New floodplain maps could affect thousands of Wichita properties

Thousands of properties in Wichita could be impacted by changes to floodplain maps, which determine who is required to buy flood insurance, including more than 4,300 new properties coming into the floodplain citywide.

The maps will affect individual properties differently, with some properties entering the floodplain and others leaving it.

Floodplains change because of development and improvements to drainage. City officials also say that better technology helps make newer maps more accurate and the new maps include streets prone to flooding and areas near ponds.

District 6, which encompasses the Riverside neighborhood and other areas north of West Douglas and west of I-135, will be the most affected part of the city, with more than 1,300 properties changing floodplain designation and more than 1,700 new properties coming into the floodplain.

“At this point, I would caution people to stay calm until we get some more detail on the maps, to know there is a process to appeal and that they may not be required to purchase flood insurance unless they have a federally financed mortgage,” said Janet Miller, District 6 council member.

“We’re missing still at this point a lot of the important detail, which has to do with differentiating between properties being in a floodplain and structures being in a floodplain.”

After the maps are finalized, owners can apply for a Letter of Map Amendment or hire a survey company to appeal the floodplain designation on their property with a Elevation Certificate to prove the structure is above a certain elevation, said Alan King, director of public works and utilities.

Owners can also get grandfathered insurance rates if in the floodplain. Those affected will have a year to purchase flood insurance, he said.

Only residents who have federally backed loans on homes or other structures in floodplains are required to get flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program, said Ally Bishop with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The average policy is about $600 a year, she said.

But most residential mortgages are federally backed, she told the City Council at its workshop Tuesday. If a home or other structure is owned outright, insurance is not required.

The maps become effective in June 2016. They were last updated in 2007.

Officials will hold a series of information sessions for residents at District Advisory Board meetings through April for people to see more individualized information. Property owners also will be notified if there are changes.

“Sometimes you have great news and sometimes you don’t,” said Joe Hickle, associate stormwater engineer for the city.

“You’ve got to drill down to the nth degree to answer the question of whether you need flood insurance.”

The maps come after concerns that FEMA would not recertify the Big Ditch, a large flood control project which was completed in 1959 for $20 million to protect people and property from a 100-year flood – a flood so severe that it has only a 1 percent chance of occurring each year.

In 2010, FEMA notified area cities that it had started drawing new floodplain maps without the Big Ditch system, a move that would have required thousands of homeowners to buy flood insurance or pay higher rates for existing policies. FEMA eventually signed off on the levee system, which underwent some repairs.

This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 1:26 PM with the headline "New floodplain maps could affect thousands of Wichita properties."