Under water, out of luck

By Charles Sowell  

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 8:41 p.m. (0)

Homeowners concerned that their property might be included in the new flood zone map can go to the Spartanburg County Graphic Information System Web site and click on GIS mapping program. Once the program comes up on the screen click on the mapping pulldown at the top right corner and click layer choices and select flood zones and aerials 2009. This will present a view of the new flood zones and give the homeowner a good idea if any structures are vulnerable.

Sometime soon about 200 homeowners in Spartanburg County are going to be included in the county’s updated flood zone maps and will not be happy about it, county officials have said.

A roughly equivalent number will no longer be included and are expected to be quite pleased. The current maps are based on data from the late 1970s. The maps were accepted by federal officials in the middle 1980s.

“Technology has come a long way since then,” said Ron Kirby, Spartanburg County engineer. “We know the new maps will be more accurate and are based on better data on stream flow and topography.”

Those homeowners who will be required to purchase flood insurance will get a preferred rate through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFLIP). The insurance will cost about $230 for a $100,000 home, said Kirby.

“For the folks we’ve identified as being in the one percent (risk) flood zone (commonly called a 100-year flood) it is not a matter of if, but of when the next flood will occur,” Kirby said.

In 1968 Congress mandated federally regulated or insured lenders to require flood insurance on properties in high-risk flood areas and provided affordable policies if the community participates in the NFLIP.

Some of the requirements for NFLIP participation are to maintain updated flood zone maps and to implement measures to mitigate flooding through land use control and building standards.

Spartanburg County participates in NFLIP and the new maps should be approved by FEMA shortly after Jan. 1, 2011.

According to FEMA, homes and buildings in high-risk flood areas have a one percent, or greater, chance of flooding during any given year.

It is the equivalent of a 26 percent chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage.

Spartanburg County has not seen any homes flooded this year, Kirby said.

The last flood events that affected homeowners came, oddly enough, during the decade-long drought that plagued the region in the first part of this century.

“We had a couple of high-rainfall events, the remnants of a hurricane and a couple of strong storms, that dumped a great deal of water in a short period of time,” Kirby said. “Because these events happened during a drought, runoff was increased due to soil compaction.”

During a long drought soils can become so hard that they will actually cause more runoff during heavy rainfall.

Greenville County has suffered many of the same kinds of flooding issues and to a greater degree than Spartanburg.

Greenville will spend about $25 million over the next few years for a home buyout program where the structures that have suffered repeated flooding are purchased with a combination of local and federal money and demolished. The floodplain is then restored to its natural state.

Kirby said Spartanburg’s flooding problems are not as great as Greenville’s largely due to the fact there is less sewer and more septic tanks.

Paula Gucker, assistant Greenville County administrator for public works, agreed and said, “Flooding issues can be directly linked to density. Sewer lines enable builders to put houses closer together and place them closer to streams.”

Kirby said Spartanburg soil types require larger lot sizes and bigger setbacks from streams before the state Department of Health and Environmental Control will issue a septic tank permit.

Some homeowners are so enamored of stream front property that they will actually put their septic tank uphill from the house and pump their sewage there. Kirby said.

Spartanburg has no regulations on the practice, but Kirby said he is recommending council approve changes to building codes that would increase the elevation that structures in flood zones must be elevated above the one percent flood line.

In Greenville County homes in or adjacent to the flood zone must be elevated at least four feet above the 1 percent flood line.