Feds add 1,400 parcels to floodplain

Property owners on the east side of Douglas County may be receiving unpleasant news in the next few weeks that they now live in a floodplain requiring mandatory flood insurance that could add $800-900 a year to their premiums.

Douglas County received notification earlier this month that their appeal of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's new flood insurance rate map had been denied.

That means about 1,400 parcels on 4,000 acres will be added to the floodplain effective in January.

Mortgage companies require that property owners in a floodplain purchase flood insurance for any structures.

"We're approaching this from multiple tracks," said County Engineer Mahmood Azad.

The county will continue to appeal the flood insurance rate map and is prepared to take the issue to federal court.

In the meantime, residents are urged to find out if they now live within the floodplain.

"We really need to encourage Carson Valley citizens to check the new maps and see if they're in the new flood plain," said Community Development Director Mimi Moss.

If so, they're encouraged to purchase flood insurance before the new maps go into effect in January and pay less for insurance.

Even if the maps are under appeal, residents still must have insurance.

Moss said several workshops will be set up for property owners, insurance agents and Realtors to explain the process.

She said a FEMA representative also will be on hand to explain the changes. She is awaiting notification from FEMA in July that the rate maps have been finalized and go into effect in January.

People who buy the insurance before January will get grandfathered in to the "preferred risk policy" for one year, she said.

"We'll start notifying property owners as soon as we get the letter," Moss said. "We will hold town meetings to let people know they need to contact their insurance agents to get the reduced rates up front."

Azad and Moss urged residents not to panic and said there would be time before the end of the year to purchase the flood insurance.

She said beginning in mid-July, property owners could start coming in to the community development department and see if their parcels were affected.

"The burden is on the county to notify all parties," she said.

Azad said the county was still trying to work with FEMA about the added parcels.

He said FEMA's flood insurance rate map process was severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"Katrina set them back a lot," he said. "It really diverted their attention."

As a result, Moss and Azad don't think the new flood maps are based on what he called "ground truth."

In a letter to Douglas County, FEMA agreed to keep talking, but won't delay implementation of the maps.

"We will finalize the new flood insurance rate maps this July 2009, setting an effective date of January 2010 ... for Douglas County," said Eric Simmons, senior engineer in FEMA's mitigation division.

Jason King, acting state engineer and Kim Groenewold, state floodplain manager, sent a letter to FEMA siding with Douglas County.

"The (Nevada) Division (of Water Resources) concurs with Douglas County that FEMA has not adequately addressed the county's technical concerns with the preliminary flood insurance study, and sufficient technical questions remained unanswered with the study that justify FEMA's reconsideration of its imminent, final release," King and Groenewold said in their letter.

"Until such time as the technical issues with the Douglas County flood insurance study are adequately addressed, the division concurs that the current flood insurance study and flood insurance rate maps should remain in effect."