Flood Preparedness

April 1975 Flood

Contents

How to Protect Yourself During a Flood

Flood warnings and watches:

Lansing’s highest risk of flooding occurs in late winter and early spring. To be aware of possible flooding in your neighborhood watch the television, listen to the radio and look at flood the gages on the streets and at the rivers. Flood watches and warnings are issued by television and radio using the Emergency Alert System. A flood watch indicates that a flood has the potential to occur. A flood warning indicates that a flood is about to happen or is already occurring.

Safety measures to take during a flood:

  1. If you are told to evacuate your home or business, do so immediately.
  2. Do not walk through areas of flowing water. Drowning is the number one cause of flood related deaths. Just six inches of moving water can knock you off your feet. Use a pole or stick to ensure that the ground is still there before you go through an area where water is flowing.
  3. Do not drive your car through running water. Nearly half of all flash flood fatalities are auto related. Just two feet of water will carry away most vehicles. You should never drive around road barriers; the road or bridge may be washed out.
  4. Stay away from power lines and electrical wires. The number two flood killer after drowning is electrocution. Electrical current can travel through water. Report downed power lines to the Police Department by calling 911.

Flood protection and preparedness resources:

  • Allen Neighborhood Center, (517) 367-2468. Come visit our flood and disaster preparedness resource library at 1619 E. Kalamazoo St.
  • Lansing Emergency Management office, (517) 483-4110. Information on flood protection and preparedness.
  • National Weather Service: For up-to-date information on flood watches and warnings
  • Red Cedar Flood Gauge: Information on the status of the Red Cedar river gauge, historical crests and river level forecasts
  • Homeowner’s Guide to Flooding: Information for homeowners from Homeowners Insurance suggested by Drew a student from a school in Delaware. Thank you, Drew! Drew’s teacher, Ms. Brooke Pierce, uses our website as a tool when talking about flood safety procedures. Thank you for passing along Drew’s suggestion, Ms. Brooke Pierce!
  • Are You Ready?: Steps to take in preparing for a flood, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • After a Flood: Steps to take after the event of a flood including information on planning for seniors, children and pets
  • FEMA en Español: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Spanish language version
  • Cruz Roja: The Red Cross, Spanish language version for emergency preparedness

About Floods and Floodplains

A good portion (160 acres) of the Eastside is located in the fringe of the Red Cedar River floodplain. This includes many, but not all of Eastside households bounded by Fairview and US-127, Michigan Ave. and I-496.

What is a floodplain?

During wet weather, the lowland areas along the river occasionally flood with the water that overflows the riverbanks. The land which becomes temporarily covered with water is called a floodplain.

Much of Lansing’s Eastside area is designated in a 100-year floodplain. The term 100-year floodplain is a way to describe the level of a flood that has a 1% chance (or 1 chance out of 100) of happening in any given year. The following example helps to illustrate the probability of a 100-year flood:

“Following the Midwest floods of 1993, a Missouri farmer likened a 100 year event to a bag full of marbles: If you have a bag with 100 marbles–of which 99 are white, and one is blue-every time you stick your hand in the bag and pull out the blue one you will find yourself with a 100-year flood. (Of course, each time you grab the blue marble you then have to put it back and shake the bag up before picking again. The laws of probability say that there is always a chance picking the blue marble one, two or even three times in a row. But flood probabilities are never known with perfect certainty.)” – Beyond Flood Control (no longer online)

Floodplain resource:

  • Floodsmart: Find out if you live in a floodplain and assess your overall flood risk

Protecting Your Home, Rental or Business

Flood insurance and the National Flood Insurance Program:

It is important to keep flooding and flood insurance in mind even if you do not live within a floodplain. Approximately 25 percent of all flood damages occur in low risk zones, commonly described as being outside the flood zone. Regular homeowners insurance policies do NOT include damage due to flooding.

Flood insurance is only available in communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The City of Lansing and Lansing Township do participate in the NFIP. The NFIP was passed by Congress in 1968 to help remove the burden of flood relief from tax payers. The NFIP is based on an agreement between the Federal Government and local communities. If a community will adopt and enforce floodplain management to reduce future flood risks, then the Federal Government makes flood insurance available within the community. You must buy flood insurance if you buy a house in a high risk area and receive a mortgage loan from a federally regulated lender.
Contact your local insurance agent to see if they offer flood insurance.

Flood insurance is affordable. Average flood insurance costs approximately $400/ year, through NFIP for an average of $100,000 of coverage. Paying back a $50,000 disaster home loan would cost $240/month, for an average repayment of 30 years.

Renter’s belongings are NOT covered on their landlord’s homeowners insurance policies. The cost of renter’s insurance can be very reasonable and a good way to safeguard your belongings. Think of all of the clothing, jewelry and electronics you would need to replace out of pocket if you had no renter’s insurance.

Misconceptions about flood insurance:

  1. I cannot purchase flood insurance because I live in a floodplain.
  2. I cannot purchase flood insurance because I do not live in a floodplain.

Both statements are incorrect. The City of Lansing and Lansing Township participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, automatically making you eligible to purchase flood insurance.

Federal Disaster Relief:

You should not rely solely on federal disaster relief as your only form of flood security. To receive disaster relief the President must declare the event a federal disaster. Ninety percent of disasters are not federally declared. Should federal disaster relief be awarded, it must be paid back. Flood insurance is paid out even if the disaster is not declared. Federal disaster assistance is a loan that must be paid back with interest. You are eligible for federal disaster relief even if you have insurance. Purchasing flood insurance means that you have dual protection should a disaster be declared.

Flood insurance Resources:

Flood Insurance Rate Map

A Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is a map of a community in which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has defined as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). A special flood hazard area is also known as a 100-year floodplain. The 1981 FIRM Map is the current standard being used for Ingham County.

Pre-FIRM (pre-1981): Describes buildings constructed before the jurisdiction’s first adoption of floodplain management practices. Post-FIRM (post-1981) buildings are those built after the jurisdiction adopted these regulations.

Existing pre-FIRM: Substantially damaged buildings are treated as though they were newly constructed and must comply with National Flood Insurance Program’s flood resistant construction requirements.

Those homes that are pre-FIRM homes that are not substantially damaged do not need to comply with the NFIP construction requirements.

Post-FIRM structures that have not been substantially damaged must meet at least the NFIP’s flood resistant construction requirements that were in effect when the building was originally constructed.

The jurisdiction that the building is in determines if the structure is substantially damaged and further determines the course of action for repairs.

Retrofitting Your Home

What is retrofitting? Retrofitting makes changes to an already existing building to protect it from flooding or other natural disasters. There are six ways to retrofit your home:

  1. Elevation: Raising the home’s foundation so that the lowest floor is above the flood level; or elevating service equipment such as utilities and electrical circuits.
  2. Wet flood proofing: Converting a lower area of the house such as a basement to non-livable space so that it allows floodwaters to flow in and drain out of the house without causing significant damage to the house structure or personal belongings. By doing this it allows the pressure from the water (hydrostatic pressure) to equalize. This helps to reduce wall failure and structural damage.
  3. Relocation: Relocating a home to higher ground.
  4. Dry flood proofing: Sealing walls, windows and doors and not allowing any flood waters to enter the home.
  5. Building levees and floodwalls: Building structures around the perimeter of the home to keep out flood waters. Levees are usually made out of natural earthen materials, while a floodwall is typically constructed out of concrete or masonry.
  6. Demolition: Taking down a house that is in a high risk area for flooding and relocating yourself to safer ground.

Retrofitting resources:

Disaster Alert Program: Be Prepared!

Allen Neighborhood Center is collecting information about neighbors who may need help during a disaster or weather emergency. Please help us identify who is at risk!

This directory will allow us to alert emergency responders to check on you and your home during an emergency. To add yourself or someone you know to the list, please contact Tom Curtis at 367-2468 or by email at tomc@allenneighborhoodcenter.org

Please be sure to include the following information in your message: name, address, phone number, status (senior, housebound, no telephone, disability, other), along with any additional comments or information. Please note that this information will be kept confidential and will be used only in emergencies.

Do 1 Thing

Do 1 Thing is a 12 month preparedness program that focuses on a different area of emergency preparedness each month, and provides a range of preparedness options for each topic. The goal of Do 1 Thing is to improve community disaster response by moving individuals through the process of disaster preparedness: from awareness to intention to action.

Link to the list for the whole year: Do 1 Thing Calendar

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