Flood Control Guys On What To Do

The Association of State Floodplain Managers has just issued a white paper called "Hurricane Katrina: Reconstruction through Mitigation." It's good; here's an abbreviated outline.

Reconstruction

• FEMA needs to analyze its flood maps to see if they accurately predicted Katrina's damage. If not, they need to be revised. To the uninitiated, this may not sound like much, but it's a huge recommendation, because map revisions will drive changes in construction, insurance, etc.
• Require mitigation when reconstructing, including elevating and floodproofing structures, and acquiring and relocating properties deemed too hazardous. (Many of these homes have been subsidized by us via FEMA insurance, so getting rid of them is a good idea.)
• The Association recommends mandatory national standards. (A bit of a "yikes!" there, since the costs to the private sector could massive and the rationale tenuous.) The white paper points out, though, that New Orleans considered and rejected higher construction and building codes.

Provide Funding for Federal Mitigation

• Since these guys work for state flood control agencies, of course they're asking for federal bucks. Originally the Feds were supposed to pay 15% of the disaster costs, but it's been cut to 7.5%. I'm OK with a bump up, as long as it's used as a club to force building safer buildings and levees.
• Knock off repetitive loss payments to properties. This is a very bright idea. Many owners of structures in hazard zones have filed multiple claims as their beach houses or riverfront properties get nailed again and again. The flood guys say this has got to stop, and I agree.

Protecting and Restoring Natural Systems

• Fine, but I think the deterioriation of wetlands and marshes in Louisiana has probably been grossly overstated. Anyway, it's virtually impossible to destroy these nowdays without restoring other wetlands and marshes elsewhere. The barrier islands have been badly damaged in recent years, though, and efforts should be made to restore them.
  

Levees and Other Protection

• Levees in urban areas should be built to 500-year flood standards, not 100-year. That reduces the flood risk from 1% to .2%. "It is important to recognize that levee failures in the New Orleans area is [sic] simply the tip of the iceberg -- we have thousands of miles of levees "protecting" large and critical urban communities in this nation."
• Require flood insurance even on properties protected by levees that meet 100-year flood standards. The flood guys say these levees will be overtopped some day, and the property owners behind them will receive FEMA payoffs even though they didn't pay flood insurance. This will be a multi-billion dollar hit on the economy -- something in the neighborhood of $6 million in additional insurance payments annually in Huntington Beach CA alone.
• This is an absolutely essential one: Require the Corps of Engineers to implement an National Levee Safety Inspection Program similar to what's done with dams. No fed funds should be available unless the levees and their maintenance meet standards, or the state and local jurisdictions accept their share of costs for levee failure. I'd take it further, and require that levees be built to dam standards.