Floods Really Cost Taxpayers!

The recent flooding along the Mississippi River (again) has brought more misery and property damage of enormous proportions. I'm sorry, but it seems to me if people are required to build their homes and businesses ABOVE the Flood Elevations, we would have a lot less damage. I'm not suggesting we don't build in flood-prone areas, but we make it a requirement to raise construction higher. I have been designing homes along the Atlantic coast for several years and everything is designed to be built above the Federal Flood Elevations. Either our predictions of "Flood Elevations" are too low, or we have a different set of guidelines for people in the floodplains along the Mississippi. For instance, the damage from Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans could have been a lot less if people were REQUIRED to build above the flood levels! Knowing what I do, I would never build a house below the water level elevation of the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, in a time we really don't need more regulations, I suggest we consider adding a requirement (that) we build our structures above flood levels. I also think we need to revise our flood level elevations up to a more reasonable height, based on more recent floods. (click on the title to see ABC news report)

Let's talk about HURRICANES!

1. To go to the latest maps on Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, go to the National Hurricane Center website.

2. One of the best sources of information on how to build homes in coastal areas is found in the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) FEMA 55, Edition3/August 2005 "Coastal Construction Manual" Principles and Practices of Planning, Siting, Designing, Construction, and Maintaining Buildings in Coastal Areas. Get it here. It's free and it's a wealth of information on how to build and prepare for flooding, hurricanes and storm protection.

3. To find local FEMA Flood Maps for your area, go to their web page and look under "Latest Available Flood Maps. You can view some maps online or purchase printed maps from FEMA.

4. A wealth of additional information concerning all types of Disasters can be found at the FEMA website. This site has an enormous amount of information and links that will keep you busy educating yourself.