Missouri Flood Mitigation Project
BACKGROUND
The 1993 Midwestern flood was a record-breaker both in terms of river levels and duration. Of the nine Midwestern states affected, the State of Missouri was undoubtedly the hardest hit by the flood and state officials estimate that damages totaled $3 billion. Assistance to an estimated 37,000 Missouri families on that flood alone included $41.7 million spent in Disaster Housing (DH) assistance and $23.4 million in Individual and Family Grants (IFG) to those who were uninsured. An additional $40.1 million in low interest loans had been approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to cover disaster-related losses to homeowners and businesses. Add to these figures $7.8 million in disaster unemployment and $120 million in Public Assistance to repair damaged public facilities and the costs are obviously staggering.
The Missouri Buyout Program received close to $100 million which flowed through the state to local communities.
To create a solution which was permanent, Missouri’s Governor Mel Carnahan decided that these funds would be best used to buy out flood-prone properties with an emphasis on those which were primary residences. A concentration on this option would alleviate future problems for both homeowners, emergency managers and taxpayers alike.
The Missouri Buyout Program is an exemplary program which is proactive and cost-effective. It stresses a collaborative partnership between federal, state and local governments. It’s also a voluntary program which allows residents a practical solution by relocating their homes outside of the floodplain. Once the properties are cleared, the publicly-owned ground may then be used for open space purposes more consistent with the threat of repeat flooding.
BENEFITS
Missouri’s Buyout Program is already paying for itself. Over half of the 5,500 targeted properties were purchased in the buyout program since 1993 and, therefore, that many properties were unaffected by the 1995 event.
By way of example, St. Charles County sits at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. In that county alone, the combined costs of the 1993 flood have exceeded $160 million.
The number of potentially occupied parcels of property in the 100 year floodplain purchased under the buyout program in St. Charles County was 1374. This included over 560 single family residences and three mobile home parks with 814 pads. It’s estimated that the occupancy rate in those parks was 84% at the time of the 1993 flood. Residents in these repeatedly flooded parks were among the neediest from the standpoint of needing disaster assistance from both public and private sources.
When the 1995 spring rains hit, causing the third worst flood of record, 1,000 fewer families (approximately 2,500 people) were out of harm’s way as a result of the buyout program in St. Charles County alone.
FEMA REGION VII ACQUISITION PROJECTS
(As of 7/13/95)
STATE
#of
Approved
Withdrawn
Properties Percent
Projects Properties or
Refused
Purchased Complete
MO 44 5,305 1,065 2,958 69.76
PROJECT COST
(As of 7/14/95)
Floods Number of
Disaster
Individual/ SBA
Applicants
Housing Family Grants Loans
1993
4,277
$8,359,550 $5,818,167
$11,898,600
1995
333
$204,493
$11,601
$67,000
1993 federal flood costs on purchased properties in St. Charles County (eliminated in the future through the buyout)
- NFIP Structural claims $10,312,733
- NFIP Contents claims $2,987,797
- Emergency Repair (EMR) $836,391
- Individual/Family Grant (IFG) $419,797
- Mobile home NFIP claims/disaster aid (est.@ 60% occupancy) $5,169,872
- SBALoans $3,804,390
- NFIP loss processing costs (est.) $399,000
Total federal ‘93 flood costs on St. Charles Co. buyout properties $ 23,929,980
- Total fair market value $20,525,624
- Actual purchase price $10,146,810
- Administrative costs $3,554,000
-
Duplication of benefits (SBA loans, NFIP proceeds,
disaster benefits) subtracted from the sale price $10,538,437 - Cost per property - 1374 (includes all mobile home lots) $9,971
- Cost per Unit purchased (640) $21,408
Note: Floodwater in 1995 affected virtually all of the same 1,374 properties bought out after the 1993 flood albeit to a lesser height and a shorter period of time. Were it not for the buyout program, it is reasonable to assume a much larger number of applicants would have been requesting disaster assistance and submitting flood insurance claims, leaving the structures at risk for the next flood. In fiscal years 1997 and 1993, the federal government spent $64 billion in direct disaster relief and $55 billion indirectly through low-cost loans. In addition, Congress spent nearly $3 billion to cover unmet costs in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
FUNDING SOURCES
This included $30 million in FEMA 404 funds, $28 million in FEMA 406 funds for demolition due to health and safety reasons, and $42 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
For copies of the comprehensive report titled "Out of Harm’s way, Missouri’s Flood Buyout Program" please contact the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) at 573-526-9141
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The City of Arnold, Missouri is located just off interstate 55 about 20 miles south of St. Louis. Near the point where the Meramec River empties into the Mississippi, a bend in the river has formed a peninsula. Situated on this peninsula, the City of Arnold has been the site of nine major floods since 1973. With so much flood history, the citizens of Arnold have long demonstrated a progressive attitude toward "flood-proofing it" and otherwise "mitigating" the adverse effects caused by flooding. For example, since 1980, the City of Arnold has required that all new construction projects include the installation of valves in the plumbing systems to protect sewer lines and prevent the contamination of the city water system in the event of flooding. The government of Arnold also has passed local ordinances, including strict building codes, and has required developers to observe rigid easement regulations along the Meramec River in order to better protect the town’s residents.
Moreover, Arnold was one of the first towns to participate in FEMA’s early flood buyout – the "1362 program" in 1980 and has continued aggressively participating in flood buyout programs following Presidential Declarations in the years since then. By the end of 1995, the City of Arnold had purchased 155 mobile home pads and 202 single family residences in the floodplain. In 1997, the national Association of State Floodplain Managers presented its annual award to Arnold in recognition of the community’s successful buyout program.
MITIGATION MEASURES EMPLOYED
Working with the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, the City of Arnold has continued its aggressive campaign to buy repetitive flood loss structures, using Flood Mitigation Assistance Program grant funds to purchase an additional nine homes over the last two years. The key focus of this project was to stem the tide of future losses was to purchase structures that had been the subject of four or more repetitive loss claims previously paid by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The nine properties purchased in Arnold had been subjected to past repetitive NFIP claim losses totaling some $961,846 by 1995. This represented 43 flood claims, for an average of 4.77 flood claims per property, over roughly a 16 year period. In seven of the nine properties, the NFIP claims paid had already exceeded the fair market value of the properties. In three of those cases, the NFIP claims paid were close to double the fair market value of the properties.
PROJECT BENEFITS
Based upon the above statistics, it is possible to anticipate conservatively that sometime during the next 15-20 years the NFIP savings alone will recoup the entire cost of this project.
The opportunity to avoid future flooding offers even greater benefit to Arnold residents like Joe Moore who took advantage of a flood buyout offer following the ‘93 flood. During the 1995 flood, Mr. Moore remembers driving back to his old homestead on the floodplain as the water was rising.
I felt relieved. I was laughing. I even drove down to the old house. I could see the water coming up and I was so relieved that I could just sit there and watch it come up. I didn’t have to sandbag...I was happy because I was bought out and I’m gone. I don’t have to worry about it the rest of my life. (Schneider and Klise, "Out of Harms Way: Missouri’s Flood Buyout Program")
PROJECT COST
$840,000
FUNDING SOURCE
FEMA– FMA
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The small Village of Lupus, Missouri is located at the termination of route P, just off highway 179 in Moniteau County in the central region of the state. The community lies along the western edge of the Missouri River in a valley situated between the Big and Little Splice Creeks. With the exception of only two residences, the entire town of twenty-one houses sit within the floodplain.
During the Great Flood of 1993, the small town was inundated. Although the Village of Lupus had been a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) since 1986, only a few owners actually had taken out policies until the ‘93 flood event. The townspeople faced a rebuilding process that was both emotionally and financially difficult because of the lack of flood insurance. The subsequent flood in 1995 still struck five of the twenty-one residences. If anyone thought that serious flooding problems in Lupus, the ‘95 flood effectively dampened that illusion.
Once the flood waters had receded and as time passed, the citizens of Lupus examined their options and determined that their best course of action was to rebuild their properties a few feet higher at the same location rather than selling them as part of a buyout project and relocate elsewhere. By 1996, over 90 percent of the inhabitable floodplain dwellings in Lupus were covered by NFIP policies. By mid-1997, only one property owner in the Lupus floodplain remained without an NFIP policy. The Village of Lupus became very serious about implementing some effective mitigation measure, and focused intensively on developing an elevation project to save their village.
MITIGATION MEASURES EMPLOYED
The Village of Lupus wrote and adopted a Flood Mitigation Assistance Plan which was approved by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on July 1, 1997 and by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on August 1, 1997. The government of Lupus then submitted a Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) application which was approved by SEMA on July 23, 1997 and by FEMA on July 30, 1997.
The scope of the FMA project was to elevate thirteen structures and the relocation of one structure. Ultimately, eleven structures were elevated and none were relocated. FEMA contributed $138,839.13, a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) paid $89,195.38, and Interfaith provided $5,000 for a total project cost of $233,034.51. In addition, Interfaith and several property owners spent another $29,250.00 to pay for other non-eligible project costs.
PROJECT BENEFITS
Several benefits resulted from the Lupus Elevation Project. For example, the Village of Lupus remains in its original location, and none of the residents had to relocate. This minimized out of pocket expenses for the participants who did not go beyond the scope of the project. In addition, the project required that the lowest floor, to include the basement, be elevated at a minimum to the flood protection level, i.e. base flood elevation (BFE), and that the lowest finished floor be at least two feet above BFE to maximize protection against likely future floods. This method of mitigation was a relatively inexpensive way to move those properties out of future harms way. The elevation project also is a good example of how to use FMA, CDBG, non-profit, and owner funding to successfully accomplish a flooding mitigation project.
PROJECT COST
$233,035
FUNDING SOURCES
FEMA– FMA, CDBG, INTERFAITH
BUYOUT PROPERTIES IN LUPUS, MO
Property
Address Final
BFE Program
Eligible Fund Source
3780
Walnut
589.8
feet
FEMA
3820
Adams
585.9 feet
CDBG and Interfaith
3830
Adams
586.2
feet
FEMA
3838
Adams
587.0
feet
FEMA
3840
Adams
584.4
feet
FEMA
3850
Adams
589.5
feet
FEMA and Interfaith
3870
Adams
586.4
feet
CDBG
3740
Main
589.4
feet
CDBG and Interfaith
3750
Main
586.3
feet
CDBG and Interfaith
3760
Main
586.1
feet
FEMA
3800
Oak
586.7
feet
FEMA