Flooding – FAQs
I do not live in the floodplain. Why should the City take my tax dollars and spend them on people who are foolish enough to buy houses in the floodplain?
Between major floods, more than 90% of all drainage complaints received by Engineering involve properties not in floodplains. Many of these problems occur on properties on the sides of Huntsville mountains and involve blocked swales or drainage channels. Though you may not live in a designated floodplain, this does not mean you do not live on a floodprone property. Floodplains are only determined for rivers and major streams. Floodplains are almost never determined for minor streams, drainage ditches, and storm sewers. In a major flood, even some houses on top of Monte Sano could flood because of overflowing drainage ditches.
2. Instead of giving the houses acquired on Aldridge Creek to non-profit organizations, why doesn’t the City sell them and recover some of the taxpayer’s money?
The houses on Aldridge Creek were acquired mostly with money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Federal regulations do not allow buildings bought through the FEMA grant program to be sold by the City. The regulations did allow the City to give the homes to non-profits.
3. Many complaints we receive involve actions of neighbors. This and the following are a sample of some of these. My neighbor has run his gutter downspouts to my property line. Can he do that?
The City has no regulations regarding this, but you may be able to obtain a legal remedy.
4. My neighbor has (choose one of the following) a. put landscaping in a swale behind our houses and now my yard floods every time it rains, b) has blocked the swale behind our house with a privacy fence, c) blocked City access to a creek so that they cannot get to the channel to keep it cleaned out. Can he do that?
If the blockage occurs within a City easement, and if the blockage is flooding your property, the City may require the offending property owner to remove the blockage at his or her own expense. If the owner refuses to comply, he or she may be fined and the City may choose to clean out the problem and invoice the owner for the expense of removal. Many people in Huntsville do not realize that the shallow little ditch at the back of their property is in a City easement, is part of the design drainage system for the subdivision, and that placing fill or a structure in the easement is illegal.
5. Why does the City keep the Huntsville Spring Branch channel clear, but did not do the same for Aldridge Creek?
The City of Huntsville owns land along Huntsville Spring Branch and heavy equipment can be moved along adjacent roads so that the creek channel can be maintained. In Aldridge Creek, privacy fences have been built to the edge of the creek, sometimes into City easements blocking City access with cleaning equipment. Some of the channel improvements now being done in Aldridge Creek will provide easy access to the channel so that it can be maintained.
6. What is the regulatory floodplain?
The regulatory floodplain is the area that would be inundated during a 100-yr flood, as determined by either detailed watershed models or by approximate methods.
7. What is a 100-yr flood?
A 100-yr flood is a flood that has a 1% chance of occurrence in a given year. It does not mean that if it occurred in 1999, that you don’t have to worry again until 2099. In fact, three 100-yr floods may occur in a single year. Also, many people don’t realize that if they live in the regulatory floodplain, they have a 26% chance of experiencing a 100-yr flood during a 30-yr mortgage.
8. If I don’t live in a floodplain, can I get flood insurance?
Almost everyone living in a community participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) can get flood insurance. Huntsville is such a community. One exception involves facilities such as boat docks and other structures built over water. Under NFIP these cannot be insured.
9. What is the difference between a floodplain and a floodway?
The floodplain is composed of two parts: a) the floodway and b) the flood fringe. The floodway is the central part of the floodplain where you might be swept away if you walked outside during a 100-yr flood. It is also the part of the floodplain that should be kept clear of buildings and other obstructions so that flood elevations will not be increased significantly. Currently, Huntsville allows development in the flood fringe, but no fill or structure can be built in the floodway. Parking lots can be built in the floodway if they do not require fill.
10. The recently adopted Flood Mitigation Plan recommends that all properties in Huntsville be removed from the floodway. Isn’t this a waste of good land for development and won’t it take valuable land off the tax rolls? Isn’t that what flood insurance is for?
Land in floodways cannot be developed or redeveloped if the cost of improvement of floodway structures is more than half the value of the existing building. By acquiring the land, and dedicating the land to open space or greenways, and making channel improvements the City increases the value of surrounding property, and consequently, increases property tax revenues. This often will offset any loss in City revenue from removing land from the tax rolls. Also, if the City does not enforce federal floodplain regulations, the NFIP can put Huntsville on probation. FEMA recently notified Monroe County, Florida of impending probation because of failure to enforce floodplain regulations. If Monroe County continues to refuse compliance, it could be removed from the NFIP program and no one in the County could obtain flood insurance.
11. Why should I get flood insurance because if we have a flood, a disaster will be declared and I will be able to get assistance anyway?
This is an approach taken by some people in Davenport, Iowa. They had several Presidential disaster declarations related to flooding in the last few years, and decided not to pay several hundred dollars a year for flood insurance. First, they are betting on a disaster declaration. This is never a sure thing. Secondly, this is probably part of NFIP regulations that will change within the next few months if it has not already been changed. To get federal disaster relief funds, you will need to have a flood insurance policy in force.
12. What is a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)?
A property in a SFHA is a property that lies in the 100-yr floodplain. A home in a SFHA must have flood insurance for Federally-backed mortgage. A building is in an SFHA if any part of the structure is in the SFHA. Consequently, if the floodplain boundary crosses even a corner of a house including a deck, then the whole building is considered to be in the floodplain.
13. I am trying to refinance my home and my mortgage company tells me that I am in the floodplain and must get flood insurance even though I’ve never had it before. I just don’t believe I am in the floodplain; how can I find out if I am?
Call City Engineering at (256) 427-5350. Mortgage companies often pay out-of-state flood determination companies to determine if a mortgage property is in the floodplain. Apparently, these companies are using incomplete or out-of-date information and they have made several erroneous determinations in the last few months. The City maintains complete files on flood maps and flood map revisions and often our data on Huntsville floodplains is much better than those of determination companies located in Texas or California. Recently, we have helped property owners in this situation. We provided our flood determination and subsequently mortgage companies have obtained corrected determinations from these companies. This service by the City is currently free.