Addison Creek Flood Plain Study

On June 2, 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) adopted new Flood Insurance Rate Maps that reflect revised flood plain limits for Addison Creek based on a new hydrologic study that was performed.  As a result the limits of the flood plain have expanded for this section of Addison Creek.  Many residents within the northeastern section of the village have received phone calls from their lenders informing them that they are now required to obtain flood insurance.  These residents understandably have many questions.  Let's start with a brief explanation of the flood plain.

What is the Flood Plain?

The limits of the flood plain are determined by forecasting the elevation that the flood waters will rise to during a 100-year storm event (referred to as the Base Flood Elevation or BFE) and overlaying them onto a map showing the ground elevations.  Properties that have ground elevations equal to or below the BFE are located within the flood plain.

The flood plain consists of two components.  The first is the floodway, which generally includes the channel portion of the waterway and may also include areas outside of the natural channel.  The floodway is a legally protected portion of the flood plain dedicated for the conveyance of flood waters.  Properties located within the floodway not only are required to have flood insurance but are also subject to significant restrictions on development of the property.  All proposed development or construction within the floodway requires a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

The second component of the flood plain is the flood fringe.  These are areas located outside of the floodway that will experience flooding during the 100-year flood, and also serve a requirement to store the flood waters. All construction within the flood fringe is subject to the Village's Flood Plain Ordinance.  Basic building requirements include that all new improvements within the flood fringe must be constructed of flood proof materials or be elevated to a defined "flood protection elevation."   Also, any fill placed within the flood fringe must be compensated for with an equal volume of excavation somewhere on the site.

Something that affects almost everyone in the floodway and flood fringe is that lenders are required by law to insure that flood insurance is maintained on any property in the flood plain.

Do I need Flood Insurance?

The study of the watersheds in Illinois included many millions of acres and it was not possible to physically determine the ground elevation of each property.  Instead, the elevation was interpolated from other physical elevations and supplemented with elevations determined from aerial photographs.

If a property owner feels that they have been incorrectly identified as being located in the flood plain, they may apply to FEMA for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA).  Through this procedure the homeowner will hire either a Professional Land Surveyor or a Professional Engineer to measure certain critical locations of their property (typically the lowest ground elevation adjacent to the house and the lowest ground elevation on their property).  If these elevations are actually found to be above the BFE, then a LOMA application may be submitted to FEMA requesting that they confirm that either the structure (house or building) or the entire property is located above the BFE, and is therefore effectively removed from the flood plain.

Once a LOMA has been issued by FEMA, the property owner can submit a copy to their lender and the lender will typically no longer require flood insurance.  At that time, the property owner can also submit a request to the lender's insurance company that the current year's flood insurance premium be refunded to the property owner. However, it should be noted that the lender is not obligated to remove the requirement for flood insurance. In any case, being removed from the flood plain will reduce the cost of the annual premium for flood insurance.    

The first step a property owner should take to determine whether they are located in the flood plain is to consult a copy of the Flood Insurance Rate Map to see if their property is shown to be within the flood plain.  The building department has a copy of the flood plain map that is available for the residents to review. 

If the property is shown to be in the flood plain, the next option would be to verify whether the ground elevations on the property are truly below the base flood elevation as determined by the original study.  Unfortunately, the only way to verify this is to hire a Professional Land Surveyor or a Professional Engineer to measure the elevations on the property.  This will involve a charge to the resident whether or not the property is ultimately determined to be located in the flood plain.

For those property owners who may have been inadvertently included in the flood plain by FEMA, applying for a LOMA may be a cost effective solution to avoid paying for costly flood insurance when the risk of flooding is negligible.  On the other hand, maintaining flood insurance, even for properties just above the BFE, should be considered a defensive approach to the real risk of potential flood damage.  If you are fortunate enough to have the option of canceling your flood insurance policy, you should seriously weigh the costs against the risks before deciding.

Please feel free to contact the Village Hall at 708.345.0020 if you should have any questions regarding the flood plain regulations.