Floodplain Manager's Notebook Series
Results
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook February 2020Date: February 2020
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Some states state allow or require communities to accept certifications or affidavits from qualified design professionals: can accept those documents when development is located in special flood hazard areas? Floodplain management regulations can be revised using less formal “plain language.”
Keywords: Certification, Regulations, Affidavits
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2008Date: January 2008
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Wondering why some states have many more Preferred Risk Policies than other states. Reporting on an NFIP evaluation report that demonstrates buildings are being elevated, but enclosure requirements aren't getting enough attention. Reader feedback on flood openings when flood depth is "shallow."
Keywords: Flood insurance, Preferred Risk Policies, Enclosure, Flood opening
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2009Date: January 2009
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Collecting Elevation Certificates, maintaining records for public inspection, making records accessible, and length of time to keep records.
Keywords: Building laws, Elevation Certificate, Variance, Record retention, Flood damage prevention
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2012Date: January 2012
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: What about buildings exempt from a state building code (still regulated as development)? What about buildings just outside the SFHA boundary?
Keywords: Building laws, Exemptions, Zone X, Flood insurance
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2014Date: January 2014
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Focusing on existing buildings to reduce risk and exposure to flood damage in the face of rising flood insurance rates, specifically elevated and older homes that are elevated on nonconforming crawlspaces through retrofit (flood openings, below-grade, and relocate equipment).
Keywords: Flood damage prevention, Existing buildings, Buildings--Retrofitting, Dwellings--Flood damage
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2015Date: January 2015
Author: Quinn, Rebecca Leatherbee, Tom
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Advice from the field -- handling dilapidated buildings under the substantial improvement/substantial damage rules, especially determining "pre-damage" market value and the definition exclusion for costs to correct existing (cited) violations.
Keywords: Dwellings--Flood damage, Substantial improvement, Substantial damage, Property maintenance, Building laws
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2016Date: January 2016
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Crawlspaces aren't "used" for parking, storage, or building access -- how are they enclosures? A brief history of the NFIP requirements for openings and a look at the term "habitable" and why we shouldn't use it.
Keywords: National Flood Insurance Program, Enclosure, Crawlspace, Flood opening, Habitable, Building laws
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2017Date: January 2017
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: International Codes and inspections for buildings in flood hazard areas require submission of elevation certifications. Along with design certifications (Zone V, engineered openings, dry floodproofing), elevation certificates must be accessible and retained as permanent records.
Keywords: Building laws, Inspection, Elevation certificate, Design certificate
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook January 2019Date: January 2019
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Considering the question of how communities implement or enforce disclosure requirements to broaden public awareness of flood hazards.
Keywords: Disclosure, Public awareness
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2008Date: July 2008
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: What requirements apply to undergound and above-ground tanks, including septic tanks?
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Storage tanks
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2010Date: July 2010
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Using dry floodproofing measures for nonresidential new construction, SI/SD, and to reduce vulnerability, referring to ASCE 24, describing limits on human intervention, emergency access, certification of designs, flood insurance, designing for flood loads, and flood damage-resistant materials.
Keywords: Flood damage prevention, ASCE 24, Dry floodproofing
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2012Date: July 2012
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: How floodplain managers can help their communities prepare, including evaluating public building in SFHAs, participating in mitigation planning, checking property insurance coverage (and the consequences of not having flood insurance on public buildings), looking into mitigation grants, and factoring mitigation into post-disaster public assistance projects.
Keywords: Floodplain management, Public buildings, Flood control
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2013Date: July 2013
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Advice on keeping up with NFIP policies and a recommended reading list.
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Reading list
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2014Date: July 2014
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Work on compliant buildings must also be compliant: shouldn't that also apply to installation of emergency generators (and why would any owner want to install at-grade?)? And other observations about elevating equipment to meet the intent to resist base flood conditions.
Keywords: Building laws, Electric generators, Flood damage prevention
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2015Date: July 2015
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Why are so many flood insurance claims closed without payment (as many as 30-40% of claims in some states)? Is flood insurance still good financial protection? Comparing the average premium ($780) to the average annual disaster loan payment ($3,200). Highlighting the NFIP insurance definition for "flood" isn't the same as used for floodplain management.
Keywords: Flood insurance claims, Financial protection, National Flood Insurance Program
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2016Date: July 2016
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: The substantial damage rule, Increased Cost of Compliance coverage in NFIP policies; and a post-flood source of data that insurance adjusters report to the NFIP that's supposed to be available to state and local floodplain managers.
Keywords: National Flood Insurance Program, Compliance costs, Claims data, Flood insurance claims
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2018Date: July 2018
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: When local regulations don’t have specific provisions, evaluating placement of fill that might adversely impact drainage may take some interpretation of the intent that regulations are intended to minimize losses due to flooding. Helping community inspectors and other staff to better understand floodplain management can improve enforcement and reduce liability.
Keywords: Fill, Enforcement, Drainage, Inspections, Liability for flood damages
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook July 2020Date: July 2020
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Summarizing requirements for swimming pools, equipment serving pools, and pool enclosures that are located in Special Flood Hazard Areas.
Keywords: Swimming pools, Swimming pools
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook March 2008Date: March 2008
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Guidance for handling buildings in more than one flood zone and sites affected by more than one base flood elevation, with references to the Elevation Certificate and International Codes.
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Flood zone, More than one base flood elevation, Building laws
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook March 2010Date: March 2010
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Coordinating floodplain management regulations and the flood provisions in the International Codes, noting some advantages and challenges when using the codes to fulfill NFIP requirements.
Keywords: Floodplain management, Building laws, Building inspection, Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook March 2011Date: March 2011
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Historic structures – the benefits of processing applications as variances rather than applying the “definition approach.” To not be subject to Substantial Improvement/Substantial Damage rules, historic structures must retain their historic designation – a determination that should be left to the historic preservation professionals.
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Historic structures, Variance
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook March 2012Date: March 2012
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: The importance of terms and very specific meanings that can get lost through casual use: damages; disaster; habitable; Zone A; floodplain; 100-year floodplain; flood insurance; flood opening; variance; nonconforming; exemption
Keywords: Floodplain management, Damages, Disaster, Habitable, Zone A, Floodplains, 100-year floodplain, Terminology
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook March 2013Date: March 2013
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Critical comments on "below-grade" crawlspaces, limitations on such crawlspaces, and insurance consequences.
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Below-grade crawlspaces
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook March 2014Date: March 2014
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Grab bag: reusing foundations; relocating buildings; flood openings in interior walls; affidavits of compliance; and compensatory storage.
Keywords: Building laws, Dwellings--Foundations, Relocation, Flood openings, Affidavits, Compensatory storage, Dwellings--Flood damage
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook March 2017Date: March 2017
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: The NFIP regulations sometimes are specific, but sometimes we must rely on expected performance. The International Codes are clearer in many respects, including buildings in more than one flood zone and those affected by more than one BFE.
Keywords: National Flood Insurance Program, Zoning, Flood zone, Base flood elevation, Law and legislation
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook May 2008Date: May 2008
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Summarizing background, NFIP regulations, and building code requirements for accessory structures. Follow up on sites affected by more than one base flood elevation.
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Accessory structures, More than one base flood elevation, Building laws
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook May 2009Date: May 2009
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Highlighting a finding in NFIP Evaluation reports issued between 2001 and 2006 that while most independently surveyed post-FIRM buildings were adequately elevated, many had noncompliant enclosures and inadequately elevated equipment.
Keywords: Building laws, Enclosures, Noncompliance, Flood insurance
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook May 2010Date: May 2010
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Highlighting some differences between the NFIP minimums and ASCE 24, the standard referenced by the Internationbal Codes, including freeboard, engineered openings, and requirements for fill, Coastal A Zone, Zone V foundations, and dry floodproofing.
Keywords: Flood damage prevention, ASCE 24, Freeboard, Engineered openings, Fill, Coastal A Zone, Foundation, Dry floodproofing
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook May 2011Date: May 2011
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: A grab bag of short topics, including whether we regulate below the BFE or below the lowest floor; measuring flood openings with fixed louvers; below-grade crawlspaces; citing FEMA’s Technical Bulletins in regulations; and Substantial Improvement/Substantial Damage in floodways.
Keywords: Building laws, Lowest floor, Flood opening, Technical Bulletins, Substantial improvement, Floodway
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook May 2013Date: May 2013
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Guidance for equipment, whether elevated but not matching the lowest floor elevation or below-BFE.
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Equipment
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook May 2015Date: May 2015
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Building codes have requirements for buildings in flood zones -- a fact not often known by floodplain managers (and some building officials!). Advice on coordinating and a cautionary tale of liability with that doesn't happen. Highlighting how the 2015 International Codes exceed NFIP minimums (freeboard, Coastal A Zone; critical facilites).
Keywords: Building laws, Liability for flood damages, Freeboard, Coastal A Zone, Critical facility, National Flood Insurance Program
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook May 2016Date: May 2016
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Floodways: "no rise means NO Rise" and what that means when emergency sandbagging takes places in floodways.
Keywords: Floodway, No rise, Sandbags, Flood control--Law and legislation
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2007Date: November 2007
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Why flood openings must be above the higher of interior or exterior grade.
Keywords: Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States, Flood opening, Flood vent, Building laws, Michigan
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2008Date: November 2008
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Answering questions about flood openings if it's difficult to meet the requirements when elevated buildings are set into sloping sites.
Keywords: Building laws, Sloping sites, Enclosures, Flood openings, Floodplain management
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2010Date: November 2010
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: How three FEMA programs reinforce each other, especially the public assistance program (Sec. 406) and how the mitigation planning process can set up communities to qualify for post-disaster funds to reduce risk by identifying at-risk buildings and evaluating mitgation options before the next disaster.
Keywords: Flood damage prevention, Mitigation plans, Public buildings, Hazard mitigation
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2012Date: November 2012
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Follow up on minus-rated policies and sites with the ground below BFE but shown as Zone X. Notes on effective outreach, including state Quick Guides for Floodplain Management.
Keywords: Floodplain management, Minus-rated policies, Zone X, Outreach, Flood insurance
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2013Date: November 2013
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Zone V: estimating site-specific wave height to determine wave loads. And a reminder that the Flood Insurance Manual is for insurance purposes - it's not a good source for answers to questions about how to apply floodplain management requirements.
Keywords: Wave mechanics, Zone V, Wave height, Wave load, Flood Insurance Manual
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2014Date: November 2014
Author: Quinn, Rebecca Carmann, Troy
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Describing temporary structures and requirements and how a Colorado community regulated temporary structures installed for a major golf tournament just months after major flooding throughout the state.
Keywords: Temporary structures (Building), Building laws, Cherry Hills Village (Colo.), Flood insurance
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2015Date: November 2015
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Small towns cannot delegate full responsibility for floodplain management to another community. Interlocal agreements should be in writing and address designation of responsible parties on both sides; the town's higher standards (if any); and what happens when the agreement dissolves. Also, why it's important to correctly describe substantial improvement, rather than imply owners "cannot" exceed 50%. Highlighting the term "flood opening."
Keywords: Floodplain management, Interlocal agreements, Substantial improvement, Flood opening, Delegation of authority
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook November 2020Date: November 2020
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Understanding the difference between Base Flood Elevation and Design Flood Elevation. Eliminating the “36-inch option” for replacement manufactured homes in existing parks and subdivisions. The Market Value Supplement takes on the FEMA requirement to not consider use and occupancy when determining market value.
Keywords: Floodplain management, Base flood elevation, Design flood elevation, Freeboard, Manufactured home, Market Value, Actual cash value
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook September 2008Date: September 2008
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Regulating nonresidential buildings, including retrofit floodproofing when substantially improved or substantially damaged or when using hazard mitigation grant funds to address repetitive losses.
Keywords: Building laws, Nonresidential buildings, Flood damage prevention
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook September 2011Date: September 2011
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: An overview of the substantial damage rule and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage that is available when NFIP-insured buildings in SFHAs are substantially damaged by flood. Insurance adjusters are to supposed to submit data on buildings that “will probably be substantially damaged” – data that local officials can request from their NFIP State Coordinating Agency or FEMA regional office.
Keywords: Floodplain management, Substantial damage, Claims data, Flood insurance claims
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook September 2013Date: September 2013
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Buildings over water: OK in Zone A, not permitted in Zone V, and NFIP flood insurance not available for any such buildings.
Keywords: Buildings over water, Flood insurance--Law and legislation--United States
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook September 2015Date: September 2015
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Where to turn when you have questions? FEMA publications (short list of the best), NFIP State Coordinators, and FEMA Building Science Helpline. Highlighting the terms "nonconforming" (not the same as "noncompliant") and "variance" (not the same as "waiver").
Keywords: Flood control--Law and legislation, Building laws, State coordinator, Helpline, Nonconforming, Noncompliant, Variance, Waiver
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook September 2017Date: September 2017
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Grab bag: limiting what's stored in enclosures; limiting enclosure size; "open" versus "closed" foundations. What's the real objective of the Community Rating System?
Keywords: Building laws, Substantial improvement, Community Rating System, Enclosures, Storage, Open foundation, Closed foundation, National Flood Insurance Program
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook September 2019Date: September 2019
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: Why are more than 40% of flood insurance claims in some states closed without payment, but fewer than 15% in others have that same fate? Outdoor sculptures installed in floodplain are development and should be evaluated for stability under base flood conditions.
Keywords: Flood insurance claims, Flood insurance., Structures, Sculpture
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Floodplain Manager’s Notebook September 2020Date: September 2020
Author: Quinn, Rebecca
Publisher: Association of State Floodplain Managers
Summary: An update on NFIP flood insurance costs and savings based on freeboard, comparing 2001 to 2020. Can we accommodate industry advances for toilets design to “flush up”? Changing trends in determining market value and introducing the Market Value Supplement which describes proper use of the adjusted assessment method.
Keywords: Prefabricated houses, Market Value, Actual cash value, Adjusted assessment method
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