Frenchman's Bend map revision backfires in flood
Some homeowners in Frenchman’s Bend subdivision are reeling from their decision to drop flood insurance from their property after a revised flood map was issued that gave them the option.
A year ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the revised map to reflect accurate boundary lines for a 100-year flood elevation at Frenchman’s Bend. The revised Flood Insurance Rate Map brought houses on a portion of Bunker Lane and East Bend Place out of the flood plain.
Frenchman’s Bend Homeowners Association President Jonathan Oglesbee said about 18 residences along the Bunker extension and up to five homes on East Bend Place flooded earlier this month.
“There were some owners that dropped flood insurance,” Oglesbee said. Some residents were notified by their mortgage company that they were no longer required to carry flood coverage.
A number of homes built or purchased were required to have flood insurance as a condition of their mortgage holder because the home site was within a flood hazard area. The revision recognized land raised by Monroe developer Trey Jay LLC since the map was first issued in 1994.
The project involved Trey Jay, Monroe engineering firm S.E. Huey and the Ouachita Parish Police Jury. In July 2012, the jury was updated on a study and recommended change of the 100-year Flood Base Elevation of Bayou DeSiard in the Frenchman’s Bend Subdivision from 78.80 feet to 77.50 feet.
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Charles Taylor, with S.E. Huey, said an erroneous reading from the 1991 flood and fill dirt that added elevation for development in 2011 were part of the basis for seeking a revision to the map.
According to minutes from a police jury meeting on July 16, 2012, parish engineer Kevin Crosby stated he was in agreement with the firm and that the recommended change would be sent to FEMA for acceptance. The revision was accepted in March 2015.
“We wanted to provide that flood map so that those folks wouldn’t have to have high-dollar flood insurance,” Police Juror Walt Caldwell said.
Caldwell noted that the raising of the elevation “doesn’t necessarily mean that your house won’t flood. It just means that you’re not in a 100-year floodplain and you are no longer required by FEMA to purchase flood insurance,” he said.
Record rainfall led to flooding in portions of the subdivision that had never been affected before. Oglesbee said he knew of some owners in a predominant area of minimal flood hazard in Frenchman’s Bend who were looking to acquire flood insurance following the extraordinary event.
An undeveloped area lies at the north end of Bunker Lane. Crosby said that section remains unapproved because of drainage concerns. Additionally, calculations show the golf course’s ponds in detention areas where a servitude is required before a project can move forward.
Trey Jay’s Larry Jones said flooding caused by the recent storms "will affect future development.”
As residents work toward resolving flood issues, important regulatory changes to the National Flood Insurance Program are set to take effect. Changes include multiple rate increases, reformation of coverage, elimination of subsidy for certain Pre-Flood Insurance Rate Map policies that are lapsed and reinstated, and Section 28 of the Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act.
New policy changes will go into effect Friday. Renewal terms effective on or after Friday are subject to premium increases and other fees and Reserve Fund Assessment changes.
Cynthia DiVincenti, vice president of government programs at National Flood Services, said premium rate increases through NFIP will average 9 percent. She said overall, increases could be anywhere from 4 to 25 percent.
Businesses in place before the new Flood Insurance Rate Maps would be be subject to a 25 percent increase. Also, the 25 percent increase would apply to Pre-FIRM Severe Repetitive Loss properties. “Those properties would have experienced two flood events over the past 10 years with excessive losses of $10,000 or more,” she said.
She said typically there is a 30-day waiting period for a new application, unless it is tied to a mortgage-closing date.
"We are focused on encouraging policyholders to renew and maintain coverage to take advantage of 'grandfathering,' because if they leave the NFIP and come back, they would be rated based on current maps," DiVincenti said.