Know Your Flood Hazards and What You Can Do about It

From Kathi Cowen, CFM
Floodplain Manager for the City of Central
    You may be in a special flood hazard area.  42% of East Baton Rouge Parish has a potential of being flooded, 70% in Ascension Parish, and 75% in Livingston Parish.
    The major floods that caused the most damage on the Amite and Comite and their tributaries occured in 1967, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 2001, and 2005.  Find out if your property is in the regulated flood plain by calling your city’s floodplain management office.
    Here are some things you can do to protect your family and property from flooding:
    Buy flood insurance.  Even if you are not in the mapped floodplain, you may be subject to local drainage flooding.  In either case, flood insurance can be a good investment, because homeowners’ insurance policies do not cover damage from flooding.  To find out more about flood insurance, contact your property insurance agent to see wat policy is right for you.  Don’t wait for the next flood.
    Do not walk or drive through flood waters.  Currents are deceptive: six inches of moving water can knock you off your feet.  Do not drive around barriers, as the road or bridge may be washed out.  Preparing for an emergency can reduce the possibility of personal injury, loss of life, and damage to property.  Know your flood warning signals, create an emergency plan, and prepare a disaster supply kit.  To find out more information on flood warnings and emergency preparedness, contact your local Emergency Preparedness Office.
    Talk to us about protecting your house or business.  You can protect your home or business from drainage and flooding problems by modifying your building to minimize flood damage.  Where flooding is shallow, measures such as small flood walls, regrading the yard, and flood proofing the wall or utilities can be relatively inexpensive.  Where flooding is deep, you may need to elevate your building.  For more information on flood proofing your building, there are publications in the public library, or you can call the city’s Floodplain Management Office.
    Check with the Building Department before you build, alter, regrade, or fill your property.  A permit is required for any type of development, including new construction, substantial improvements, placement of fill, paving, or excavation to ensure that a project is compliant with all regulations.  These regulations are designed to protect your property from flood damage and to make sure you don’t cause a drainage problem for neighbors.  To find out how to get a permit, contact your Permit Office.
    Don’t pour oil, grease, pesticides, or other pollutants down storm drains or into ditches and streams.  Our streams and wetlands help moderate flooding and are habitats for fish and other wildlife that provide us with recreation or food.  Let’s protect them and our homes.
    The city has an ordinance that makes it illegal to dump debris into streams, channels, and drainage systems.  You must utilize storm water protection/erosion control when building, keeping building debris and pollutants out of storm drains.  The city also has a drainage maintenance program which can remove blockages such as downed trees and branches from a drainage ditch or stream.  To report problems, call the Department of Public Works.
    Check before you buy.  Before committing to buying property, do the following:  Ask the real estate agent or your city floodplain management office if it is in the flood zone and requires flood insurance.  Ask the seller or neighbors if it has ever flooded or if it subject to other hazards, such as sewer backups or subsidence.  Talk to the building department about the building and zoning regulations.  In accordance with City Ordinance 7210, every transfer of land or building is required to provide a flood hazard disclosure statement to prospective buyers.
    Contacts for flood information in our area include 389-3196 or www.brgov.com for East Baton Rouge Parish, or 262-5000 or www.central-la.gov for the City of Central.