Southern Utah floods prove hazard maps faulty

ST. GEORGE — Homeowners throughout Utah are being urged to buy flood insurance after the devastating results of flash flooding in Washington County last month.

"Conditions are prime for spring flooding all over the state of Utah," said Derek Jensen, a spokesman with the Department of Public Safety. "That's our biggest concern right now. With a wet fall saturating the ground and above-normal snowpacks in our mountains, flooding is a real possibility."

Homeowners are required by law to purchase flood insurance if their property is located within a designated flood hazard map. Mortgage companies can also require the special insurance if property is located near, but not inside, an identified flood hazard area.

But those maps are aging — and could provide a false sense of security, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its Flood Hazard Mapping Program.

In fact, 79 percent of Utah's Flood Insurance Rate Maps (called FIRMs) are more than 10 years old, according to FEMA and its Spring 2003 Utah State Profile. Most of the St. George FIRMs were produced by the federal agency in 1987, according to FEMA's Web site.

"The result of the aging is that the maps may not accurately reflect flood hazard conditions, potentially creating a false sense of security and placing buildings, infrastructure and individuals at risk," the report states.

"Flood hazards are dynamic and may change rapidly due to community development as well as natural processes in the watershed. Up-to-date flood maps are crucial to comprehensive flood plain management."

FEMA's National Flood Insurance program manager for Utah is Barb Fitzpatrick. She acknowledges that the federal agency is having a difficult time getting its maps revised within the time frame allotted by Congress.

"The goal is to be updated every five years," said Fitzpatrick during a telephone interview from her Denver office. "That hasn't happened. One of the problems is that there's not enough money. We also have a new mapping process and it's going to take some time to map the entire United States, which is what Congress has asked us to do."

Of the 162 homeowners in Washington County who purchased flood insurance, only two were affected by the recent flooding.