Title
Report: Annual Substantial Damage Plan Update
Body
The purpose of this update is to update the Council on actions taken by the City to comply with FEMA's regulations governing flood plain management. The City's substantial damage plan was developed to assist with post-flooding responses to evaluate the potential damage to occupied structures as required by FEMA. "Substantial damage" is defined by FEMA as "Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred." The reason structure are evaluated for substantial damage is to comply with the FEMA requirement, and local codes, to rebuild a structure substantially damage so that improvements are made to comply with current codes. Common examples of code compliance could be elevating the entire structrue above the base flood elevation, elevating utilities above the base flood elevation, or flood-proofing a non-residential structure, etc.
In 2024, City staff conducted substantial damage estimates following the July 1 and 4, 2024 rain events on five (5) properties located within flood hazard areas mapped by FEMA. The rain events lasted 4-6 hours each and the flooding events each lasted less than approximately 2 hours. All five of these properties and have experienced riverine flooding in the past, for which City staff have previously completed Substantial Damage Evaluations. None of properties sustained substantial damage as defined above.
Presenter
George Binger, PE, City Engineer