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Monthly Archives: May 2016

Over 80 Communities at Risk of Losing NFIP Insurability

Over 80 Communities at Risk of Losing NFIP Insurability

FEMA published the list of 86 communities that will lose eligibility to purchase Flood Insurance on July 6

On Tuesday, May 24, 2016, FEMA published a list of 86 communities that would lose the ability to purchase Flood Insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) if specific actions were not taken by July 6, 2016. 44 CFR Part 59 requires that communities communities meet certain floodplain management measures before the effective date of the suspension (which are all dated July 6, 2016 for the current list).

The NIFP allows homeowners to purchase flood insurance that is normally not available through private insurance firms if their communities adopt appropriate floodplain management measures. These measures must include both measures to manage the floodplain and enforce those measures. These measures must be in compliance with 42 USC § 4102 (Criteria for Land Management and Use).

If a community does not address the issues that FEMA notified them of before the suspension, no federal finical assistance may be provided for “construction or acquisition of buildings in identified [Special Flood Hazard Areas]. This means, current policy holders could likely to keep their insurance; while new homeowners would face the possibility of not having the same insurability. This prohibition does not impact financial assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act not in connection with a flood though.

The 86 communities on the current list are in the states of Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Mexico. To view the whole list, visit the Federal Register pages 32661-32664 by clicking here.

Do City Codes Still Apply After a Disaster?

Do City Codes Still Apply After a Disaster?

Rowlett, TX Residents are getting notices to clean up their yards during recovery.

This is a good piece by WFAA in Dallas, Texas. The City of Rowlett Northeast of Dallas was hit by a tornado just after Christmas this past year and an interesting move by the City. In summary, the City began putting out notices of violations for yards being neglected per City Ordinances (i.e. grass too tall). The interesting part about this is, the city isn’t trying to crack down on anything. They’re just trying to find out who’s not working on recovering from the devastation so they can provide attention as necessary.

Personally from my experience with warning notices and such, I would have recommended that the city use different styled and colored notices of violation. One that is more tailored to the situation. When I was an Military Policemen we handed out what we called “Got-ya” tickets to let people know that they had let their personal property unattended and susceptible to theft (one of our largest problems on the installation). The ticket was designed in a way that it would alert people that they did something and we were trying to help; without shocking them that they were in trouble and become defensive. I liken the “got-ya” tickets to this situation since the city is really trying to identify problem properties; more than crack down on people.

Though the standard code compliance warning does the job of shocking the owner into either calling the city or cleaning up their yard; it also might do some damage for community relations between the constituency and the municipality. I would be interested to see if there is any political/bureaucratic fallout from this well intentioned move.

See the WFAA Report Here

City of Rowlett Press Release on Abandoned or Destroyed Structures Here

City of Rowlett “Code Compliance and the Remediation and Demolition of Substandard and Dangerous Structures” available Here

Visit the City of Rowlett’s Code Enforcement Department Web page Here

 

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