EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT:  an oxymoron?  "EMERGENCY:  EVERYONE TO GET FROM STREET" (a line from the movie "The Russians Are Coming" 1966)
Pages on the "About Town" website devoted to the subject of emergency management, both here in CT and around the U.S.A. and the world:

Emergency Management
New Orleans
China
Natural Disasters
Pandemics and health
Dams
Other

CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE:


Been to Venice yet?  Street flooding in Eastern CT - NOT JUST THE BIG EASY'S PROBLEM. Cities in history disappeared for lack of it...Mother Nature better than engineered drainage.

The Cartbridge Road bridge story...and we now declare this bridge REOPENED!  Read about it here.  Going-out-of-business-until-the-tide-goes-out sale: Main Street, Westport ("Rodeo Drive East")

and no parking spaces even in a nor'easter!  FEMA flood map story...and from WestportNow!


T A B L E    O F    C O N T E N T S



Obama approves federal disaster funding for Connecticut
Stamford ADVOCATE
Published: 10:42 p.m., Friday, May 28, 2010

Less than 24 hours after filing an appeal with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to secure federal funds for individuals whose homes were damaged in the March nor'easter and others storms, Gov. M. Jodi Rell received approval from President Barack Obama.

"This is wonderful news -- and it is exactly the right decision," Rell said in a statement. "The information we provided just a day ago to the federal government demonstrated conclusively that Connecticut's residents and employers suffered major, unreimbursed losses from these storms. They need help -- and now they are getting it."

Rell said staff from the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security worked closely with 13 FEMA teams to verify nearly 2,500 damaged homes in five counties, with damage estimated at $13.5 million, almost double the 1,315 homes identified in the first application.

Of the 2,498 homes, 588 are in Fairfield County. The others are in Middlesex, New London, New Haven and Windham counties.

The state's assessment also found that only 7 percent of residents filing damage reports are fully insured for damage.

The president last month approved a disaster declaration for public assistance, freeing up federal funding to municipal governments in Fairfield, Middlesex and New London counties.

The March 13 nor'easter left thousands of households in lower Fairfield County without power for several days, knocking down trees and closing roads. A severe storm at the end of March affected northern parts of the state.

Columbia Yearbook picture, we assume.  Some people study how to walk on water, so they don't see flooding as a problem?
Obama's aid decision stirs anger.  Residents, business owners in state denied financial flooding help; Rell plans to appeal
By Joe Wojtas, Megan Bard and Chuck Potter Day Staff Writers
Article published Apr 28, 2010

Since last month's floods, residents and business owners in communities across southeastern Connecticut whose properties were damaged have heard repeated assurances that the federal government would cover their noninsured losses.

Both the state and New London County easily exceeded the monetary threshold needed to qualify for disaster assistance, and last week President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration that allowed aid to begin flowing to the state and municipalities to cover their costs.  But on Tuesday afternoon, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced that Obama had denied the state's request for individual aid.

The news angered both local officials and residents.

"I'm thoroughly disgusted with him," Beverly Haley of Old Mystic said of Obama. She and her husband, Wes, who have lived in their house since 1952, are facing $20,000 worth of damage after water filled their basement and reached the first floor.

"It shows where his interests are. He's not out to help the common man at all," Wes Haley said of the president while noting that repair costs will take a big bite out of his retirement savings. "There's a lot of people who can't afford this."

Stonington First Selectmen Ed Haberek, who as late as Monday had reassured worried residents that the aid would be coming, called Obama's decision "disgraceful."

"The denial of this aid just puts salt in the wounds of our residents," he said.

Haberek said he was especially surprised since FEMA officials toured the damaged areas with him in the days after the storm, causing what some said was the worst flooding in town since the hurricane of 1938. 
Many areas of town that had never flooded before were inundated with water, while the center of Old Mystic was turned into a rushing river.  The denial of individual aid is especially incomprehensible for Pawcatuck residents, who have seen their neighbors across the river in Westerly, R.I., already receive reimbursement checks to partially cover their damage costs.

Residential and business losses in Stonington are estimated at $2 million. The town expects to spend $1.6 million on road and bridge repairs and costs such as overtime accumulated by police and highway workers during the storm.  Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said the denial proves his feeling that Obama is out of touch with reality.

"No justification he could offer would provide an adequate answer other than the fact that he doesn't give a damn about what people here have suffered," Nystrom said, adding that he witnessed much of the $3 million in damage in his city by walking through businesses and residences.

In Griswold, First Selectman Philip Anthony Jr. said hundreds of people have filled out Federal Emergency Management Agency paperwork asking for assistance.
"I really am shocked and disappointed," Anthony said. "I want an answer as to why a declaration for residents and businesses was made in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but not New London County."

On Tuesday the White House press office referred questions to a FEMA spokesman in Boston who said he could only speak about the FEMA process and not the reason for denial.

Rich Harris, a spokesman for Rell, said Tuesday night that he did not immediately know if the letter Rell received included a reason for the denial.  Last week Obama approved Rell's request for a major disaster declaration in response to the storms that struck the state March 12-14 and March 29-31. That declaration was to allow financial assistance to the state and municipal governments along with certain nonprofit organizations but did not cover aid to individuals and businesses affected by the storms.

Rell said she immediately started gathering information for a formal appeal, which must be filed within 30 days. Municipal leaders pledged to do whatever they can to help her with the process.

"This decision is not only disappointing - it's wrong, and I will appeal it," Rell said in a statement. "I have directed our state emergency management officials to immediately gather whatever information may be needed to further support our application for assistance. I will also work with our Congressional delegation and with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue pursuing this matter until all avenues for aid are exhausted."

Rell said surveys found 1,315 homes in five Connecticut counties suffered damages totaling $5.2 million, while 116 businesses accounted for damages of $5.4 million.

After learning about the aid denial, Anthony said, he immediately called the governor's office to offer his support for the appeal. "I'm watching some of my residents suffer, the people on fixed incomes who can't afford to replace a water heater or a furnace without some help. I hope they pursue (the appeal) with vigor," Anthony said, adding that he plans to try to contact U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, this morning.

Anthony said he intends to ask more questions about the president's decision when he and other municipal officials meet with FEMA representatives Friday morning in Stonington to discuss the aid for cities and towns.

Waterford First Selectman Daniel Steward, who estimated there were more than 1,000 homes damaged in that town during the flooding, held out hope for a successful appeal by Rell.

"We're also concerned about the president's decision to not fund the personal-property damages," Steward said, "and hope the governor is successful in her appeal."

Montville Mayor Joseph Jaskiewicz said he was surprised by the president's decision and fully supports the governor's appeal effort.

"I don't agree with the president on this one. The people should be taken care of," Jaskiewicz said Tuesday night.

Although he did not have a cost estimate of damage done to houses and businesses in Montville, the mayor said some were "unbelievable."
"People lost their basements," he said. "I just don't know why he didn't approve this."


Director of Health Mark Cooper, Community Health Director Monica Wheeler, and Director of Emergency Preparedness and Support Services Ken Kellogg.  Aquifer and septic graphics from WWHD.

This website provides a link to interesting interviews about our region, the people in it, and problems we all face.  We are delighted to be able to present ten different shows, linked to below.

A VERY SPECIAL "ABOUT TOWN" INTERVIEW, IN THREE PARTS, WITH KEY OFFICIALS OF THE WESTPORT WESTON HEALTH DISTRICT:

Watch this three-part interview with Mark Cooper, Director of Health; Monica Wheeler, Community Health Director; and Ken Kellogg, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Support Services, of the Westport Weston Health District.   These exceptionally knowledgeable professionals present information that is vitally important to all of us, about H1N1 flu, water quality, environmental health, emergency management, and many other topics that are fundamental to maintaining our health, our environment, and even the value of our homes!

For Part 1, please  Click Here If You Are Using A Dial-Up Modem

For Part 1, please  Click Here If You Are Using A DSL Or Cable Connection

For Part 2, please  Click Here If You Are Using A Dial-Up Modem

For Part 2, please  Click Here If You Are Using A DSL Or Cable Connection

For Part 3, please  Click Here If You Are Using A Dial-Up Modem

For Part 3, please  Click Here If You Are Using A DSL Or Cable Connection

S E P T E M B E R   E M E R G E N C Y   P R E P A R E D N E S S   M O N T H - click here for nice announcement of previous meeting.  Picture story on previous September event.

FEMA to Focus on Children's Needs During Disasters
NYTIMES
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:24 p.m. ET
August 3, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to plan more broadly for children and their needs as the government prepares for disasters.

''Children are not small adults,'' FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said Monday.

Most disaster plans are crafted around adult populations, and people with specific needs -- such as children -- are often an afterthought, Fugate said in an interview with The Associated Press.

A new FEMA working group will work with the congressionally mandated National Commission on Children and Disasters, created in 2007. The FEMA group will focus on specific guidance for evacuating, sheltering and relocating children; helping childcare centers, schools and child welfare programs prepare for disasters; and making disaster preparation part of the Homeland Security Department's grant programs.

The working group's findings could mean changes to the country's blueprint for disaster response, known as the National Response Framework, Fugate said.

The Bush administration rewrote this national disaster plan after Hurricane Katrina. The new 82-page plan, issued in January 2008, does not include the word ''children,'' but it does mention pets. That plan, however, is supplemented by more than 200 pages of annexes, which do address children's needs, though not in depth.

''Let's look at children not as something we're going to deal with after we write the plan,'' Fugate said.

He said he intends to draw more heavily on existing federal, state and local programs that already deal with children ''in every community every day.''

How is Weston affected?  "About Town" attended a meeting in Westport previously, and we thought we heard that only along town lines and where the difference between  old maps and new digital ones caused technical conflicts (because the major FEMA $$ was devoted to work on conflicts that are in the COASTAL areas, not inland ones) would there be problems.  THANK YOU e-Norwalk HOUR for original heads-up, WestportNow for the story below.

New FEMA Maps Add 73 Westport Homes to Flood Zone
WestportNow
Posted 07/21 at 06:09 PM

UPDATE Seventy-three Westport homeowners are in for a surprise—the federal government has declared that their properties are in a flood zone. (See a list of the properties at the end of this article. Click here to download a map (PDF).)

The revelation is the result of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) updating its Westport flood zone maps, Planning and Zoning Director Laurence Bradley said today.

About 2,000 or 20 percent of Westport’s 10,000 properties are in a flood zone.

The updated maps show 73 homes not previously designated to be in a flood zone to be in a flood zone and about 200 homes that previously were designated to be in a flood zone no longer in a zone, according to P&Z staff members.

“This action was based upon new digital mapping that FEMA has prepared and will become effective early next year,” said Bradley.

He said flooding is the most frequent and costly natural disaster in Westport.

Shortly after Bradley’s announcement, the National Weather Service in Upton, N.Y. issued a coastal flood advisory for Westport from 7 p.m. today to 1 a.m. Wednesday.

The risk for flooding changes over time due to erosion, land use, weather events and other factors, Bradley said.  The likelihood of inland, riverine and coastal flooding has changed along with these factors.

The risk for flooding can vary within the same neighborhood and even property-to-property, Bradley said.  But it exists throughout the area.  Knowing your flood risk is the first step to flood protection, he said.

Just released for public review, the new maps--also known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)--reflect current flood risks, replacing maps that are up to 25 years old, Bradley said.

As a result, property owners throughout Westport will have up-to-date, reliable, Internet-accessible information about flood risk, on a property-by-property basis, he said.

Following in question and answer format is additional information about the new maps, as supplied by the town’s Planning and Zoning Department:

How will these changes affect you?

To find out if your property has been mapped into a higher risk zone, known as a Special Flood Hazard Area, and shown as “A”, “AE” or “V” on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps, see the list below or contact the Planning and Zoning Office at (203)341-1076.

If you have a mortgage from a federally-regulated lender and the building(s) on a parcel within the Special Flood Hazard Area, then by federal law, your lender must require you to carry flood insurance when these flood maps become effective.

Flood insurance is available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federally underwritten program provided by nearly 100 insurance companies and written through licensed insurance agents.

Contact your insurance agent to learn about lower-cost “grandfathering” options offered by the NFIP for properties being mapped into higher-risk areas for the first time.

If you do not have a mortgage, it is still recommended that you purchase flood insurance.  Over the life of a 30-year loan, there is about a three times greater chance of having a flood in your home than having a fire.

Most homeowners’ insurance policies do not provide coverage for damage due to flooding.  For more information on flood insurance, visit the National Flood Insurance Program’s Web site, www.floodsmart.gov.

If you feel there has been an error, can you file a protest or appeal?

The maps that were just released are still known as preliminary. Until Sept. 16, there will be a public comment period. This is a time when citizens will have the opportunity to submit technical and/or scientific data to file a protest regarding their individual property, or an appeal regarding the accuracy of the mapping process in general.

When do the maps become effective?

Once the appeals and protests are reviewed and once any needed map changes are incorporated, FEMA will issue a Letter of Final Determination.  Six months later, a zoning regulation will be proposed to adopt the new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map. The maps will then become effective, as will any new flood insurance requirements.

However, residents should be aware that starting immediately these flood hazard maps will be used in helping to determine requirements for construction and development.

Where can I get more information?

For general information about the flood map modernization project, contact the Planning and Zoning Office at (203)341-1076.  The office is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

_____

Here is the list of the properties newly designated in flood zones as provided by the Planning and Zoning Department:

205 Bayberry Lane
1 Beachside Ave.
95 Beachside Ave.
6 Blue Ribbon Drive
8 Blue Ribbon Drive
10 Broad St.
2 Burnham Hill
14 Cardinal Lane
15 Cardinal Lane
3 Carriage Lane
71 Cavalry Road
4 Cedar Pond Road
60 Compo Road South
3 Covlee Drive
6 Covlee Drive
33 Edgewater Hillside
35 Edgewater Hillside
17 Gault Ave.
0 Greens Farms Road
101 Greens Farms Road
128 Greens Farms Road
2 Half Mile Common
1 Harborview Road
3 Harborview Road
35b Hiawatha Lane
3 Hide-Away Lane
70 High Point Road
90 Hillandale Road
202 Hillspoint Road
4 Hooper Road
112 Imperial Ave.
0 Jennie Lane
6 Jennie Lane
14 Jennie Lane
20 Jennie Lane
22 Jennie Lane
24 Jennie Lane
26 Jennie Lane
28 Jennie Lane
0 Jesup Road
61 Jesup Road
15 Ketchum St.
14 Kirock Place
1a Longview Road
3 Lost. Lodge Road
177 Main St.
0 Mayflower Parkway
0 Mayflower Parkway
5 Mayflower Parkway
20 Morningside Drive South
0 Narrow Rocks Road
27 Narrow Rocks Road
0 New Creek Road
143 Post Road East
155 Post Road East
12 Richmondville Ave.
37 Richmondville Ave.
6 River Lane
8 River Lane
10 River Lane
14 River Lane
8 Robin Hill Road
16 Silent Grove North
18 Silent Grove North
22 Silent Grove North
87 Turkey Hill Road South
91 Turkey Hill Road South
9 Violet Lane
15 West Branch Road
29 Woody Lane
31 Woody Lane
8 Yankee Hill Road

Officials: Development adds to water woes
Greenwich TIME
By Hoa Nguyen, Staff Writer
Published March 3 2007

Bigger houses and larger paved surfaces might have had something to do with the way many areas typically not known to flood were left inundated yesterday by the 3.6 inches of rain that fell in just 12 hours, some land-use officials said.

"The highest concentration of calls we received were in areas where development is ongoing," said Michael Chambers, the acting executive director of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency. "They remove trees, they create larger homes, tennis courts and other amenities. The end result is what happened today. When you replace natural ground cover, natural vegetation with impervious surface, the end result is flooding."

Two compliance officers from the wetlands agency were busy yesterday fielding calls and making visits to residents who believe wetlands violations might have led to flooding problems.

"Most of the calls we received today were in areas in the center of town, just above the Post Road, 1-acre zones where development is fairly clustered," Chambers said.

When developers build houses, the land is replaced with pavement and other impervious surfaces that do not absorb stormwater. To make sure this water does not flood the surrounding area, engineered stormwater systems are built to carry off the water. Sometimes those systems fail or are deluged with more stormwater than they can handle, causing the water to back up and flood the surrounding area.

"People who develop their property now are understanding the importance of stormwater management," Chambers said.

Another factor that might have contributed to the flooding was the frozen topsoil that prevented the rainwater from soaking in, allowing the water to accumulate on lawns as if the surface were asphalt pavement, said Conservation Director Denise Savageau.

"In places where there are lawns, we are just seeing complete runoff," she said, adding that is one of the reasons she advocates for the preservation of meadows, which have crevices capable of holding stormwater, rather than turning them into flat lawn areas more susceptible to this problem.

Certainly the amount of water that fell within the short period of time also was a factor. At the peak of the storm, nearly an inch fell between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.

"It just came in so fast," Savageau said. "It was the sheer volume in the amount of time, it's one of those things you really don't have any control of."

Both Chambers and Savageau said this is not the first time the town has seen development exacerbate flooding conditions. In fact, the situation could get worse as the area continues to be developed.

"We actually could see more occurrence of it if we have more development of our watershed," Savageau said. "Even though we have frozen ground conditions that are problematic, we still could see how bad it would be if we had full development."


New Maps Put Some Hartford-Area Properties In Flood Zones
By JOSH KOVNER And ANN MARIE SOMMA | Courant Staff Writers
August 22, 2008
 
Some property owners who never had to think about flood insurance soon will feel a tug on their wallets.

Hartford area communities are rolling out reconfigured flood maps, and some properties are now included in a flood plain for the first time. Mortgage holders will require the property owners to have flood insurance by Sept. 26, when the new maps go into effect throughout Hartford County.

If property owners buy insurance before the deadline, they will be "grandfathered" in at a significantly lower rate. That's because the properties will not be in designated flood zones before Sept. 26. A grandfathered rate for a typical single-family home with a full basement would be roughly $350 to $500 a year for $250,000 in structural coverage and $100,000 for its contents, said Paul Morey of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After the first year, that rate would rise to $1,300 or $1,400 a year for the same coverage because the properties would then be in flood zones, which are considered high risk for insurance purposes.

But property owners who lock in before the Sept. 26 deadline will never pay the full freight — about $2,500 a year for those living in a zone around a river, Morey said. Coverage would cost even more in coastal areas.

Such is life after Hurricane Katrina, as FEMA asks cities and towns nationwide to redo 1980s-era maps with help from new satellite imagery that more accurately gauges topography, elevation and, ultimately, risk. In Connecticut, Middlesex County has largely completed the new mapping and Hartford County is doing it now and is to finish before Sept. 26. Fairfield and New Haven counties are next.

Property owners can visit FEMA's map service website at www.msc.fema.gov and plug in an address to view the new flood plain maps. Also, town engineers and planners throughout the Hartford area are answering property owners' questions.

Flood plains are areas around bodies of water that would flood in a 100-year storm — a deluge with a 1 in 100 chance of occurring in any year. The last one in Hartford was in 1984.

The new flood-plain boundaries — the area in which property owners are required to have flood insurance — are slightly different on the new maps in several Hartford area communities. In West Hartford, the newly drawn lines include about 250 properties that weren't in a flood zone before. Conversely, about 250 properties that were in a flood zone aren't any longer, though many of those are still on the edge and could be required by a private lender to retain insurance. The town has hired a company to put together a list of affected owners, and they'll be contacted within the next two weeks, Town Engineer David Kraus said. West Hartford has set a public hearing for Sept. 23 on the new mapping.

Towns can restrict development in a flood plain, and property owners in these zones would need special permission to add a deck, shed or anything that alters the property.

In Wethersfield, a few hundred property owners may be required to purchase flood insurance. Town officials are urging residents to consult the new maps posted on the town's website (wethersfieldct.com/government/maps/fema-flood-zones) to determine if they now live in a flood zone. Hard copies of the maps are also available in the town's planning and zoning office.

"Our staff is available to assist residents in looking up their property on the maps, but it is ultimately up to them to investigate," said Peter Gillespie, the town's director of planning and economic development. The town will hold a public hearing at town hall on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. to implement the new zoning regulations. Residents are encouraged to attend to learn about the redrawn maps.

In Rocky Hill, which sits on the west bank of the Connecticut River, the new maps affect only a few residents because the river's flood elevation dropped since the last time the maps were adopted in 1980, Town Engineer Jim Sollmi said.

"There hasn't been any real change. It's almost status quo," Sollmi said.

FEMA is also looking at levees more closely than ever. For Hartford and East Hartford, that means that areas behind the Connecticut River levees, once deemed to be at no risk of flooding, are now considered low- to moderate-risk flood zones. The federal government doesn't require flood insurance in these areas — but FEMA is recommending it, and a private lender could require it.

For Hartford, the new zone covers 20 percent of the city's land area — generally South Meadows, North Meadows and the eastern portion of downtown, from Columbus Boulevard to the river. In East Hartford, the new zone takes in a good deal of the town, from Green Terrace to the north, west though Great River Park and Commerce Center, east to Main Street and the area behind town hall, and finally out to Brewer Street in the southeast, Town Engineer Nick Casparino said.

This is the case even though the levees on both sides of the river are provisionally certified by the feds and millions of dollars in repairs have been made. The levees are on track for permanent certification by the Army Corps of Engineers — in July 2009 for Hartford, and March 2010 for East Hartford.

On the old maps, there's no indication that the areas were protected by levees or in any danger of flooding; now, said Hartford City Engineer John McGrane, the draft maps show a zone emanating from the river called "shaded area X."

That new delineation, McGrane said, suggests that FEMA doesn't fully trust levees anymore. He said the federal government used to assume levees built by the Army Corps of Engineers were infallible. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 blew that assumption away.

"It's somewhat of a strange scenario," McGrane said, noting that the levees are probably stronger now, with all the repairs, than they were when the old maps were indicating no risk at all. "It's a more conservative approach by FEMA, all driven by Katrina. They're learning from the things that went wrong in New Orleans."
Did you know that CT DEP links to ESRI (and if you tell ESRI your private information [i.e. name, country of residence, telephone number and ZIP], which they will use commercially, their G.I.S. software is free)?
FEMA AND CTDEP - http://www.ct.gov/dep

"About Town" attended meeting in Westport Town Hall Monday, May 12, 2008, from 1:30-3:30pm, where coastal communities were brought up to date on changes to flood insurance lines (eg. 100-yr storm even up to 500-yr flood-storm;  the April 2007 event that took out Cartbridge was greater than a 100-yr storm event).  Engineers, planners and consultants attended from Greenwich thru Bridgeport (Fairfield had a lot to say about dunes).  Stamford was concerned about levees.

For Weston, this was not a necessary meeting to attend because we aren't Coastal (global warming may kick in some day, but not yet).  For us, nothing has changed EXCEPT for the fact that the maps will be more precise than the existing paper maps - the same as those on the NEMO/CLEAR website from UCONN/manipulation of these aereal photos.  The data for demarcating different flood areas, a copy to be given in paper to each town (U.S.G.S. quads for the town) of new boundaries, will be the same for Weston.  "New" boundaries are made only at Town lines for adjustments of demarcation lines by Legend-identified classes of flood surges. 

I believe the topo lines used in the new maps are 2-foot contours in overlay...but more will be known by September, when FEMA and CT DEP conduct formal public hearings (which then give Coastal communities 90 days to appeal);  everyone gets to question plain old mistakes for @4 months.

After final approval, towns will have to amend flood zone regs, maps, etc.  It was suggested that these Federal guidelines are minimal and new regs might want to be stricter - 2-feet above base flood instead of one.  It was noted by FEMA that banks will be requiring flood insurance for some properties that will now be within flood zones.  CT DEP had some good suggestions about this.  By virtue of better mapping techniques, some properties will be in and some out - it will be up to property owners to find out for themselves (or just wait for their bank to notify them about the need for flood insurance).

Individuals who presented were:  David Knowles, P.E., hydrologist, FEMA mitigation division;  Carla Feroni, environmental analyst (3), bureau of water protection and land reuse, inland water resources division;  Sal Longo, P.E., civil engineer, Roald Haestad, Inc and others.
Flood maps may affect insurance
Greenwich TIME
By Martin B. Cassidy, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/12/2008 02:32:10 AM EDT

Some homeowners here and elsewhere in Fairfield County may find their neighborhoods categorized at a higher risk of flooding when federal officials unveil revised flood maps tomorrow.

When storms are expected town emergency planners use the maps to determine what streets and areas require evacuation or other measures, based on the topography and the magnitude of the expected storm, town Emergency Operations Management Coordinator Daniel Warzoha said.

"This is an important tool for towns, homeowners and insurance companies for guidance," Warzoha said of the maps. "Both the municipality and the homeowners are going to get a look and have a chance for comment."

Flood insurance rates are tied in part to map information.

The proposed updated maps are a collaboration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and private contractors, and should be a more accurate gauge of flood risk than the current set of maps created in the early 1990s, said Wayne Sanford, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Management.

One anticipated improvement will be that the scale of the maps will be standardized, a shortcoming of the current set of maps which can make them difficult to decipher, Sanford said.

Extensive development in the state since the late 1980s could also prompt engineers working on the maps to recategorize some areas as more prone to floods, Sanford said.

"Since the 1980s, when work began on the last maps, so much construction has taken place which may cause changes," Sanford said. "The other benefit of a more accurate map for homeowners is they will be able to figure out if they have been paying for flood insurance and don't need it."

A copy of the revised maps will be reviewed by Warzoha and other Fairfield County emergency planners at a public meeting at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Westport Town Hall at 110 Myrtle Ave.

FEMA will make a decision on adopting the maps after planners and other emergency agencies weigh in.

Anthony MacLeod, chairman of the town's Flood and Erosion Control Board, said interest in controlling severe flooding and making necessary changes to prevent it has grown since last April's Tax Day nor'easter.

FEMA declared the nor'easter a disaster last May and agreed to assist municipalities, such as Greenwich, as well as residents to repair roads, homes and other facilities.

"There have been a lot of studies dating to the 1970s and 1980s about flooding in Greenwich but the information is out of date," MacLeod said. "It's a very important topic to a lot of people to know whether or not they are in the flood plain."

Among areas of town prone to flooding are Old Greenwich, low-lying areas of Byram and Pemberwick and parts of Cos Cob.
Don't Trash FEMA, Fix It
Hartford Courant editorial
May 5, 2006

Three separate investigations of the government response to Hurricane Katrina have confirmed what was obvious to all who read the newspapers or watched television during those dark days in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, screwed up. It was joined in incompetence by the Homeland Security secretary, the White House and local authorities, namely New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

Even so, that's no reason to demolish FEMA and replace it with yet another potentially unwieldy and untested bureaucracy just in time for the new hurricane season. With respect to Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and his colleague Susan M. Collins of Maine, who have made such a proposal, FEMA needs strengthening, not reinventing.

The agency started by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 to streamline government response to natural disasters did its job well. Only when it was absorbed by the Department of Homeland Security did the wheels come off.

The New Orleans disaster, in which the hurricane damage was compounded by unprecedented flooding, was the first major test of FEMA's mettle after it went from a freestanding entity to part of the massive new agency. In addition to responding to natural disasters, FEMA became part of the nation's anti-terror machinery. Not only were its traditional role and resources diluted by the focus on terror, the agency was run by a director who had limited qualifications for the job, including no emergency preparedness experience.

Sens. Lieberman and Collins want the new bureaucracy, dubbed the National Preparedness and Response Authority, to remain part of Homeland Security, but to report directly to the president in times of disaster. Its key responsibilities would be preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation. It would feature regional "strike forces" to better coordinate with local officials.

This sounds a lot like the "retooling" that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has undertaken to cure FEMA's failings. He has moved to beef up leadership by replacing Mr. Brown and other senior officials with professional disaster managers, fix the communication system and ensure rapid delivery of emergency supplies.

Mr. Lieberman rejects the idea of breaking off the disaster response agency from its hydra-headed home and making it a free-standing entity. "Katrina made it clear we need more integration in federal preparedness, not less," said the senator.

What FEMA needs is what has worked in the past: dedicated leadership by people with know-how and common priorities, better communication, adequate resources and a direct pipeline to the president.


This scene is of the Five Mile River in a previous year's flooding.

 In recent months flooding is down, but attention is up
By ROBERT KOCH, Hour Staff Writer
August 26, 2008

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials asked Fairfield County residents and leaders for help Monday afternoon in tackling flooding on a regional basis.

"Flooding needs to really be looked at from a systems perspective. It's very easy to solve one problem and transmit the problem someplace else," said John R. Kennelly, chief of planning for the New England District of the Army Corps. "You really need to look at flooding from a larger perspective."

About 75 people, including residents and elected officials from throughout Fairfield County, attended the Army Corps of Engineers Flood Summit Meeting in the Community Room of Norwalk City Hall.

U.S. Rep. Christopher R. Shays, R-4, arranged the meeting.

"We've been dealing with some incredibly difficult flooding situations all around Fairfield County," Shays said. "What we are looking to do is to begin to get the Corps to treat the greater Fairfield County as one site, to get all of us to coordinate together how we deal with this flooding, and to help me in our effort to make sure we're putting our priorities where they should be."

In Fairfield County, the Army Corps hopes to move forward with reconnaissance work, feasibility studies and projects to reduce flooding. The regional approach, in practice, will produce multiple studies of rivers and watersheds rather than of flooding in individual communities.

Reconnaissance work, paid for by the Army Corps, typically takes a year. Feasibility studies require a 50 percent cost share from the local community, include detailed engineering and design analyses, and can take 18 months to three years to complete, according to Kennelly.

The pace depends, in part, on residents sharing their experiences, according to Eugene Brickman, deputy chief of planning for the New York District of the Army Corps.

"What is the real nature of the problem? Do you have photographs? Do you have damage estimates?" Brickman said.

Moving forward with flood-correction projects ultimately requires money from Washington, D.C. The federal government pays 65 percent of the cost of such projects. The sponsoring community must come up with the remaining 35 percent, either locally or through the state, according to the Army Corps.

Norwalk Mayor Richard A. Moccia labeled landing funding the greatest hurdle.

"The difficulty is always when it comes to funding," Moccia said. "Finances are stretched."

At the forum, residents and elected officials named flood-prone brooks and rivers in their communities.

In recent years, West Norwalk residents living along The Five Mile River have been hit hard by flooding. Last year, elected officials brought Army Corps representatives to the banks of the river to speak with property owners and discuss possible solutions.

Those same residents are pleased that a plan may be in the works but fear it will come too late.

"It's not a question of 'if.' It's a question of 'when.' We've had a few big storms but we haven't had a huge storm," said Molly Walsh, who lives on McKendry Court. "What's going to happen over the next three years? Are we going to make it to the point we might be getting federal dollars?"

Officials from Greenwich to Bridgeport concurred that flooding problems stem, in part, from houses having been built years ago in low-lying areas.

From there, flooding issues vary from municipality to municipality.

Darien officials put forward a plan to correct flooding near the Heights Road culvert -- an undersized outlet beneath the Metro-North Railroad tracks and Interstate 95. The application was denied by the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to First Selectwoman Evonne M. Klein.

"This is a complex project, because the area itself is densely developed," Klein said. DEP officials "recognized the challenges of the particular application. ... We are in the process of working on two other alternatives."

In Bridgeport, a plan to mitigate flooding along Ox Brook, which leaves three feet of standing water in streets during heavy rains, is stalled, according to state Rep. Jack Hennessey, D-127. He said the legislature allocated $1 million to advance the plan. DEP officials certified the plan.

"One of the things holding it up is a flood retention pond, in which we have to purchase the properties, and we are still trying to negotiate with the owners," Hennessey said.

Floodwaters in Venice Begin to Recede
NYTIMES
By RACHEL DONADIO
December 3, 2008

ROME — Floodwaters in Venice began to subside on Tuesday after reaching their highest point in 22 years on Monday, forcing residents and tourists alike to stay inside or venture out in hip-waders.

On Tuesday morning, waters had dropped to 39 inches, down from a high of 61 inches on Monday, the fourth-highest flood level in contemporary history, Venice’s Tide Center said.

“We sent out another warning about very high tides this morning,” said Leonardo Cossutta, who runs the center’s control room. He said transportation was returning to normal, although some canal ferries, or vaporetti, were forced to take alternative routes because they could not fit under the bridges. A transport union called off a planned strike because of the floods.

This week’s flooding reached the highest levels since 1986 but were still below the record of 76 inches reached in 1966. Venice sets the flood level at 40 inches.

The waters rapidly flooded into shops and homes early Monday morning. They engulfed the cafe tables in St. Mark’s Square and forced its famous pigeons to find higher ground. In news photos, people waded through the streets in high boots.

Because the water levels rose so quickly, the city was unable to erect the wooden platforms it uses to help pedestrians traverse the high waters. On Monday, the city sounded alarms, urging residents to stay indoors.

Venice routinely floods several times a year, but in recent years the phenomenon has worsened. Experts say global warming is the main culprit. The flooding reopened a running debate on the “Moses” project, a controversial system of offshore dams designed to prevent such flooding.

Work began on the $5.5 billion project five years ago and is expected to be completed around 2011. Had the dam system been in place, “it would have prevented what happened yesterday and also today,” said Flavia Faccioli, a spokeswoman for the state consortium that is building the dams.

Some environmental groups oppose the project, calling instead for reduced carbon emissions. “We’ve seen for a long time that global warming presents problems for a city like Venice,” said Michele Bertucco, the president of the Veneto branch of Legambiente, an environmental organization.

The mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, said the project was moving forward, The Associated Press reported.