By Zach Jensen,
The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) notified the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors, the week of Oct. 23, that the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) shown on the 2019 preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) are now considered final and will go into effect Feb. 22, 2024.
According to Winneshiek County Planning and Zoning Administrator Tony Phillips, on that effective date, “A one-year compliance period begins where Winneshiek County must adopt and enforce a floodplain-management ordinance to join the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).”
Phillips said the county has begun the process of adopting a floodplain management ordinance, for which two public hearings will be scheduled prior to adoption.
“… FEMA has officially declared that Winneshiek County has flood-hazard areas,” Phillips said. “Along with that (declaration), there are benefits and detriments.”
The primary benefit, Phillips said, is that people outside of Decorah now qualify for subsidized flood insurance, whereas Decorah residents already qualified for government-subsidized flood insurance.
On the other hand, Phillips said, there are also detriments with the new program.
“There are federal laws that say, when you have these officially-recognized hazard areas, mortgages in those areas must carry flood insurance,” Phillips said. “I’ve already talked with one banker who said they’re going to start looking at mortgages in those hazard areas.”
Another potential detriment, said Phillips, is that the county needs to adopt a floodplain management ordinance and enforce it.
“I don’t believe Winneshiek County has a choice other than to adopt a flood plain ordinance and join the National Flood Insurance Program,” Phillips said. “Joining the NFIP is what gets you that flood insurance, and it’s also what gets the county back in the FEMA’s good graces to get any emergency money from flood damages.
“If the county does not adopt the floodplain ordinance, the people would not get flood insurance,” continued Phillips. “The law still says they have to have it, but, if the county doesn’t adopt the floodplain ordinance, they can’t get it. So, for some, that would mean they can’t get that mortgage.”
Full article in the November 2 Public Opinion Newspaper.
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