1996-10-24_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page ] 2 WATER TALK Spring/Summer 1996 ers 1 ~~i vice With the flood season underway, now is the time to start taking precautions should flooding occur; according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The DNR offers some basic steps to follow: • Know whether your home or business is located in a floodplain. Consult the city clerk or community planning and zoning staff. Many (not all) flood-prone communities have a floodplain delineation map published by the National Flood Insur- ance Program (NFIP) or a local water man- agement. organization. • Have apre-flood action plan.. A pre-flood action plan should determine the exposure to flooding; assess advance flood- proofing measures that could reduce struc- ture and content damage; provide adequate evacuation time; have more than one evacu- ation route that avoids flooded roads if possible; and obtain proper insurance cover- age for the structure and contents. both. Those who want to purchase flood insurance should contact their existing insurance agent. The NFIP has a toll-free customer service number of 1-800-638-6620. • Consult with local building/ zoning officials immediately after experi- encingflood damage. Local officials can offer advice on cleanup .and repair tech- niques. Building permits may be required prior to making structural repairs. This is especially true if substantial damage (greater than 50 percent of the pre-damage market value) has occurred. Floodplain management ordinances require a substantially damaged structure, at a minimum, to be elevated/ flood-proofed to a point above a regulatory flood protection elevation.. Consult with local officials who may be aware of grant programs to help offset any additional required flood protection measures. The Minnesota DNR offers the following free materials: • Decide whether you need flood insurance. A standard homeowners insur- ance policy does not provide flood coverage. Flood insurance is available to every resi- dent of a community that participates in the NFIP. This is true regardless of whether the structure is located in a mapped floodplain. Most Minnesota flood-prone communities participate in the NFIP, so chances are good that people who need flood insurance can get it. • The flood insurance waiting period is now 30 days for a new policy to take effect. Those who want both "struc- ture" and "contents" coverage should ask for What You Should Know About Buying, Owning, or Building a House in a Floodplain Preparing for Floods, During the Flood, After the Flood (Information Sheet #1) Preparing to Evacuate (Information Sheet #2) It's Cleanup Time (Information Sheet #3) For copies, call the DNR Information. Center at (612) 296-6157 in the'I~.vin Cities metro area or toll free in Greater Minnesota 1- 800-766-6000. ^