Mitchell City Council adopts FEMA’s floodplain map for Davison County

MITCHELL – The federal government has an umbrella program for flood-prone areas.

The Mitchell City Council, during a regular meeting earlier this month, repealed the existing ordinance regarding flood control in Mitchell and replaced it with a new ordinance provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Adoption of the FEMA floodplain revision is voluntary, but adoption avoids certain road blocks. The ordinance, which was adopted by the council, updates the floodplain boundaries in Mitchell, allows property owners to purchase federal flood insurance, and enables projects within city limits to be eligible for FEMA and State Historical Preservation Office grants, according to City Planner Mark Jenniges.

“Weather patterns have changed, so that means data has to change with it. So the floodplain isn't gonna be exactly like it was before. People could come into the floodplain. People could come out of the floodplain,” Jenniges said.

Jenniges spelled out for the council that it was FEMA that is moving the floodplain boundaries and not the city of Mitchell. The new floodplain map is part of FEMA’s Flood Insurance Study for Davison County, South Dakota and Incorporated Areas, which includes the city of Mitchell.

“There's quite a few people in my neighborhood that now their houses will be in a floodplain, which is going to drastically affect home values, and I just tell them there's nothing we can do, it's all FEMA,” Mitchell Mayor Jordan Hanson said.

FEMA presented a template for adoption by the city of Mitchell. Minor changes were made to the ordinance to make it fit Mitchell’s needs, according to Jenniges.

“(FEMA) sent us a template, and we asked them to review our existing one, and they came back and said we had about 14 different issues that would fail our existing ordinance. So we just used their template and filled in the city of Mitchell,” Jenniges told the council.

FEMA’s new maps will become effective in Davison County on May 6, and is part of a project to update eastern South Dakota county floodplains that began in 2016. The new ordinance includes more definitions than the city’s previous ordinance, and the last time FEMA updated county maps was 2010.

There is a process to have the FEMA floodplain map changed, but the burden of proof is on either the municipality or the homeowner, according to Public Works Director Joe Schroeder.

“The big part is that a 100-year flood does not mean that it's going to happen every 100 years. It's a 1% chance of happening. The 500-year flood is a .2% annual chance of flooding,” Jenniges said.

The city adopting FEMA’s floodplain map revision allows property owners in Mitchell to purchase flood insurance from the federal government.

“If you live in a floodplain, talk to your bank or your lender, and see if they're going to require you to have flood insurance,” Jenniges said.

Courtesy of the city of Mitchell.

According to FEMA’s Flood Insurance Study, the National Flood Insurance Program enables property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance protection against losses from flooding. This insurance provides an alternative to disaster assistance and the repair of buildings damaged by flooding.

“Anybody with a federally backed loan has to have flood insurance per FEMA. If you get your flood insurance from FEMA — the National Flood Insurance Program — before May 6, it will be a cheaper rate than after May 6,” Jenniges said.

The second reading of the ordinance will be on April 7 during the regular meeting of the city council. Maps of the updated flood control plan can be viewed on the agenda for the council meeting on March 17 on the city’s website.