From today’s Press-Register Commentary (here in its entirety):
FEMA CONTINUES to neglect coastal Alabama by dawdling on compiling new flood maps.
After Hurricane Katrina and later Hurricane Rita devastated coastal Mississippi and Louisiana in 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency made updated flood maps a priority for those states.
In the aftermath of historic storm surges, urgent questions included whether new buildings should be higher off the ground and whether the occupants should be required to buy flood insurance (a FEMA program).
But Alabama also experienced coastal devastation and unprecedented storm surge in parts of south Mobile County — Bayou La Batre, Coden and surrounding areas.
Even though the flood maps for Mobile and Baldwin counties were outdated, FEMA initially said Alabama didn’t need to be on a faster track because it didn’t have the same level of damage.
That excuse ignored the fact that Katrina just as easily could have hit here, and if it had, the hurricane almost certainly would have had a similarly catastrophic effect on the Alabama coast.
A couple of years later, FEMA had second thoughts, however, and said new maps would be available for Alabama in 2010.
Well, it’s 2010, and now the maps are supposed to come out in 2012. But they might not be ready then, a state official says.
At least the Press-Register was able to get information from a state flood-plain management official. FEMA’s spokeswoman couldn’t be reached.
The latest delay reportedly is because Alabama’s mapping project wasn’t funded until the last fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores have long since raised their required elevations for new construction, but it’s unknown if FEMA will eventually come out with something even higher.
At stake are construction costs that may go up with elevated structures, flood insurance requirements and the very future of development in coastal Alabama. Even more important, accurate maps are a matter of public safety. People make decisions to evacuate based on whether they feel safe in their homes; if they don’t know they live in the 100-year flood plain, the wrong choice could be fatal.
The updated maps also cover rivers in each county, so it’s not only people who happen to live near the beach or the bay who are affected.
Alabama’s congressmen need to be asking questions and putting pressure on FEMA to get moving.
It shouldn’t take seven years or more after a major hurricane to determine whether people should build higher off the ground.
“Editorial: Seven Years too Long for Updated Flood Maps” (via al.com)
Photo: Matt Callow