Agenda - Planning Commission - 05/03/2012

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Promoting Flood Resiliency Through the Regulatory Process By Terri L. Turner, AICP Flooding occurs in all regions of the United States and at all times of the year. One in three disaster declarations is a result of flooding, and an increase in population, increased development in flood -prone ar- eas, and a predicted increase in intensified rain events due to climate change will only exacerbate those numbers. Flood resiliency can be defined as the integration of roles, responsibilities, and governance necessary to adapt to the -vari- ous risks associated with flooding and the ability to withstand and rapidly recover from disruptions in function after a flood event. Successful flood resiliency should be- gin at the community level with individuals taking personal accountability for their re- lationship to the environment around them and the associated risk that this environ- ment can impose. Unfortunately, resiliency is, all too often, viewed by the general public as being the exclusive responsibility of local, state, or federal governments. Many mitiga- tion and planning practitioners attribute this mindset to a lack of public outreach and education about risk and resiliency. In other words, we haven't done enough to fostera culture in which hazards, such as flooding, are identified, planned for, and then miti- gated so that the vulnerability to the disas- ter is lessened and the community's ability to withstand and rapidly recover from the disaster is increased. The regulatory process is an essential tool in the arsenal of fighting floods and promoting flood resiliency. Zoning, building codes, and other regulatory measures can ensure that fewer vulnerable structures are built in flood -prone areas, fewer lives are put at risk, and fewer losses, to both prop - In January zaio, the Rocky Creek in Augusta,, Georgia, flooded several homes. However, the frequency and duration of damaging flooding events has. been reduced dramatically since the city revised its floodplain ordinance in z000. erty and people, are incurred due to unwise ' development patterns. A LOOK AT THE NFIP The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was developed in 1.968 as a part of the National Flood Insurance Act. The NFIP is a voluntary agreement between the federal government and participating communi- ties in which the federal government offers subsidized flood insurance to communities that agree to adopt and enforce a flood ordi- nance that, at a minimum, meets the federal standards to reduce future flood risk to new construction in floodplains. Flood insurance, now provided to nearly zo,000 communi- ties across the United States through the NFIP, was designed to provide an insurance alternative to disaster assistance and also to reduce the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their contents after a flood event. Buildings constructed in accor- dance with minimum NFIP building standards suffer approximately 8o percent less damage annually than those buildings not built in compliance with the minimum standards. Without homes and workplaces that are resilient to natural disasters, there is no chance of a sustainable local economy. While the NFIP has been the most cost-effec- tive hazard mitigation tool in the history of this nation, flood losses in the United States continue to worsen. In fact, these increasing flood losses can be attributed, in part, to federally backed flood insurance that en- courages at -risk development in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). Consequently, there is still a gap in land -use regulation ZONINGPRACTICE 4.12 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION i page 2