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Department of Community Services BUILDING & CODE SERVICES FLOODPLAIN INFORMATION
Continue reading for the answer. On its FloodSmart website, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) defines a floodplain as "any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwater from any source".— From the NFIP Flood Smart Program Therefore, YES, you do live in a floodplain. In fact, everyone lives in a floodplain. However, everyone does NOT have the same degree of risk for flooding. The range of risk varies from very low to moderate to very high. The City of Carmel, including Clay Township, is a participating community in the NFIP. The Mitigation Division of FEMA manages the NFIP, and as a participating community, Carmel follows guidelines for effective floodplain management. The Floodplain Administrator for the City of Carmel, including Clay Township, is Jim Blanchard. Trudy A. Weddington assists him with this responsibility. Please contact Trudy if you have questions, concerns, and/or comments about Carmel’s floodplain management. You can reach her at (317) 571-2433 or at tweddington@carmel.in.gov during normal office hours—between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.—Monday through Friday. FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING FLOODING, FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT, AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOU, CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING TOPICS. Flooding: Does It Really Happen Here? Floodplain Management: Can Floods Be Managed? National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP): Who Pays for Flooding? Flood Insurance Study (FIS): Who Decides Where It Might Flood? Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM): Where Might It Flood? Creating a FIRMette: Where Am I on the FIRM? Flood Zones: What Do They Mean? Possible FIRM Mistake: Can a Flood Zone Determination Change? Flood Insurance Policy: Do I Need or Want One? Flooding: Does It Really Happen Here? Although not a common occurrence, the City of Carmel and Clay Township have experienced minor, moderate, and major flooding events within the last five years. This is no different than the rest of the country. FEMA states "Floods are one of the most common hazards in the United States. Flood effects can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or very large, affecting entire river basins and multiple states. "However, all floods are not alike. Some floods develop slowly, sometimes over a period of days. But flash floods can develop quickly, sometimes in just a few minutes and without any visible signs of rain. Flash floods often have a dangerous wall of roaring water that carries rocks, mud, and other debris and can sweep away most things in its path. Overland flooding occurs outside a defined river or stream, such as when a levee is breached, but still can be destructive. Flooding can also occur when a dam breaks, producing effects similar to flash floods. "Be aware of flood hazards no matter where you live, but especially if you live in a low-lying area, near water or downstream from a dam. Even very small streams, gullies, creeks, culverts, dry streambeds, or low-lying ground that appear harmless in dry weather can flood. Every state is at risk from this hazard." —From FEMA
Floodplain Management: Can Floods Be Managed? The NFIP defines and describes floodplain management as "a decision-making process that aims to achieve the wise use of the nation’s floodplains. ‘Wise use’ means both reduced flood losses and protection of the natural resources and function of floodplains." —From FEMA According to FEMA, "When the community chooses to join the NFIP, it must adopt and enforce minimum floodplain management standards for participation. FEMA works closely with State and local officials to identify flood hazard areas and flood risks. The floodplain management requirements within the SFHA [Special Flood Hazard Area] are designed to prevent new development from increasing the flood threat and to protect new and existing buildings from anticipated flood events. "When a community chooses to join the NFIP, it must require permits for all development in the SFHA and ensure that construction materials and methods used will minimize future flood damage. Permit files must contain documentation to substantiate how buildings were actually constructed. In return, the Federal Government makes flood insurance available for almost every building and its contents within the community. "Communities must ensure that their adopted floodplain management ordinance and enforcement procedures meet program requirements. Local regulations must be updated when additional data are provided by FEMA or when Federal or State standards are revised." —From FEMA The City of Carmel, including Clay Township, does have a zoning ordinance regulating floodplain management. The ordinance’s purpose "is to guide development in the flood hazard areas in order to reduce the potential for: 1. Loss of life and property; 2. Health and safety hazards; 3. Extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief."
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP): Who Pays for Flooding? Origin of NFIP "For decades, the national response to flood disasters was simply to provide disaster relief to flood victims. Efforts were also made to install flood-control constructions such as dams, levees, and seawalls. "Funded by citizen tax dollars, this approach failed to reduce losses. It also didn’t provide a way to cover the damage costs of all flood victims. To compound the problem, the public generally couldn’t buy flood coverage from insurance companies, because private insurance companies see floods as too costly to insure. "In the face of mounting flood losses and escalating costs of disaster relief to U.S. taxpayers, Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968. The goals of the program are to reduce future flood damage through floodplain management, and to provide people with flood insurance. "More than 35 years later, the NFIP continues to offer flood insurance to homeowners, renters and business owners, provided their communities use the NFIP’s strategies for reducing flood risk. "Community participation in the NFIP is voluntary, although some states require NFIP partnership as part of their floodplain management programs. "NFIP flood insurance is the best protection against the devastating financial losses that floods cause." —From the NFIP Flood Smart Program
Components of NFIP "The three components of the NFIP are: flood insurance, floodplain management, flood hazard mapping. Nearly 20,000 communities across the United States and its territories participate in the NFIP by adopting and enforcing floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage. In exchange, the NFIP makes Federally backed flood insurance available to homeowners, renters, and business owners in these communities. Community participation in the NFIP is voluntary. Flood insurance is designed to provide an alternative to disaster assistance to reduce the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their contents caused by floods. Flood damage is reduced by nearly $1 billion a year through communities implementing sound floodplain management requirements and property owners purchasing of flood insurance. Additionally, buildings constructed in compliance with NFIP building standards suffer approximately 80 percent less damage annually than those not building in compliance. And, every $3 paid in flood insurance claims saves $1 in disaster assistance payments."—From FEMA
Flood Insurance Study (FIS): Who Decides Where It Might Flood? In order to assess the risk of flooding for the floodplains of the United States and its territories, FEMA conducts studies of water sources, including, but not limited to, meteorological, climatic, hydrological, hydraulic, topographical, and historical. The data from these studies are analyzed, compiled, and reported as Flood Insurance Studies (FISs) and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). "A Flood Insurance Study (FIS) is a book that contains information regarding flooding in a community and is developed in conjunction with the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). The FIS, also known as a flood elevation study, frequently contains a narrative of the flood history of a community and discusses the engineering methods used to develop the FIRMs. The study also contains flood profiles for studied flooding sources and can be used to determine Base Flood Elevations for some areas." —From FEMA "Flood hazard areas are determined using statistical analyses of records of river-flow, storm tides, and rainfall; information obtained through consultation with the community; floodplain topographic surveys; and hydrologic and hydraulic analyses. The FIS covers those areas subject to flooding from rivers and streams, along coastal areas and lakeshores, or shallow flooding areas. Actual copies of FISs can be ordered from MSC [Map Service Center]. The results of the Flood Insurance Study that define flood risk areas for each community are available in a technical document that provides information used for floodplain management. This is known as the Flood Insurance Study Report. Regulatory floodways and other floodplain management information may be shown on a separate flood map known as a Flood Boundary and Floodway Map (FBFM). If the FBFM for the FIS is available, it is distributed with the Flood Insurance Study report and available to order from MSC. —From FEMA
Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM): Where Might It Flood? Once data from floodplain studies are analyzed and complied, the results become Flood Insurance Studies (FISs), along with Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), if applicable. FIRMs give a pictorial representation of the degree of risk floodplains have for flooding, whether it be low, moderate, or high. FIRMs can display, but are not limited to, the following: municipality boundaries, roads and streets, railroads, lakes and rivers, cross-section markers from floodplain studies, Flood Zones, Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), and Base Flood Elevations (BFEs). The FEMA Map Service Center (MSC) distributes the FIRMs, as well as other products, to community officials, surveyors, appraisers, real estate brokers, banks, mortgage lenders, insurance agents, citizens, and other stakeholders. "Here you can view all current flood maps (Flood Insurance Rate Maps) effective for the entire U.S. and its Territories. You can also create a FIRMette, which is a copy of these maps that will fit on an 8 ½" x 11" sheet of paper. FIRMetts have the same legal status as the normal size maps and can be used for all aspects of the NFIP, including floodplain management, flood insurance, and enforcement of mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements." —From FEMA "FEMA engineers and cartographers delineate Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) on FIRMs. SFHAs are those areas subject to inundation by a flood that has a 1-percent or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded during any given year. This type of flood is referred to as a base flood. A base flood has a 26-percent chance of occurring during a 30-year period. . . the length of many mortgages. The base flood is a regulatory standard used by Federal agencies, and most states, to administer floodplain management programs, and is also used by the National Flood Insurance Program as the basis for insurance requirements nationwide." —From FEMA Map Service Center
The FIRM for the City of Carmel, including Clay Township, is also
available for viewing in-person at the Building and Code Services office,
located within the Carmel City Hall building on the first floor next to the
elevators. The address is 1 Civic Square, Carmel, IN 46032.
Creating a FIRMette: Where Am I on the FIRM? Definition and Procedure "A FIRMette is a full-scale section of a FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) that you create yourself online by selecting the desired area from an image of a Flood Insurance Rate Map. The FIRMette also includes the map title block, north arrow, and scale bar. There is no charge for making a FIRMette." —From FEMA Map Service Center Anyone can obtain FIRMettes using the Internet. FEMA’s Map Service Center (MSC) created the following Microsoft Word files to assist in this process. To use either of these instructions, click on the appropriate link: Instructions for Making a FIRMette Using Map Search Instructions for Making a FIRMette Using Catalog Search . To create a FIRMette for yourself, click on the following: Creating a FIRMette. Sample FIRMette
The City of Carmel City Hall Building, located at 1 Civic Square, Carmel, IN 46032, lies in a floodplain that is a Zone X (unshaded). It does not lie in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). To the southwest of Civic Square, lies a floodplain that is a Zone AE, which is a SFHA.
Flood Zones: What Do They Mean? On Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) all floodplains correspond with Flood Zone classifications. These classifications refer to the amount of risk the area has for flooding and/or what type of flooding is likely to occur there. There are three overall groupings for Flood Zones: those that have an undetermined risk for flooding, those that have moderate to low risk for flooding, and those that have high risk for flooding. Zone D identifies the floodplains that have an unknown risk for flooding. Zones B, C, and X have moderate to low risk, and all forms of Zone A and all forms of Zone V have high risk. FEMA, in fact, further classifies a high-risk zone as a "Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), which is defined as an area of land that would be inundated by a flood having a 1% chance of occurring in any given year (previously referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood). The 1% annual chance standard was chosen after considering various alternatives. The standard constitutes a reasonable compromise between the need for building restrictions to minimize potential loss of life and property and the economic benefits to be derived from floodplain development." —From FEMA For definitions of all flood zones, click on the
following link:
Possible FIRM Mistake: Can a Flood Zone Determination Change? Letters of Map Change (LOMCs) Sometimes a property with topographical conditions that places the property at an approved elevation is inadvertently included within a high-risk flood zone—a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)—on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). Due to this oversight, FEMA has a petition process for property owners or lessees to request an official determination for that property. If the FIRM is inaccurate and the property should not be in the SFHA, FEMA will release the property through a Letter of Map Change (LOMC). A LOMC is an official notification from FEMA that legally changes the FIRM. A LOMC can exclude the entire property, a portion of it, or only the structure/s thereon from the SFHA. There are six types of LOMCs:
To view a Microsoft Word file of LOMCs for the City of Carmel, including Clay Township, click on the following link: LOMCs for City of Carmel, including Clay Township
Petitioning FEMA for a LOMC Depending on what type of LOMC is required, there are different requirements for petitions. Some possible components of a LOMC petition include, but are not limited to, the following:
By clicking on the following link, you can access tutorials on how to petition FEMA for a LOMA or a LOMR-F: FEMA LOMC Tutorials.
Flood Insurance Policy: Do I Need or Want One? People located within a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), usually all forms of Zones A and all forms of Zones V, must purchase flood insurance coverage, if their community participates in the NFIP. People located within any of the other Flood Zones have the option to purchase flood insurance; it is not a requirement. Although, some may find they that do want flood insurance to protect their investments. "Buying flood insurance is the best thing you can do to protect your home, business, family, and financial security from a flood." —From the NFIP Flood Smart Program Because the City of Carmel, including Clay Township, is a participating community in the NFIP, any person that owns property, either real estate or personal, within Clay Township can apply to purchase flood insurance, whether the property is within in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) or not. For example, people located within a Zone X (unshaded) floodplain, one that has a moderate to low risk of flooding, do not have to purchase flood insurance but may want to do so, especially if their property is in close proximity to a high risk area such as a Zone A. "When you are a flood insurance policyholder:
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Do you live in a Floodplain?
To
view a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) listing of
officially recognized flood events in Hamilton County, click on the
following and follow the directions:
The
ordinance is viewable in its entirety by clicking on the following link:
To
view the FIS for the City of Carmel, including Clay Township, click on the
following and follow the directions:
The
FIS for the City of Carmel, including Clay Township, is also available for
viewing in-person at the Building and Code Services office, located within
the Carmel City Hall building on the first floor next to the elevators. The
address is 1 Civic Square, Carmel, IN 46032.
Anyone
can view the FIRM for the City of Carmel, including Clay Township. FEMA’s
Map Service Center (MSC) created the following Microsoft Word file to assist
in this process. To use these instructions, click on the link:
The
list of LOMCs for the City of Carmel, including Clay Township, is also
available for viewing in-person at the Building and Code Services office,
located within the Carmel City Hall building on the first floor next to the
elevators. The address is 1 Civic Square, Carmel, IN 46032.
To
investigate whether or not you may want to purchase flood insurance, click
on the following:
