Flood-Plainers Get Plain Talk On Preparation

A worst-case flood would cause an estimated $15 billion in damage to 1,901 acres in the city’s most flood-prone neighborhoods with 3,689 people and 1,550 buildings, 162 of them historic and five critical facilities.

So it might be time to purchase flood insurance from FEMA, provider of these stats. If you do, you’ll get a 15 percent discount because we as a city rate high in preparedness and public education on the subject.

Fair Haven Heights neighbors heard those facts and that pitch Tuesday night at the January meeting of the Quinnipiac East Community Management Team (QEMT), convened at St. James Church at 62 East Grand Ave.

City Plan staffer Stacey Davis and environmental scientist Victoria Brudz of the civil engineering firm Milone & Macbroom addressed 20 residents, many who live along the Quinnipiac River in the heart of one of the city’s most flood-vulnerable areas, about the do’s and don’ts of flood hazards.

The info was common-sensical: Elevate your property and belongings where possible. Get out if ordered to evacuate. Don’t drive into flowing water —it’s stronger than you think. And stay away from downed power lines.

But they said it’s necessary to remind floodplain denizens, because the city participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Three years ago, when New Haven applied, the city’s engineering initiatives — such as like bioswales and other infrastructure improvements in the wake of Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy, along with public education on the subject — nabbed us a high score in NFIP’s Community Rating System (CRS).

That score, said Davis, is the highest in the state.

Result and benefit: When you apply to NFIP for flood insurance as a New Havener, you get a 15 percent discount, and it’s fairly automatic. To date 899 New Haven floodplainers have done so, and the insurance has paid out roughly five times the premiums put in, Brudz reported.

One of the requirements of continuing to get the discounted NFIP insurance is ongoing regular public education about life in the floodplain. Davis said the QEMT visit is the first of what will be similar visits to all the community management teams, bearing the PowerPoint and brochures on how to prepare and how to respond.

All the info required to find out if you are in an area especially vulnerable to floods, designated and called by FEMA a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), go to the city’s site under ​“City Plan Department.” The maps and info on insurance are all there.

SFHA areas are determined by FEMA, according to the materials provided, using the 100-year flood level, which is a severe flood defined as having a 1 percent chance of occurring. In New Haven, within this boundary are Morris Cove, with its proximity to Morris Creek and the Long Island coast. Properties adjacent to the West River, Mill River, and Quinnipiac River and around the harbor are also at high risk.

After the presentatio„ neighbor Paul Hammer asked what the city is doing about the perennial flooding under the railroad bridge on Front Street at Middletown Avenue. He also expressed another perennial concern:how the curb cuts always flood in big rains making it difficult for people in wheelchairs to navigate.

Davis said those were issues for City Engineer Giovanni Zinn to respond to and she would duly pass the concerns on to him.

Next up for the presentation will be Hill South/City Point.