New maps create flood of confusion

Confusion continues over Flathead County's new digital flood rate insurance maps.

Part of the problem lies in the wording of notification letters that lending institutions in the county are sending to borrowers. A letter from Glacier Bank of Whitefish begins: "The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently revised flood zones located in Flathead County. This revision of the maps has changed the zone of your property."

The leading lines are technically correct, but they don't tell the whole story. FEMA did release new maps in September 2007, but for the overwhelming majority of the county, the new maps have little to no effect.

For three small areas along Ashley Creek, Trumbull Creek and the North Fork of the Flathead River, revisions were included in the new maps and flood zone boundaries changed accordingly. The rest of the county, however, did not undergo reviews to change the data on which flood-plain boundaries are based.

But the boundary lines still changed, and the changes are forcing homeowners with mortgages to purchase flood insurance.

THE NEW maps now have the special flood hazard area boundaries marked over an aerial photograph that can show where structures are located with greater detail. Previous maps showed roads (and not all of them), waterways and little else.

Topographic differences between the two maps mean that although the data by which the boundaries are determined did not change, the map variances did cause boundary lines to shift. In most cases, the shift can be measured in millimeters, but it's enough to impact a large number of homes in Flathead County.

Millie Heffner, map modernization specialist with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, said that details such as contour interval changes will have an effect. Flathead County maps changed to a two-meter contour interval.

"It is feasible that there would be some changes in the boundary lines," Heffner said.

The updated maps triggered a re-evaluation of properties located within - or close to - the special flood hazard area boundary. Some homeowners received the notification, even though they weren't in the flood plain on the old maps, and they aren't in the flood plain in the new maps.

Others may have received notification stating that the new maps placed them in the flood plain, even though they already were in the flood zone on the old maps. This raised suspicion from local residents who thought banks and flood determination companies might have been using FEMA as a scapegoat for previous determination mistakes.

LOCAL lending institutions such as Glacier Bank could not confirm whether or not homeowners, who had possibly been overlooked on the previous maps, had received letters stating FEMA had actually rezoned them instead of acknowledging potential oversight.

Lenders such as Wells Fargo and Glacier Bank use First American Flood, a determination company in Texas, to review the maps and determine whether or not borrowers have structures located in the flood zone.

First American Flood, as required, may use only the flood insurance rate map to make determinations. Minute changes to flood zones on the new maps did put more structures in the hazard area.

Once First American Flood determines that a borrower is located in the flood zone, the company notifies the lender.

After the bank receives notification, the borrower is, in turn, notified by the bank. The borrower then has 45 days to purchase flood insurance or the bank is required to purchase insurance on behalf of the borrower - at three times the cost.

If a bank fails to require the flood insurance, it can be slapped with fines. In 2006, 119 banks throughout the United States were fined $1.3 million for noncompliance with federal flood insurance regulations.

HOMEOWNERS do have the option to fight the new determinations if they wish. Through a process called a Letter of Map Amendment, homeowners can appeal to FEMA to have the designation changed if their property has been mapped incorrectly. This requires that an engineer or surveyor shoot the elevation for the structure, usually at a cost of $600 to $1,000. If the lowest floor is above the base flood elevation level, FEMA may grant approval to the appeal and the required insurance is dropped.

On Sept. 28, 2007, the new Flathead County FEMA maps went into effect because of the agency's map modernization program taking place across the United States. Flathead County is one of the first areas in Montana to receive the new digital maps. Blaine County and portions of Lincoln County received new maps in 2006.

FEMA maps are generated by a complex program that determines how high the water levels would get in a "bad flooding event." The high-water mark is called the base flood elevation. The 100-year flood plain equates to a 1 percent chance in any given year that a bad flooding event would occur.

According to Marijo Camrud, who works for FEMA's National Flood Insurance program, the updated maps serve numerous purposes. First, the new digital maps bring all of Flathead County onto one unified map. Previously, the county, Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls had separate maps. This effort made all of the flood-plain information available on a consistent map scheme.

FLOOD insurance wasn't available in the United States until 1974 when Congress formed the National Flood Insurance Program. Congress employed the Army Corps of Engineers to map the country and to determine areas susceptible to flooding. The engineers estimated how high flood waters would rise in a bad incident, and this water level became known as the base flood elevation.

The government then offered more than 22,000 municipalities across the country voluntary participation in the insurance program. The basic agreement with FEMA was that the agency would make flood insurance available to homeowners residing in the flood plain as long as the community government refused to issue building permits unless the first floor was above the base flood elevation.

According to Evan Hecht, chief executive officer of The Flood Insurance Agency in Kalispell, the program was the government's attempt to curb future flood damage rather than jump into the insurance business. FEMA works with 90 insurance companies, and every company offers the same coverage for the same premiums, but how the agency rates flood insurance is extremely complicated.

Reporter Michael Richeson may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com