Stark's flood insurance proposal goes to Senate

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Sep 29, 2007 | by Matthew Artz

FREMONT -- Flood insurance legislation now heading to the U.S. Senate could prevent a repeat of a 2000 Fremont incident in which about 500 residents found out they had to buy flood insurance even though their neighborhood hadn't been flooded in decades.

The legislation, which was passed by the House on Thursday, includes an amendment from Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, providing advance notice and new protections to property owners in federally declared flood zones.

Stark's amendment requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide written notification to property owners affected by changes in flood-zone designations.

It also would allow communities or individual property owners a 90-day appeal period in which homes could be removed from the designated areas at no expense to the owners.

"People shouldn't find out at the last possible moment that their homes were added to FEMA's flood zones and that they are required to buy flood insurance," Stark said in a prepared statement.

Stark began pursuing the legislation in 2000 after about 500 Irvington District residents learned that FEMA's updated maps placed their neighborhood in a flood zone.

Forced to pay upward of $1,000 a year in flood insurance, some residents hired a surveyor who discovered that several of the houses were above the flood level and didn't need insurance.

FEMA uses computer modeling to update flood-zone maps based on rainfall totals.

Fremont has worked with the federal agency this year on updating flood maps, but the changes have not been released.

In addition to Stark's amendment, the bill, which passed 263- 146, seeks to put the National Flood Insurance program on stronger financial footing after Hurricane Katrina. It also would expand it to cover windstorms -- a provision that has drawn veto threats from the White House.

Staff writer Matthew Artz covers Fremont for The Argus. He can be reached at 510-353-7002 or martz@bayareanewsgroup.com.