Fairhope, Alabama
705 CEDAR AVE
FEMA will not be providing pre-disaster mitigation funds for the city to acquire a house on Cedar Ave. that frequently floods during heavy rainstorms because it does not meet their criteria: the $135K in insured losses over the last 25 years does not yet justify the cost of the acquisition (click).
Building Inspector Eric Cortinas said he and the mayor had met with the owners, the Barnetts, to explain the situation -- and other options that can be explored: money may still be available to raise the home's elevation or build retaining walls to divert storm water around it.
This would do nothing to help adjacent homeowners who also have issues however, and may make the problem worse downstream.
Cortinas said there are additional post-disaster emergency funds (EMA) funds related to the April 29th flood-disaster -- now under control of Governor Bentley -- that may still be used and the EMA Hazard Committee has written letters to him asking that flooding in S. Alabama be included as a priority (in addition to tornado damage in northern counties).
Cortinas: "Our goal is still to acquire the house ... ."
A neighborhood storm water retention basin would be constructed there, maintained by the city.
(An engineering study by the city 20 years ago determined a new 40" storm drain under Cedar Ave. costing the city over $100K would solve the Barnett's problem, but could cause additional ones for homeowners downstream in the problematic Volanta drainage basin. The neighborhood was constructed in the 1970s, when storm water infrastructure was not as high a priority as today.)
705 CEDAR AVE
 |
| 705 Cedar Ave. |
FEMA will not be providing pre-disaster mitigation funds for the city to acquire a house on Cedar Ave. that frequently floods during heavy rainstorms because it does not meet their criteria: the $135K in insured losses over the last 25 years does not yet justify the cost of the acquisition (click).
Building Inspector Eric Cortinas said he and the mayor had met with the owners, the Barnetts, to explain the situation -- and other options that can be explored: money may still be available to raise the home's elevation or build retaining walls to divert storm water around it.
This would do nothing to help adjacent homeowners who also have issues however, and may make the problem worse downstream.
Cortinas said there are additional post-disaster emergency funds (EMA) funds related to the April 29th flood-disaster -- now under control of Governor Bentley -- that may still be used and the EMA Hazard Committee has written letters to him asking that flooding in S. Alabama be included as a priority (in addition to tornado damage in northern counties).
Cortinas: "Our goal is still to acquire the house ... ."
A neighborhood storm water retention basin would be constructed there, maintained by the city.
(An engineering study by the city 20 years ago determined a new 40" storm drain under Cedar Ave. costing the city over $100K would solve the Barnett's problem, but could cause additional ones for homeowners downstream in the problematic Volanta drainage basin. The neighborhood was constructed in the 1970s, when storm water infrastructure was not as high a priority as today.)
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