city news
november
Flood Insurance: Coverage and Compliance
By Jill Hult
As we settle into the fall
season, it is a perfect time to make
obtaining Flood Insurance part of
your winter weather preparations.
Especially for Vernonians, affected
by two floods, there are not only ben-
efits to insure but compliance issues
as well. Here is a quick look at The
National Flood Insurance Program.
It is important to know that
the National Flood Insurance Pro-
gram (NFIP) is federally regulated
through FEMA. Coverage and rates
are determined using Federal Insur-
ance Rate Maps (FIRMs) that show
the level of flood risk an area is in.
These Rates are set and do not dif-
fer from insurance company to in-
surance company. Typically there is
a thirty day waiting period for your
flood insurance policy to take effect.
Renters and homeowners
alike can purchase flood insurance
from most local insurance agents.
While rates are set depending on
your flood zone, costs vary depend-
ing on what you are covering and
the level of coverage you want to
purchase. Building Coverage Rates
include your Federal Policy Fee
and Increased Cost of Compliance
(ICC)premium. Renter’s coverage
would most likely be for contents
only which does not include an ICC
premium. An ICC premium is addi-
tional funds available should you be
required to mitigate your building.
Compliance is also a con-
sideration for flood insurance that
should not be ignored. Regardless if
your home is required to carry flood
insurance through your mortgage
company or not there may be other
reasons that could require you to
maintain flood insurance.
If you received any financial
assistance from FEMA after a Presi-
dential disaster declaration and live
in a SFHA (also known as the 100
year floodplain or Zone A) you must
obtain or maintain a flood insurance
policy for the life of the dwelling. If
you do not maintain flood insurance,
you may not be eligible for Federal
Disaster Assistance in the event of
another disaster. If you are a renter
in a SFHA and received financial
assistance from FEMA you are also
required to obtain and maintain flood
insurance for your contents for as
long as you live in the flood damaged
home or you may not be eligible for
Federal Disaster Assistance in the fu-
ture.
If your home was substan-
tially damaged and you do not miti-
gate your home to comply with your
city or county flood plain manage-
ment ordinance(s) you may not be
eligible for flood insurance as well
as not receive Federal Disaster As-
sistance in the future.
The State Flood Plain Co-
ordinator, Christine Shirley, reminds
residents to keep all flood vents open
and that any elevated space should
be kept free of toxins and materials
that can be permanently damaged
by flood waters. These areas are not
meant to be livable space. Items that
could be kept in these elevated areas
are vehicles, tires, and gardening
tools.
There are many levels of
coverage you can choose from. It
is important to discuss in detail the
requirements of your home’s flood
zone as well as your needs with your
insurance agent. You can also visit
www.floodsmart.gov for more infor-
mation. Remember, it is a far easier
and more timely process to receive
a payout from your Insurance com-
pany than it is to wait on the FEMA
process.
9
Wu Obtains $300,000
for Vernonia Waste-
water System
2009
US Congressman David Wu has secured
$300,000 for wastewater system improvements in
the city of Vernonia. The funds will help update
the current wastewater treatment facility.
“When Vernonia experienced severe
flooding nearly two years ago, it became clear that
numerous pieces of the city’s infrastructure need
to be relocated or renovated in order to withstand
future storms,” said Wu. “The funds I secured to-
day will help the city take another step toward that
goal. Current and future generations of Vernonia
residents will all benefit from having an improved
wastewater system.”
According to Vernonia City Administra-
tor, Bob Young, the City is getting ready to move
forward with plans to reconfigure the current sew-
er lagoon system and raise the height of the enclo-
sure. Young said final details were currently being
worked out and that he expected the Vernonia City
Council to review a final proposal in November.
The Vernonia wastewater improvemnet
project is included in the Interior and Environment
appropriations bill. The House of Representatives
passed a final version of the legislation that repre-
sents House-Senate agreement on the projects to
be funded.
Geography Matters: Some Facts About Vernonia
By Ben Fousek
First off, I would like to apologize to my loy-
al readers for missing the deadline for submission last
month. September passed by me like a Nehalem River
salmon hell bent on spawning. In the last column, I
promised some interesting information about Vernonia,
so let’s get to it.
How big is Vernonia in terms of area? It’s an
interesting question, which may or may not have ever
crossed your mind. As someone involved in surveying,
mapping and the like, this question has crossed my mind
more than once. Before I took the technical approach
to answering this question, I made a guess. Now before
you read any further, I want you to take your best guess
using whatever unit of area you feel most comfortable
with, e.g., ft 2 , m 2 , acres, etc.
Got your number? Well, incorporated Vernonia
has an area of 46,832,408 ft 2 , which is to say 4,350,873
m 2 or 1075.12 acres or 1.68 miles 2 . Any other conver-
sions you’ll have to accomplish yourself. So how close
was your estimate? I guessed around 2 miles 2 .
Now that we know the size of Vernonia, let’s
have some fun with it. An 8.5”x11” piece of paper is
0.6493 ft 2 . It would take 72,127,534 sheets of paper to
completely cover Vernonia in a single layer. Suppos-
ing we used 20 lb. paper to cover Vernonia, then neatly
stacked that paper, our stack of paper would be 24,042.5
feet high or 4.55 miles. Wow! Doing the same with
Portland would give us a stack of paper 1,922,105 feet
high or 364.04 miles. How about another one? Vernonia
is 4.35 km 2 and the surface of the Earth is 510,072,000
km 2 . With some very long division and the help of a
decimal to fraction converter on the web, it turns out
that Vernonia covers approximately 1/117,257,931 of
the Earth’s surface. Although the practicality of these
examples is all but null, I hope you’ve gotten more out
it than factoids. The reason being is I’m now going to
examine information more practical to our lives in Ver-
nonia, but in doing so we need to continue in the same
mindset that allows us to visualize the size of Vernonia
as a stack of paper. Why? It’s not going to be as fun;
it’s just a lot more important, and we need to be able to
look beyond just what the numbers represent. We need
to understand the factors that made the numbers what
they are, which aspects are good and bad, and action we
can take to change the numbers over time to benefit Ver-
nonia.
Let’s start by coming up with some numbers
by doing some geospatial and statistical analysis on
parcels and the 1% inundation (100yr) flood zone. The
area of the 1% inundation flood zone within city limits what the proposed buyouts are intended to do.
is 20,024,998 ft 2 . That means 43% of Vernonia has a
Remember that 43% of Vernonia has the poten-
1% chance of being flooded every year. There are 1439 tial to be affected by a 100-year flood event. Well, as it
parcels of land in city limits, excluding a few parcels turns out, 41% of homes are in that area. I suppose the
which are partially in city limits, but are mostly out- good news is that we have more potential homes outside
side city limits. Of those 1439 parcels, 562 (39%) of flood-affected areas. There are 788 residential proper-
them are affected by the 1% inundation flood zone. The ties not flood-affected, with 549 existing homes. That’s
1439 parcels have a total of 2403 buildings (structures 239 potential homes that could be built outside of major
assessed by the County Assessor); 933 of those build- flood hazard areas right now without further land devel-
ing are homes. The 562 flood-affected parcels have 384 opment. There are only 96 potential homes available in
homes, an average of 1.76 buildings per parcel, and an the flood-affected areas, some of those are buyouts from
average parcel size of 39,615 ft 2 . The 877 parcels not af- the 1996 flood and have no development potential and
fected by the flood zone have 549 homes, an average of some are parcels along the river and Rock Creek which
1.61 buildings per parcel, and an average parcel size of cannot be built on, and should really be rezoned as con-
20,227 ft 2 . As a side note, 6,829,616 ft 2 (14.6%) of Ver- servation or parks or something other than residential.
nonia is public right-of-way (streets and alleys). While
I see many more possibilities for drawing con-
I’m at it, I’m also going to summarize residential and clusions from the information above, however my space
commercial zoning for the flood and non-flood affected here is limited. I’m sure you can come up with some
areas. There are 54 commercial-zoned properties and on your own, should you see fit. A quick note on the
480 residential properties affected by the 1% inunda- data: The flood data is from the U.S. Corps of Army
tion flood zone, while 75 commercial properties and 788 Engineers’ Draft Flood Hazard Study. The parcel and
residential properties are not. That leaves 42 parcels in building data is from the Vernonia GIS and Columbia
Vernonia zoned for parks or light industrial.
County Assessors Office. The area values are accurate
Now that we have some information, what do within a few ft 2 + or -. The number of parcels, build-
we see? The first thing that I noticed was the average ings and homes may change slightly as the Vernonia GIS
parcel area and developed density. The average parcel continues to collect and refine its datasets, which in turn
size in the flood affected area of Vernonia is almost dou- would change the calculated values, but not enough to
ble the area not affected by flooding. The obvious rea- change the overall meaning. Next month, I’m hoping to
son for this difference is the large parcels that make up have a map accompany my column. I sure hope you’ll
the lake, mill site, lagoon, and school areas. A less ob- check it out.
vious reason is that the areas
at higher elevations like OA
Hill and Corey Hill are most-
ly smaller residential parcels.
The average parcel size for
all 1439 parcels is 27,799
ft 2 . The developed density
of the flood-affected area
is higher with 1.76 build-
ings per parcel as opposed
to 1.61 buildings per parcel.
Although these two numbers
are roughly the same, they
suggest as a community we
have subjected ourselves to
higher losses due to flood by
Pet Supplies & Grooming
Custom Arrangements
building more buildings per
(503) 429-PETS (7387)
(503) 429-2000
parcel in areas that flood. So
www.CreaturesPetShop.com
www.VernoniaFlorist.com
Ben-n-Lisa@CreaturesPetShop.com
Lisa@VernoniaFlorist.com
how do we reduce the build-
ings per parcel value in flood
Open Monday thru Saturday, 10AM to 6PM Closed Sundays
736 Bridge Street, Vernonia
Visa/Mastercard Accepted
affected areas? Well, that’s
Stocked & Ready
for Christmas!
REDUCED PRICES ON
HUNDREDS OF NEW ITEMS!
Lots of Great Stocking Stuffers!
