Federal Emergency Management Agency responds to flood insurance debate

A delay does not a capitulation make. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is standing by the methodology it used to update the region's flood maps.




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Emily Clark/ - Old Colony Memorial 
Posted Apr. 10, 2014 @ 10:00 am 



PLYMOUTH – A delay does not a capitulation make. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is standing by the methodology it used to update the region’s flood maps.

The agency is also anxious to correct a misconception that a new law delays implementation of the maps for three to five years.

Last month, President Barack Obama signed into law the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, guaranteeing that the methodology FEMA uses to redraw flood zones is fair and accurate. The law also prevents massive flood insurance hikes on first homes, ensuring that the rates can’t jump more than 18 percent per year, with an average increase of 15 percent.

But guaranteeing something is fair and accurate doesn’t mean the updated maps will have to be altered. And FEMA Region I External Affairs Director Dennis Pinkham noted that erroneous reports stated that the newly updated maps would be delayed three to five years. This is simply not so, he said; FEMA is standing by its new maps.

The methodology FEMA used to draw the updated maps created some controversy. U.S. Rep. William Keating asked UMass Dartmouth experts to examine the maps and data, and they questioned FEMA’s use of Pacific Ocean wave models to determine Atlantic Ocean flood zones. Armed with this opinion, Keating urged Congress to pass a bill to delay implementation of the maps until this discrepancy is rectified.

But was it a discrepancy?

FEMA doesn’t think so.

The bill Obama signed into law requires that the Technical Mapping Advisory Committee review the new national flood mapping program, and that FEMA certify in writing that it is using “technically credible” data and mapping approaches.

FEMA Region I External Affairs Director Dennis Pinkham explained what that means.

“We have to present to Congress the vetting process we went through to approve these models for use,” Pinkham said. “The FEMA administrator will then certify that they are true and accurate.”

While it’s possible the Technical Mapping Advisory Committee may not approve FEMA’s approaches, the federal agency is standing firmly by the methodology it used to update the maps.

FEMA’s decision to delay the implementation of Plymouth County’s updated flood maps until sometime in 2015 is directly related to appeals of the maps filed by Scituate, Marshfield and Duxbury, Pinkham added. Appeals can take 90 days to review, he noted. In addition, updated maps must be approved by each community’s local legislature, which means the new maps will have to wait until next spring when Town Meetings convene again. That pushes implementation into the following year.

What does all this mean to the property owner? 

Pinkham said he’s concerned erroneous information about delays and suggestions that FEMA drafted inaccurate maps will give some people the wrong idea, make them believe the updated maps aren’t in effect. FEMA’s acknowledgement of Rockport’s findings regarding its maps also does not indicate FEMA is questioning its own approach.

Changes can be made to maps if a town can demonstrate through reputable engineers that FEMA’s maps for a particular town or section of town are inaccurate, Pinkham explained. But there are no sweeping changes planned for the updated maps that used those Pacific Ocean wave models, he said.

“If you think you can get more accurate results and you hire an engineering company to do more accurate work and, through a process, it proves more acceptable to FEMA, fine,” Pinkham said. “We’re not saying our process is the only one that can work, ever.”

He stressed, however, that a change to one portion of a map, such as what FEMA drafted with Rockport, doesn’t mean the entire town’s updated flood zone map will be tossed.

And there are also some misconceptions about what the new law accomplishes regarding flood insurance rates.

The Act lowers rates to be charged to some policyholders and limits increases in policy charges for some. But, Pinkham stressed, the exact details of these changes are still being determined.

Under the new law, rate restrictions would not apply to second homes or businesses. Keating has stressed that he tried to protect those properties, but the original bill shielding them was amended to exclude them.

Homeowners and property owners cried foul last year when they learned that FEMA had redrawn flood maps in response to several years of epic storms that ran the National Flood Insurance Program more than $20 billion into the red. In addition, FEMA had the go-ahead to increase premiums significantly.

This two-pronged change prompted a double whammy for those who own homes in coastal communities with mortgages that require flood insurance. The federal program is the only game in town when it comes to flood insurance. Homeowners with mortgages on their properties are forced to pay flood insurance if FEMA deems their homes are in flood zones; the banks holding the mortgages insist on it.

Pinkham said FEMA’s approach to updating the maps was vetted through academia, engineering experts and consultants for two years before pen was put to paper, so to speak.

“FEMA determined that the Pacific is an effective model for the Atlantic and Gulf Coast,” Pinkham added.