News

FEMA shortens Rocher's levee deadline

Posted September 08, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

The timeline for Prairie du Rocher to have its levees federally certified has now gotten a lot shorter.

In a Sept. 7 written statement distributed to regional media outlets, Prairie du Rocher Chamber of Commerce President Amy Barbeau stated that the new deadline is March of next year.

FEMA's previous deadline was 12 to 18 months after July 1 to complete certification.

"Based on the LAMP report I am reading from them, it appears that if we do not have everything in place by (March), we will be decertified and return to a Zone X category, making growth in the city impossible and skyrocketed flood insurance rates that would cripple the town," Barbeau wrote. "As you can imagine, we are all very upset about this new date."

The Levee Analysis and Mapping Procedure (LAMP) addresses flood hazards in areas located behind non-accredited levee systems.

In 2013, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released new analysis and mapping procedures, which are being used to produce new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs).

"After Hurricane Katrina happened in New Orleans (in 2005), shortly thereafter, FEMA responded by changing the guidelines nationwide on what needs to be in place in order to have a 'certified' levee," Barbeau wrote. "The rules have become much more stringent because of places where hurricanes could occur, and although our levee has never breached, we are being held to the same guidelines as much more disaster-prone areas.

"FEMA did not decertify our levee, rather put us in a category giving us 'provisional' certification."

Barbeau wrote that meant that the village's levee could stay certified as long as it was brought up to current FEMA codes.

"We have been working on meeting that ever-changing target ever since," she wrote.

The village has been actively working to raise the $62,000 needed for the engineering study as part of the certification process, with nearly $25,000 raised from a variety of sources - including a GoFundMe page.

"You'll remember we needed $62,000 for the engineering study, and the good news there is that it looks like we will be able to secure a tax anticipation loan with the backing of Randolph County to help us meet the difference needed," Barbeau wrote. "This, however, is a loan that will, of course, still need to be repaid."

But the engineering study is only part of the process, as the village would then need to pay for the work the study would recommend.

But FEMA's new deadline has caught village officials off-guard and federal officials have set up a meeting at the Prairie du Rocher American Legion Hall at 9 a.m. Sept. 21 to discuss the situation and give the village a chance to respond to the agency's decision.

The public is also invited to attend.

If the new deadline stands, Prairie du Rocher may not make it to its 300th birthday in 2022.

"We are inviting our congressmen, senators, members of the Corp of Engineers, the Delta Regional Authority, etcetera, to attend this meeting to help speak on our behalf," Barbeau wrote. "Basically, we are fighting for our life as a community here.

"FEMA's decision to forego their original deadline, and move it to an unreachable target, basically holds the death of our town in its grasp. We need to find a way to fight this deadline."

In a follow-up interview Friday, Barbeau told the Herald Tribune that she does not know why FEMA specifically targeted March.

"Up until recently, every time they've come down for meetings and teleconferences, they've asked what we've done lately," she said. "In all honesty, we don't know what that (deadline) means."

Barbeau also said the last time FEMA officials were in the area was in March, when agency representatives toured damage from the New Year's Flood as part of requests from the state for federal assistance in flood recovery.

Those requests were ultimately denied by FEMA.

"We're the only certified levee all the way to East St. Louis," Barbeau said. "It's never been breached and we're desperately trying to hold on to it."

Barbeau was asked what her hopes are for the Sept. 21 meeting.

"We want to raise awareness and are looking to put a little bit of pressure on FEMA to give us some time," she said. "We have the funding in place to finish the survey they're waiting on and we just need some time to get that done."

Article Categories
News