terrebonne, which lacks a comprehensive
hurricane levee system.

By leaving the Lafourche levees out of the maps, elevation requirements
could go from just a few feet to as high as 14 feet in some communities.

The redrawing of the flood maps also doesn't take into account major levee
renovations that are under way now in communities with money from hurricanes
Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. With hundreds of millions of dollars in levee
upgrades under way in Terrebonne, that's a big concern.

The senators also cited a lack of communication with local parishes about
the flood-map process and a reluctance to share information about the data
that is being used.

Local officials said the elevation data has been grossly inaccurate in some
areas. Elevation data put parts of downtown Houma in a flood zone in early
draft maps that claimed it was 6 feet above sea level, 2 feet lower than it
actually is, said Terrebonne Planning and Zoning Director Pat Gordon. 

"We'd like to look at what areas we can agree to make changes, and what
areas we may concede," Randolph said. "There's definitely more flood risk
included in these maps than we would have liked."

Many experts, including Louisiana State University researchers working with
Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes on their map appeals, say much more
accurate elevation data is available.

"For a process that will have such a dramatic effect on homeowners and
businesses across Louisiana and across America, this needs to be more
transparent," Vitter said.

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey at houmatoday.com.