[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish president urges residents to review flood maps for appeals

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish president urges residents to review flood maps for
appeals

Print By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
Email the author | Follow on Twitter 
on July 02, 2013 at 9:48 PM, updated July 03, 2013 at 8:52 AM

St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta on Tuesday encouraged residents to
appeal FEMA's preliminary flood maps if they believe any of the proposed
changes are incorrect. The 90-day formal comment period on the maps begins
on Wednesday in St. Bernard, Jefferson and Orleans parishes and will last
through Sept. 30.

While most areas in St. Bernard will stay the same or see improvements, some
areas will move to new higher-risk classifications from the previous Zones B
and C classifications for moderate-to-low risk areas.

In March, St. Bernard announced $10 million in federal grants available to
help residents raise their homes to meet new flood elevation standards; at
that time, Mike Hunnicutt, the parish's hazard mitigation adviser, said the
parish had identified 500 to 600 proprieties that potentially would be
eligible, many of which were below sea level north of Judge Perez Drive.

In announcing the beginning of the public comment period, FEMA stated that
it comes "after months of collaboration and the continuous sharing of
information" with officials across the metro New Orleans area.

"Appeals must be based on technical data that show proposed maps to be
scientifically incorrect," Peralta added, reiterating FEMA guidelines.

An appeal is a formal objection to proposed base flood elevations or flood
depths, Special Flood Hazard Areas boundaries and zones or floodways,
according to FEMA. A comment is an objection to a base map feature change
such as labels, incorrect roads, jurisdictional boundaries or any other
non-appealable change.

Comments and appeals should be sent to FEMA through the local floodplain
administrator. In St. Bernard, that's Candace Watkins, the parish's director
of community development. She can be reached at 504.355.4427 or
cwatkins at sbpg.net.

The proposed flood insurance rate maps for St. Bernard may also be viewed in
the parish's Office of Community Development at 8201 W. Judge Perez Drive in
Chalmette, Mondays through Fridays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Documents related to the parish home elevation program and applications have
been posted on the parish government website. Hunnicutt said that he expects
the $10 million to elevate between 50 and 80 homes an average of 8 to 10
feet, with up to $150,000 available per person. He estimated the average
cost to elevate a home at between $110,000 and $160,000.

For more information about the parish's home elevation program, contact
Michael Bayham in the parish's hazard mitigation office at 504.278.1033.

The new flood maps come after the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act
was passed in July 2012 in an effort to stabilize the deeply-in-debt
National Flood Insurance Program. The act eliminates subsidies for
homeowners in areas considered to be high risk.

Under the act, insurance rates for some property owners would increase by 25
percent each year for five years.

Additionally, the Biggert-Waters Act does away with the practice of
"grandfathering" -- a provision that exempts property owners whose homes and
businesses were built to the base flood elevations outlined in FEMA flood
maps adopted before the most recent remapping.

U.S. and state congressional representatives, along with parish and city
leaders throughout the state, have attempted to soften that bill, as yet to
no avail.

"It's going to cause increases that really will hurt us," Peralta said last
May, in discussing the act. "Not only will it hurt the individual, but it
will hurt our parish's (post-Hurricane Katrina) development, because, with
higher rates, people won't be able to afford to build.

"It will affect our growth, no question about it."

To live chat about flood maps with a FEMA representative, click here between
8 a.m. and 4:00 p.m, and then click on the "Live Chat" icon. Or you can
contact FEMA map specialists by phone at 1.877.336.2627 or email at
FEMAMapSpecialist at riskmapcds.com.
<http://www.floodmaps.fema.gov/fhm/fmx_main.html>