Front and Back Covers: FEMA News Photos
THE 1993

GREAT MIDWEST FLOOD:

Voices 10 Years Later

A 10th-Anniversary Anthology of Stories of Hardship and Triumph

collected by the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Federal Emergency Management Agency

May 2003
Second Printing, June 2003
iii

Contents

Acronyms Used...................................................................................................................v

FEMA Regional Offices.................................................................................................. vii

Foreword........................................................................................................................... ix

Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ xi

Introduction.................................................................................................................... xiii

FEMA Region V

Mitigation Success Stories..................................................................................................1

Illinois’s Winning Formula in Floodplain Management .....................................................3

Grafton, Illinois: Sound Floodplain Management Helps Community Rebuild ...................7

Changing the Devastation of Flooding, One House at a Time ............................................9

Saving an Architectural Landmark by Making It Flood Resistant ....................................11

Moving Out of the Floodplain, House and All ..................................................................13

A Mayor’s Story: Flood-Proofing the Historic Main Street in Darlington, Wisconsin.....15

FEMA Region VII and the State of Missouri

Success Stories from the Missouri Buyout Program, August 2002................................19

Arnold, Missouri: Getting Out of the Floodplain ..............................................................21

Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Learning What a “100-Year Flood” Is ...................................23

Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Leaving Water Street After 47 Years .....................................25

Neosho, Missouri: From Sandbags to Lawnmowers .........................................................27

St. Charles County, Missouri: The Successful Experiment...............................................29

St. Mary, Missouri: Making Flood Damage a Thing of the Past.......................................31

Special Feature

Hazard Mitigation: The Cornerstone of Emergency Management................................33

A Tale of Two Flood-Prepared Iowa Communities ..........................................................35

Special Feature

Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri Insurance Success Stories ...................................41

Where the Eagles Fly.........................................................................................................43

Red House on the Wapsi....................................................................................................45

Learning a Lesson . . . the Hard Way.................................................................................49

My Loan Man Made Me Do It...........................................................................................51

Computer Oatmeal.............................................................................................................53
iv

FEMA Region VIII

The Langdon, North Dakota, Success Story....................................................................55

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Diversion Project in Langdon, North Dakota.............57

Association of State Floodplain Managers

Excerpts from Mitigation Success Stories, Edition 4, January 2000 ...........................59

Petersburg, Illinois .............................................................................................................61

Beatrice, Nebraska .............................................................................................................63

Union, Missouri .................................................................................................................65

East St. Peter, Minnesota ...................................................................................................67

Bibliography .....................................................................................................................69

Appendix A: Maps ........................................................................................................ A-1

Declared Counties for the Great Midwest Flood of 1993............................................... A-3

Locations of Current CRS Communities for the

1993 Midwest Flood Region........................................................................................ A-5

Improvement in CRS Community Ratings for the

1993 Midwest Flood Region........................................................................................ A-7

Policy Growth from July 1993 to February 2003 for the

1993 Midwest Flood Region........................................................................................ A-9

Flood Insurance Coverage in July 1993 and February 2003 for the

1993 Midwest Flood Region...................................................................................... A-11

FEMA Expenditures per State for the 1993 Midwest Flood ........................................ A-13

FEMA Program Expenditures per State for the 1993 Midwest Flood.......................... A-15

National Flood Insurance Program Losses Paid per State for the

1993 Midwest Flood .................................................................................................. A-17

Hazard Mitigation Projects from June 1993 through April 2003

per County for the Great Midwest Flood Region ...................................................... A-19

Appendix B: Flood Statistics Tables ............................................................................B-1

Damage Estimates for 1993 Midwest Flooding...............................................................B-3

FEMA Expenditures for 1993 Midwest Flooding ...........................................................B-5

National Flood Insurance Program Claim Payments for 1993 Midwest Flooding..........B-7

National Flood Insurance Program Policies in Force and

Insurance in Force, Then and Now...............................................................................B-9
v

Acronyms Used

Some of the following acronyms and initializations are used in this anthology. Others

may be encountered by readers who refer to the publications and web sites listed in the

Bibliography (page 71).

ASFPM Association of State Floodplain Managers

CDBG Community Development Block Grant

DMA 2000 Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

FMA Flood Mitigation Assistance

HMGP Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

HUD U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

ICC Increased Cost of Compliance

IDNR/OWR Illinois Department of Natural Resources/

Office of Water Resources

IEMA Illinois Emergency Management Agency

IEMD Iowa Emergency Management Division

KDEM Kansas Division of Emergency Management

MDEM Minnesota Division of Emergency Management

NDDEM North Dakota Division of Emergency Management

NEMA Nebraska Emergency Management Agency

NFIP National Flood Insurance Program

SBA U.S. Small Business Administration

SDDEM South Dakota Division of Emergency Management

SEMA State Emergency Management Agency

SFIP Standard Flood Insurance Policy

WEM Wisconsin Emergency Management

vii

FEMA Regional Offices

FEMA Region I

442 J. W. McCormack POCH

Boston, MA 02109-4595

617-223-9540

Serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,

and Vermont

FEMA Region II

26 Federal Plaza, Room 1337

New York, NY 10278-0002

212-680-3600

Serving New Jersey and New York; and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

FEMA Region III

One Independence Mall, Sixth Floor

615 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106-4404

215-931-5608

Serving Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia,

and West Virginia

FEMA Region IV

3003 Chamblee Tucker Road

Atlanta, GA 30341

770-220-5200

Serving Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South

Carolina, and Tennessee

FEMA Region V

536 South Clark Street, Sixth Floor

Chicago, IL 60605

312-408-5500

Serving Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin

FEMA Region VI

FRC 800 North Loop 288

Denton, TX 76209

940-898-5399

Serving Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas
viii

FEMA Region VII

2323 Grand Boulevard, Suite 900

Kansas City, MO 64108-2670

816-283-7061

Serving Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska

FEMA Region VIII

Denver Federal Center

Building 710, Box 25267

Denver, CO 80255-0267

303-235-4800

Serving Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming

FEMA Region IX

1111 Broadway, Suite 1200

Oakland, CA 94607

510-627-7100

Serving Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada; and the Territory of American Samoa,

the Territory of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic

of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau

FEMA Region X

Federal Regional Center

130 228th Street, SW

Bothell, WA 98021-9796

425-487-4600

Serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington
ix

Foreword

The 1993 Great Midwest Flood: Voices 10 Years Later is a collection of success stories

taken largely from existing sources. These success stories document what effective

mitigation can do to prevent future flood disasters. This publication also includes

narratives from several “veterans” of the Great Midwest Flood of 1993 who had National

Flood Insurance Program coverage and subsequently urged other property owners to buy

it too.

The “Great Midwest Flood of 1993” was a landmark event that spanned more than

4 months. Remembering its devastation, 10 years later, may help other property owners

and communities at risk from flooding become more aware of the harm that floods can do

to lives, property, and infrastructure. This 10th-anniversary anthology will also be, we

hope, a source of inspiration and encouragement for those communities and property

owners at risk from flooding that there are measures they can take—today—to reduce

their physical and financial risk from flood hazards.

xi

Acknowledgments

This document is the work of many hands. It is also, by our own admission, incomplete.

There are many more stories of effective mitigation taken by the nine affected states, the

communities, and the property owners after the 1993 flood that are not reported here.

And there are many more accounts of property owners who have come to realize the

value of flood insurance protection as a result of the 1993 flood. So what we offer here is

only a sample of the work that has been done in the Midwest to protect people and

property from floods since the hard lessons of 1993.

A special thanks goes out to the organizations that provided consultation, documents, and

other support for this anthology. Among the many are the Association of State Floodplain

Managers and the NFIP Bureau and Statistical Agent. Regardless of source, all of the

stories have a common theme: the value of mitigation and flood insurance as key tools to

lessen the impact of future floods.

The states, communities, and people affected by the 1993 flood, as well as FEMA

Regions V, VII, and VIII, and the Mitigation Division of the U.S. Department of

Homeland Security, have all worked in partnership to achieve the mitigation successes

documented in this anthology.

Finally, special thanks and recognition go to the community officials and private citizens

who offered their insights on the value of flood insurance protection and the benefits of

mitigation.

xiii

Introduction

The Great Midwest Flood of 1993 was among the most devastating natural disasters in

our nation’s history. The National Weather Service ranks this flood as one of the greatest

ever to have hit the United States.

The flooding started in late May 1993—10 years ago—and lasted until September of that

year. In some places the floodwaters didn’t subside until October. More than a thousand

levees in the Midwest failed or were overtopped as flooding exceeded the presumed

“worst-case” design specifications. At 600 monitoring points in the Midwest, rivers were

above flood stage during this event.

Nine states were affected: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota,

Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Fifty people lost their lives. Fifty-four thousand

people were left homeless and needed emergency shelter or extended temporary housing.

Fifty thousand homes were destroyed or damaged, and 75 communities were completely

under water. According to a nationally commissioned study1

, property damages ranged

between $12 and $16 billion. When economic losses are added, the total is much higher.

The effects on transportation and commerce from the Great Midwest Flood of 1993 were

staggering. For almost 2 months, barge traffic along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

was at a standstill as was railroad traffic in virtually all of the Midwest. From Davenport,

Iowa, downstream to St. Louis, Missouri, bridges along the Mississippi River were out of

commission or inaccessible. It was the same story along the Missouri River. The 1993

Midwest Flood shut down 10 commercial airports.

The estimated federal response and recovery costs exceeded $4.2 billion in direct federal

assistance. The federal government also made disaster loans totaling $621 million to

individuals and businesses.

The expenditures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, now part of the

Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate in the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security, totaled $1.14 billion. Those disaster costs included:

 $371 million in grants to individuals and families for temporary housing, home

repairs, unemployment payments, and other disaster-related expenses;

 

1

Sharing the Challenge: Floodplain Management into the 21st Century, a report of the Interagency

Floodplain Management Review Committee to the Administration Floodplain Management Task Force,

Washington, DC, June 1994.
xiv

 $519 million in grants primarily to states and local governments for public property

restoration and clean-up work;

 $158 million in grants primarily to states and local governments for property

acquisitions and other hazard mitigation projects;

 $32.3 million to other federal agencies for the delivery of emergency supplies and

other mission-assigned work; and

 $60 million in administrative costs.

Total disaster costs would have been even higher, except that flood insurance policies

issued by the National Flood Insurance Program reduced the total federal disaster outlay

by $271.3 million with flood insurance claim payments to its policyholders. These

property owners had paid their own way through the purchase of flood insurance.

Appendixes A and B provide additional statistical data about the flood and its aftermath.

But numbers don’t tell the whole story.

The 1993 Great Midwest Flood: Voices 10 Years Later lets us hear directly from

survivors of the 1993 flood, including officials of flooded communities. In their own

words, they tell us, 10 years later, what the Great Midwest Flood of 1993 did to them,

their property, or their communities, and what they have learned about the value of

mitigation and the benefits of flood insurance protection.

Although these stories were contributed by people in many walks of life, the themes are

remarkably consistent and unmistakably clear:

 People who don’t have flood insurance protection need to buy it.

 People who have flood insurance protection need to keep it.

 People outside of Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required,

need to take stock and buy the protection as well.

 Removing buildings from the floodplain reduces the economic and human costs of

flooding.

 Other forms of mitigation, such as elevation and floodproofing, prevent future flood

damage and help save taxpayers’ dollars.

 Only mitigation can end the desperate cycle of repetitive flood losses.

You’ll hear from ordinary citizens, business owners, and community officials about the

wisdom and benefits of protecting their physical and financial interests from flood losses.

Let’s listen.
1

FEMA Region V

Mitigation Success Stories

FEMA Region V serves Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,

Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

For contact information, see the FEMA Regional Offices list on pages vii-viii.

3

Illinois’s Winning Formula

in Floodplain Management

After many Illinois river communities

experienced the devastation of the Great

Midwest Flood of 1993, it became obvious

that floodplains are easily reclaimed by

rivers during and after severe weather

events. With a combined formula to enforce

local floodplain regulations and return the

floodplain to its natural purposes, the State

of Illinois has succeeded in reducing damage

from the most frequent cause of disaster

declarations in Illinois.

Flooding has been a constant drain on

emergency response and recovery resources

in Illinois. The state’s geography includes

900 rivers and waterways with a combined

length of 13,200 miles. The state is bordered

by 880 miles of

the Mississippi,

Wabash, and

Ohio Rivers.

The state’s

mitigation

initiatives have

resulted in the

purchase of

more than

3,500 floodprone structures

and some

adjacent vacant

lots (as of July

2002).

Communities

benefit when

these parcels are returned to their natural

functions. Using voluntary acquisition grant

programs, the Illinois Emergency

Management Agency (IEMA) has approved

and administered more than $100 million in

project activities including flood mitigation,

ice storm preparedness, and wind-resistant

construction.

IEMA and the Illinois Department of

Natural Resources/Office of Water

Resources (IDNR/OWR) are aggressively

pursuing the reduction of flooded properties,

having proactively completed a detailed

analysis of the National Flood Insurance

Program repetitive loss structure inventory.

More than 30 percent of these properties

have already been removed from this list

through voluntary buyouts.

A Winning Recipe

The recipe for reducing flood damage can be

attributed to the two-fold approach of

eliminating existing flood problems and of

controlling new development in the

floodplain, according to Paul Osman,

Floodplain Management Program

Coordinator, IDNR/OWR.

The success of the acquisition and

floodplain management programs along the

Illinois and Sangamon Rivers became

evident during a recent flood event in the

spring of 2002. (The table on page 5 details

the acquisition projects.) The Sangamon

River reached 10 feet over flood stage, and

the Illinois River topped at 15 feet over

flood stage. County emergency managers

and local floodplain administrators reported

that, had the buyouts not taken place, many

more houses would have been inundated

with floodwaters.

Jan Horton, Illinois State Mitigation Officer,

remarked that, at the confluence of the

Illinois and Mississippi Rivers at the City of

Grafton, an estimated 200 more people

Each dot on this Illinois

map represents one of 74

acquisition project sites.
4

“When you get the

people out of the

floodplain, you don’t

have to boat in and

rescue residents.

You don’t have to

evacuate, put up

road blocks, and

rebuild where the

floodwaters will

surely be back.”

Jan Horton, Illinois

State Mitigation

Officer

would have faced the trauma of cleaning up

had not 88 structures been removed from the

floodplain by a successful buyout project.

When you are committed to the challenge of

reducing persistent flood damage, it requires

a staff with creativity and determination,

according to Horton. “To be successful, you

have to think outside of the box, have a

can-do work ethic, and avoid getting

discouraged,” said Horton. “Thinking

creatively means keeping a positive attitude

and strategizing to look at challenges in new

ways to assist communities within the limits

of the law.”

After the 1993 floods and subsequent

acquisition program, IEMA organized the

Interagency Mitigation Advisory Group

(IMAG) to facilitate

the implementation

of various mitigation

programs. In addition

to IEMA, the group

is composed of a

variety of agencies,

including the

IDNR/OWR, Illinois

Historic Preservation,

Department of

Commerce and

Community Affairs,

FEMA, and the American Red Cross, with

staff who can provide expertise in

acquisition and elevation projects.

“With the IMAG, we can bring in all the

agencies involved in the mitigation

conversation,” explained Horton. “Together,

we conduct reviews, research, and

evaluations, and make prioritizations and

recommendations.”

In addition to the creation and use of the

strong partnerships developed in the IMAG,

Horton attributes the success of the state’s

acquisition program to several factors:

 support from the Governor’s Office;

 a close relationship with FEMA, a

partner on the IMAG;

 an appraisal review process at the state

level to ensure reliability and

consistency; and

 dedicated state staff and the involvement

of local officials.

Acquisitions are a very visible and tangible

example of success. “We’ve made a dent in

getting people out of the way of floodwaters.

The more houses we buy out in an

acquisition program, the more the river can

do what it wants and flooding becomes a

non-event,” said Bob Sherman, IEMA

Mitigation Planner.

In working toward the goal of damage

prevention and the decrease of subsequent

recovery dollars, in that one area of risk

called the floodplain, IEMA is leading the

way in making Illinois a better place.
5

Funding for Acquisition Projects in

the Illinois and Sangamon River Watersheds

Illinois River

Watershed

Sangamon River

Watershed

TOTAL

Acquired

Units

 672

 156

 828

FEMA HMGP1

Funds

$11,114,035

$2,613,276

$13,727,311

DCCA/IDNR2

Match Funds

$7,750,218

$993,853

$8,744,071

Total

Cost

$18,864,253

$3,607,129

$22,471,382

1

Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

2

Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs/Illinois Department of Natural Resources

7

Grafton, Illinois: Sound Floodplain Management

Helps Community Rebuild

Grafton, Illinois, is a river town. Located at

the confluence of the Illinois and the

Mississippi Rivers, the city grew because of

its proximity to the river network and

developed its character based on river life.

Grafton has also suffered from the

devastation of floodwaters and the hard

decisions that come when recovering from a

disaster. But through mitigation and the

enforcement of floodplain regulations, the

city has turned around its flood-prone

reputation, while maintaining its river

heritage.

The Flood of the Century

The Great Midwest Flood of 1993 was the

most destructive in recent history because of

record crests on the rivers and the extended

duration of the high waters that remained

above flood stage for 180 days. In one area

of town, floodwaters reached a depth of 15

feet, submerging rooftops.

Flooding kept people from returning to their

homes for months. Some residents couldn’t

ever return. Once the waters receded, many

homes were uninhabitable because of the

mud, mold, and water damage.

Thousands of hours and dollars were spent

on the response and recovery. National

Guard troops were deployed to the area; the

Illinois Department of Transportation built a

temporary road to keep the city from being

isolated; FEMA travel trailers provided

temporary shelter for those who were forced

from their homes; and the American Red

Cross and the Salvation Army provided food

for volunteers and flood victims. Mayor

Richard Mosby remembers a day, months

into the flood, when he was in a johnboat

getting from one end of town to another and

asked a friend if he thought they would ever

experience a normal day in Grafton again.

Floodplain Management and

Mitigation Implementation

Since 1973, the city has participated in the

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

and adopted rules regarding development in

the floodplain. “One of the hardest jobs for a

local official is implementing floodplain

ordinances, but enforcement of the rules is

what prevents future flood disasters in

places like Grafton,” explained Paul Osman,

Floodplain Management Program

Coordinator, Illinois Department of Natural

Resources/Office of Water Resources.

The Illinois River flows into the Mississippi River

at Grafton, Illinois—often, until flood hazard

mitigation, with disastrous consequences.

“They have to keep new buildings and

development out of the floodplain. And,

when there is a flood, they have the

thankless job of assessing the damage and

having to tell some people whose homes are
8

substantially damaged that they can’t rebuild

in the floodplain.”

That difficult job was held by Richard

Mosby, who was Zoning and Building

Inspector during the time of the buyout

program in Grafton. “To be able to

participate in the NFIP and receive the help

from the program when you needed it, you

had to enforce the floodplain rules,” he

commented. “A good floodplain manager is

one with the ability to say no.”

Rebuilding from such a devastating flood

takes time and perseverance. In the

aftermath of the disaster, to comply with the

local floodplain ordinance, dozens of flooddamaged homes in Grafton were assessed

for damage. To ensure that the evaluations

were unbiased, the city hired a professional

appraiser to assess those structures with

damages falling in the range of 40 to 60

percent. Structures that sustained damages

above 50 percent of the market value of the

building were required to be elevated or

removed.

Grafton was never to return to the days

before the flood. A total of 70 houses and 18

commercial buildings were acquired and

removed from the floodplain, at a cost of

$2,320,980 in disaster-activated Hazard

Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds

from FEMA and $773,636 in matching

funds from the Illinois Department of

Commerce and Community Affairs. The

program presented residents with an

opportunity to move out of the path of

repetitive flooding.

The city obtained federal and state grants to

help develop building lots on higher ground,

far above the floodplain. The new building

site of Grafton Hills eventually offered

building sites for some residents who

participated in the buyout and for the city to

grow as it recovered from the flood and the

initial loss of population. The vacated land

near the river now contains a bike path and

parkland, and plans are in place to build a

marina on other open parcels.

“In the floods since ’93, the number of

people impacted by them is significantly

less,” said Mayor Mosby. “If it had flooded

like this before the buyout, at least 40

families would have been affected by

floodwaters. In this last flood, even though

we had the inconvenience of road closures,

there were probably less than a dozen people

whose homes were affected at all.”

How Flood Mitigation Pays for Itself

“Whenever you heard of flooding on the Mississippi River, Grafton was always at the top

of the list. It flooded nearly every other year,” says Ron Davis, Hazard Mitigation Specialist

with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

Statistics from the National Flood Insurance Program bear out that observation: some

properties had up to seven claims each since 1973, and a total of $4,267,519 in claims

was paid to Grafton flood insurance policyholders from 1978 through 2001. The 1994

acquisition program, funded 75 percent by FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and

administered by the state, removed structures that had accounted for $906,000 of

repetitive loss claims.

Flooding in years since the buyout (1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2002) caused no

significant damage, and response and recovery costs have been dramatically reduced,

demonstrating the benefits of a well planned and coordinated buyout program and good

floodplain management.
9

“Never doubt that a

small group of

thoughtful,

committed citizens

can change the

world. Indeed, it’s

the only thing that

ever has.”

Margaret Mead

Changing the Devastation of Flooding,

One House at a Time

Alice and Orville Snater had seen it all

before. Runoff from heavy spring 2000 rains

caused the Cedar River, Dobbins Creek, and

Turtle Creek, which converge in their

southeastern Minnesota city of Austin, to yet

again overflow their banks.

But this time the Snaters and more than 150

other families were spared the devastating

damages of muddy, fast-flowing

floodwaters. Through a concerted effort of

citizens and local

government, and

with the help of

state and federal

agencies,

acquisition

projects began

after severe

flooding in 1978.

The buyout

program helped

families move out of the floodplain and into

homes that remained dry during the 2000

flood.

Some of the houses moved with the families,

as was the case with the Snaters. Once set

near the flowing waters of the Cedar River,

and experiencing multiple flooding damages

from its waters, the family’s sturdy brick

house was moved out of the floodplain to a

site 12 blocks away.

Floodwaters had swept through the Snaters’

home and covered much of the city twice in

1978. Just a few days after they cleaned up

from the first July storm, waters escaped the

banks and again spread throughout the city.

The flooding damaged 400 homes and 25

commercial properties, with losses estimated

to have been $12 million.

In response to the flooding of 1978, Alice

Snater helped form the Flood Action

Citizens Task Source (FACTS) to look at

ways to solve the flooding problem. The

group, with a membership that reached 450,

met and dialogued with the Austin City

Council, the Turtle Creek Watershed Board,

the Minnesota Department of Natural

Resources, the Governor’s office, and state

and local agencies to gather as much

information as possible.

Moving from a home, especially as a result

of a natural disaster rather than by choice,

can be a very traumatic event. The active

participation of Austin residents through the

FACTS group helped smooth the transition,

as government agencies worked together on

voluntary buyouts of homes and relocation

of families. In the aftermath of the 1978

flood, 58 homes along the Cedar River were

acquired through a Community

Development Block Grant provided by the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development to the Housing and

Redevelopment Authority of Austin.

After flooding damaged 450 homes in 1993,

additional buyouts were conducted. Funded

under FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant

Program and the Minnesota Department of

Natural Resources, the acquisition project

was administered through the Minnesota

Division of Emergency Management. With

the help of the program, the Snaters and

others relocated their houses in 1994.
10

Altogether, 163 properties were acquired

after the floods of 1978, 1988, and 1993.

Then the flood of 2000 hit, with the highest

recorded crest height of 23.4 feet. But the

Snaters, Grohs, Bastyrs, and Earls, and

many, many more families who participated

in the buyout program, now had the security

of knowing they were beyond the flood’s

reach.

Of her experience with flooding and

mitigation, Alice Snater says, “It boils down

to citizens taking an active part and getting

with local government agencies and groups

to come up with a solution. You need to

respect each other’s opinions, even though

you don’t always agree. Once you start

cooperating and working together, it goes

much more smoothly.”

An analysis of the acquired structures and

subsequent flood events in the Austin area

revealed losses avoided of more than $3.9

million on buildings bought for $1.7 million

after the 1978 flood—a return on investment

of 129 percent.

Alice and Orville Snater on the deck of their

house, which was relocated out of the

floodplain in Austin, Minnesota.

The background and statistics on the

acquisitions are detailed in the PostDisaster Economic Evaluation of Hazard

Mitigation Loss Avoidance Report available

from FEMA Region V, Hazard Mitigation

Division.

For contact information, see the FEMA

Regional Offices list on pages vii-viii.
11

Saving an Architectural Landmark

by Making It Flood Resistant

The former St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran

Church will still be a gathering place.

Despite decades of repetitive flood damage

to its interior and a subsequent buyout by

FEMA and the city of Austin, Minnesota,

the structure will again host celebrations.

On a Sunday in July of 2001, an audience

that included more than 100 veterans stood

by when the former church was dedicated

as the Veterans Pavilion in the new

Community Park along the Cedar River.

To stop the cycle of flooding, cleanup, and

costly repairs in a neighborhood bordering

the river, an acquisition program was begun

after severe flooding in 1978. The project

was supported by the Flood Action Citizens

Task Source, the city of Austin, the

Minnesota Department of Emergency

Management, and the Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA). More

structures were designated for buyouts after

flooding in 1993.

In the acquisition program, structures

sturdy enough to be moved were relocated

out of the floodplain, while others were

demolished and removed. The goal was to

prevent future flood damage and protect

lives by removing structures from the

100-year floodplain. Based on the many

floods of record in past decades, this goal

has clearly been met.

The fate of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran

Church seemed to be that of demolition.

Completed in 1953, the church building

suffered costly flood damage in 1965 and

1978. With a $100,000 loan from the U.S.

Small Business Administration, the

congregation was able to rebuild the church,

occupying the building once again in 1980.

More damages incurred in the 1993 flood

prompted the church leadership to

participate in Austin’s voluntary buyout

program. The congregation relocated to

temporary facilities and eventually built a

new church in another part of town—away

from the floodwaters. The original church

structure was slated to be razed.

City leaders and residents considered the

church an architectural landmark alongside

the river and were disheartened by the idea

of demolishing it. A park was planned for

the space vacated by the other structures in

the buyout program. And parks need

sheltered picnic areas. The idea began to

take shape that the church could remain in

place as an open, public shelter.

“It was a landmark for the city,” said Dennis

Maschka, Parks and Recreation Director for

the City of Austin. “It was too nice of a

structure to tear down and it was a nice

centerpiece for the whole area.”

The flood-proofed, former St. Paul’s

Evangelical Lutheran Church withstood 2002

flooding. (Photo: Nate Howard, Post Bulletin)
12

Mayor Bonnie Besse Rietz and the Austin

Housing and Redevelopment Authority

(HRA) pursued approval from FEMA to

retain the structure in its location. Because

the city used funds from FEMA’s Hazard

Mitigation Grant Program to acquire the

property, it had to meet strict criteria.

Requirements stated that the structure could

remain as a public facility “open on all sides

and functionally related to a designated open

space or recreational use” and that, upon

completion of the project, “no application

for additional disaster assistance will be

made for any purpose with respect to the

property to any federal entity or source.”

The city hired a design firm to assist in

developing a renovation plan that would

conform to the requirements. The plan was

approved by FEMA in early 2000.

“We were able to maintain the architectural

integrity of the structure,” said Kermit

Mahan, Director of HRA. Austin’s

estimated cost for renovating the building

was nearly $200,000. The Department of

Natural Resources participated in funding

the Veterans Pavilion with a $75,000 grant.

“We filled the basement with sand and

poured a 4-inch layer of concrete on top for

the floor,” said Maschka, who oversaw the

remodeling for the city. “We tore the

parsonage off the building, and, where the

windows were, we sawed them down to the

floor, and that made the openings.”

The stone edifice of the former St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Austin, Minnesota,

stands as an example of what can be achieved when people creatively work to solve a

problem. The church’s congregation did not have to continually undergo the financial and

mental strain of recovering from floods—and a beautifully crafted structure was renovated

to allow floodwaters to flow through it, making it eligible to remain in the floodplain as a

useful park facility for the residents of Austin.
13

Moving Out of the Floodplain,

House and All

Moving from the River

Jim Retterath’s home on Eighth Avenue

Southeast in Austin, Minnesota, had been

flooded nine times by the Cedar River.

So, in 1994, when the Austin Housing

and Redevelopment Authority announced

plans to buy out homes in the floodplain,

Retterath was among the first affected

homeowners to express interest.

Before long, he had relocated his house to

northwest Austin, on the other side of the

Cedar River and well out of the floodplain.

Jim Retterath’s Austin, Minnesota, house

is moved to higher ground across the Cedar

River. (Photo: Gene Lifka, Hormel Foods

Corp.)

In an interview with the Hormel News

Magazine, Retterath said, “They were

offering me a chance to get out, and I took

it. It was strictly voluntary. Now that we’re

here and getting everything in shape,

everyone is happy about it. I know we did

the right thing.”

An Established Neighborhood

Gets New Neighbors

Affordable lots can be hard to find in a

small city like Austin with a population of

22,000. This is especially true in the midst

of a buyout program, when a number of

people are interested in moving their own

homes or homes they bought at auction out

of the floodplain onto a safe, dry lot.

In early 1994, Austin’s outdated Shaw

Elementary School was torn down by order

of the Board of Education. The demolition

opened up a whole city block in an

established neighborhood for new houses—

or old houses, as it turned out.

The timing was right for the city to purchase

the land from the Board of Education and

offer lots for sale with a first priority to

those houses being moved out of the

floodplain. Five houses once damaged by

floodwaters found quiet, safe surroundings

about six blocks from the river.

The city of Austin, Minnesota, bought a

cleared city block and sold five of the lots to

owners of homes that were being moved out

of the floodplain.

15

“The Darlington

Mitigation Project

illustrates the positive

outcome of people in a

community working

together with government

to accomplish local goals.

If you put your heads

together, and have a

driving force, you can

accomplish great things

for your community.”

Roxanne Gray

State Hazard Mitigation

Officer

Wisconsin Emergency

Management

A Mayor’s Story: Flood-Proofing the Historic

Main Street in Darlington, Wisconsin

“Main Street is the heart of a community,”

said Bev Anderson, former mayor of

Darlington, Wisconsin, and current City

Council member. “When you go downtown

to Main Street, you can really see what a

community is like.”

Brick storefronts with decorative roof

facades, second-story bay windows, large

street-level display windows, and brightly

painted doors greet visitors to this riverside

community’s historic downtown Main

Street. The deep, narrow buildings were

constructed between 1858 and 1940 and

make up the Main Street Historic District,

listed on the National Register of Historic

Places.

But just inside the doors of those historic

buildings, customers see a highly engineered

flood-proofing technique to protect against

the floodwaters from the nearby Pecatonica

River. Interior vestibules built with

floodwalls and removable flood shields

allow the buildings to keep their street-level

historic entrance, while elevating the first

floor above the Base Flood Elevation.

Some of the charming shops on Main Street

in downtown Darlington, Wisconsin: Just

inside the colorful doorways, and not visible

from the street, high-tech flood-proofing

technology ensures that these historic

buildings—and the businesses they house—

will prevail when the Pecatonica River

overflows its banks again.

The Quest to Preserve

a Deteriorating Downtown

Mayor Anderson was instrumental in

galvanizing the community to implement

creative measures in order to solve major

flooding

problems and

growing

economic

concerns. In the

1990s,

Darlington,

located in the

heart of

Wisconsin’s

prime

farmland, was

contending not

only with a

decline in the

agricultural

economy but also with multiple flood events

that were deteriorating the city’s historic

buildings.

Residents of Darlington knew flooding all

too well. Floodwaters in 1937, 1950, 1959,

1969, 1990, and 1993 rushed up Main Street

filling basements and first floors.

Envisioning the Future of

Darlington

“The success of our flood mitigation and

historic preservation definitely proves that

planning and having a vision of what could

be and looking to the future is certainly the

way to go,” said Bev Anderson.
16

After the 1990 flood, community leaders

developed a comprehensive plan. The plan

that took shape included an extensive flood

mitigation effort and focused on historic

preservation, economic development,

downtown revitalization, and recreation and

tourism promotion. The emphasis was to

view the river as an asset to the community

instead of a “flood liability.”

Before the plan could be implemented, the

Great Midwest Flood of 1993 struck. After

witnessing the destructiveness of another

“I remember as a child in the 1950 flood,

seeing my 6-foot-3-inch father carrying

things out of our restaurant in water

reaching chest high,” said Anderson.

flood, business owners and residents were

far more ready to buy into creative solutions

to the flooding problem. “We were well on

our way with the plan and, when money

became available, we were ready to go,”

said Anderson.

With the federally declared flood disaster in

1993, funds from FEMA’s Hazard

Mitigation Grant Program helped Darlington

implement its flood mitigation plan. The city

administration undertook the task to retain

the historic nature of the downtown

buildings and to either flood-proof buildings

or remove them from the floodplain.

Preserving and Redeveloping

Main Street

Anderson attributes the success of the

mitigation project to “building coalitions

and forming relationships with many

agencies.” As mayor, she sought out experts

as needed. She also looked to higher levels

of government for programs that would help

Darlington reach its goals.

The positive effects of the mitigation and

refurbishing project were many. “It put

value back in the buildings and built up the

tax base,” said Anderson. “If we would have

had one or two more floods, we would not

have many buildings left on Main Street.”

Contaminated riverside industrial sites were

cleaned up and a park created. Opening up

the green space near the river created a

recreational draw for the community. Since

the installment of the trail and river path, an

inn was established in one of the historic

downtown buildings. The proprietor offers

bicycles for the guests’ use on the new trail.

Her register shows that the inn has rented

rooms to people from 23 states and 8 foreign

countries.

Although floodwaters have not yet reached

storefronts since the flood-proofing,

mitigation has already saved business

owners time and expense.

“In 2000, we could sit back and watch the

water rise. Before, when the floodwaters

came, you couldn’t wait to see if it was

going to get as high as the front door. We

would have been moving our inventory out

when it started coming up Main Street,” said

Jim Mathys, owner of Mathys Ace

Hardware Store.
17

Sometimes it takes the steadfast resolve of

just one individual to inspire change in a

community. Main Street Darlington was

where Bev Anderson grew up, working in

her parents’ restaurant and eventually

running it.

With her political savvy, Bev knew that

Darlington’s economic recovery was vital to

the survival of the community. In her role as

mayor, Anderson’s dedication to

strengthening her community, willingness to

explore new ideas, and ability to build

coalitions helped ensure that Main Street

continues to be a vital part of Darlington and

the entire county.

For more information on hazard mitigation in

Wisconsin, contact Roxanne Gray, State

Hazard Mitigation Officer, by phone (608-

242-3211) or email (grayr@dma.state.wi.us).

You may also visit the Wisconsin Division

of Emergency Management web site for

hazard mitigation information

(http://www.state.wi.us/agencies/dma).

The City of Darlington can provide more

information on its Flood Mitigation Plan and

its HMGP project. Contact Phil Risseeuw,

Clerk-Treasurer, at 608-776-4972.

19

FEMA Region VII and

the State of Missouri

Success Stories from

the Missouri Buyout Program

August 2002

FEMA Region VII serves Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

For contact information, see the FEMA Regional Offices list on pages vii-viii.

21

Arnold, Missouri: Getting Out

of the Floodplain

“We don’t worry about floods in Arnold

anymore,” says Joe Moore, 66. “It used to

be every time it rained hard, we flooded. But

not anymore.”

Not for people like Moore, one of 72

property owners in Arnold, Missouri (pop.

19,965), who participated in the Missouri

Buyout Program.

Rather than continually responding to

floodwaters, city officials and willing

homeowners like Moore resolved to find a

permanent answer to prevent or lessen

damages to homes during Arnold’s frequent

floods.

Their solution? Using federal funds from

FEMA to buy out homes in Arnold that sat

in the floodplain where the Meramec and

Mississippi Rivers meet.

Since 1993, the City of Arnold has received

more than $2.9 million from FEMA and

$1.4 million from CDBG funds to buy out

72 properties in Arnold’s floodplain.

Funded by FEMA and administered by

SEMA, the Missouri Buyout Program

enabled the City of Arnold to purchase

Moore’s home at preflood value, demolish

it, and then deed-restrict the land to open

space.

“We got the full value for our home,” said

Moore, who moved out of his flood-prone

home in August 1994. “My wife and I used

the money to build a new home on the other

side of Arnold, but not in the floodplain.”

Asked if he misses his neighborhood and the

white frame house that he and his wife,

Patricia, called home for 19 years, Joe

Moore can only laugh.

“I put sandbags around that old house a

dozen times,” he said, recalling the house

that sat on a dead-end street called Oye

Drive. “I fixed up the basement more times

than I like to remember. There was no way

in the

world I

wanted to

do any of

that

again.”

Chances

are, he

won’t

have to.

Nor will

the City

of

Arnold,

the State

of

Missouri, FEMA, or U.S. taxpayers have to

devote significant funding to protect Joe

Moore or his former floodplain neighbors

during the next flood event or assist them to

repair their flood-damaged homes.

Instead, city planners and local residents can

turn their attention to planning creative uses

for the open space acquired through the

buyout.

“We’re in the process of planning new ways

to redevelop this area that are compatible

with the floodplain characteristics,” explains

Mike Deruntz, Arnold’s Community

Development Director.

Arnold, Missouri, resident Joe

Moore used his buyout payment to

build a new home safely out of the

floodplain.
22

“This is one of the major green land

holdings that is readily accessible to a large

population in the St. Louis region. We have

a park down there now, and we’ll be

developing trails, ball fields, and other forms

of passive, open recreation. Families are

coming back and having a positive

experience.”

Arnold still experiences frequent flooding.

In May 2002, the Meramec River crested at

its eighth highest level on record.

But unlike the 1993 flood disaster, which

highlighted the problem of people living in

Arnold’s floodplain, the 2002 event proved

the cost benefits of getting the people out

and the homes razed.

In the process, the buyout also brought

peace of mind to residents like Joe Moore.

“We just don’t have floods in Arnold like

we used to,” said Moore, without the

slightest trace of nostalgia.

The Shrinking Cost of Flood-Fighting in Arnold, Missouri

May 2002 Flood

1993 Flood 1995 Flood (as of 6/25/02)

Sandbagging Sites

in Arnold 60 3 0

FEMA Public Assistance

to Arnold1 $1,436,277 $71,414 $0

Applications from Arnold

for Individual Assistance 52 26 1

1

FEMA's Public Assistance program provides funding to repair public facilities, such as roads

and bridges, as well as to reimburse local governments for many flood-fighting expenses.
23

Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Learning

What a “100-Year Flood” Is

Cape Girardeau, Missouri, learned the hard

way what the term “100-year flood” means.

In 1993, this historic Mississippi River town

(pop. 36,625) watched with horror as

floodwaters slowly crept up. As the waters

rose, so too did the number of volunteers

who came from across the nation to help

build sandbag levees around the threatened

homes.

After the floodwaters damaged 160 homes

in Cape Girardeau’s floodplain, the

volunteers stayed to help locals clean and

repair the mud-drenched homes.

At a fall 1993 meeting, the Cape Girardeau

City Council considered pursuing a buyout.

But what were the chances of the city’s

experiencing another 100-year flood? What

was the rush in removing homes and

families from the floodplain?

Two years later they found out.

In the spring of 1995, the river began rising

again. But this time, the flood came fast—

and the volunteers didn’t.

On May 24, 1995, the river crested at 46.7

feet, more than 14 feet above flood stage,

and just shy of the highest recorded crest of

48.5 feet on August 8, 1993.

The city had experienced two 100-year

floods in a span of 3 years.

As locals learned, a 100-year flood does not

mean that such a catastrophic event is likely

to happen only once every 100 years.

Rather, it means that every year, there is a

1-percent chance of such a flood. Over the

course of a century, a flood of such

magnitude is certain.

Funding for Cape Girardeau, Missouri’s, Buyout of

114 Properties in Flood-Prone Areas

Percentage

 Amount of Project

FEMA Share $1,141,185 41%

State General Revenue Funds $589,400 21%

Community Development Block Grants $767,406 28%

City of Cape Girardeau $79,379 3%

The Salvation Army Midland $84,000 3%

Interfaith Disaster Response $82,000 3%

Program Income $4,845 1%

TOTAL $2,748,215 100%
24

By May 28, 1995, 100 homes had flooded in

Cape Girardeau’s floodplain. Many of them

were the same properties that had flooded in

1993. The difference in 1995 was that no

one said it wouldn’t happen again.

The search for a permanent flood solution

began in earnest.

With a creative cost-share between federal,

state, and local governments, as well as

charitable non-profits, the City of Cape

Girardeau eventually bought 114 properties

in the flood-prone areas and relocated the

residents to safer neighborhoods.

After demolition of the acquired structures,

the land was deed-restricted for open space.

Now, the only cost associated with the land

is mowing. Best of all, the vast majority of

people who lived in the homes and worked

in the floodplain neighborhoods are no

longer living in harm’s way.

In May 2002, the Mississippi River at Cape

Girardeau crested at 45.7 feet, its third

highest level after the 1993 and 1995 events.

But this time, the flooding affected only

eight homes.

“It was almost a non-event,” said Doug

Leslie, Director of Public Works for the City

of Cape Girardeau. “We didn’t have to

scramble around to secure our water supply.

We didn’t have to sandbag in more than

three or four places. We didn’t have weeks

of cleanup to go through either. I think we

had one dump truck full of sandbags this

year compared to the hundreds of dump

truck loads in the 1993 and 1995 floods.”

The sandbags weren’t necessary because

almost all of the flood-prone homes in Cape

Girardeau had been bought out and razed.

“It would’ve gotten us this year,” said

Woody Sadler, who lived for 47 years with

his wife, Virgie, in Cape Girardeau’s

floodplain before participating in the buyout

program. “A lot of homes and people

would’ve been flooded again. But we

weren’t there. We got out.”
25

Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Leaving Water Street

After 47 Years

Woody and Virgie Sadler moved into their

green frame home on the aptly named Water

Street in 1949. For years they saw the

Mississippi River rise and fall, but it never

threatened their home in the floodplain

neighborhood of Cape Girardeau, Missouri,

known as Red Star.

That changed in the summer of 1993.

“Somebody told me the water was coming,”

recalls Woody Sadler, a retired laborer and

World War II veteran. “I said, ‘I know it’s

flooding, but it won’t get here. The highest

the water ever gets is up to the front porch of

the house across the street.’”

That was in late July. On an early August

morning before breakfast, Sadler looked

under his four-room house to check for

water. Nothing.

“After breakfast I came outside, and there

was water 6 inches deep under my house.”

Sadler began sandbagging around the house.

“We built a wall of sandbags around it,” he

recalls. “I put a pump under the house. It

never quit running. Pretty soon I had eight

pumps going, 24 hours a day.”

Woody and Virgie, then 71 and 76

respectively, also put all of their furniture on

blocks. “Just in case,” said Woody.

Other than the expense of the pumps and the

effort involved in sandbagging, the Sadlers

were lucky.

They were lucky again in 1995, when the

floodwaters returned.

“We got 8 inches of water in the yard,” says

Woody, who once again created a sandbag

barrier around his house. But like others in

town, Sadler was growing weary of battling

the flood.

“When you get to be my age, you don’t want

to be fighting those floods,” said Sadler.

“It’s too much stress.”

It’s hard work, too.

“Taking those sandbags down isn’t easy,” he

said. “When you’re putting them in, they’re

dry and not so heavy. But after they get wet,

it’s hard work.”

“And the snakes,” adds Virgie. “That’s what

I hated. Snakes and slugs and the smell of

rotten fish. The odor is unbelievable.”

The Sadlers knew the Mississippi River well

enough to know it would continue flooding

their Red Star neighborhood.

"When you get to be my age, you don't

want to be fighting those floods," says

Woody Sadler with his wife, Virgie,

outside their new home in Cape

Girardeau, Missouri.
26

“It was only a matter of time before we’d

get it,” said Woody.

Rather than “get it,” the Sadlers got out.

In 1997, after 47 years in the green frame

house on Water Street, they accepted a

buyout offer that Woody Sadler said paid

approximately half the price of their current

$55,000 home on North Spanish Street,

blocks from the floodplain.

“I didn’t think about leaving Cape

Girardeau,” he said. “I love it here. We’re

really satisfied with this house. It’s bigger

than our old house. Better, too.”

In May 2002, the Mississippi River flooded

Cape Girardeau once again.

“I went down and looked at it,” says Woody.

“Naturally, I’d check.”

The floodwaters rolled over the site of the

Sadlers’ former neighborhood.

“It makes you feel good that you’re out of

it,” said Woody Sadler. “Getting out was

one of the best things to ever happen to us.”
27

Neosho, Missouri: From Sandbags

to Lawnmowers

How do you turn an eight-acre city park

into 175 acres?

Ask Jim Cole, City Manager of Neosho,

Missouri (pop. 10,616), which suffered

frequent—and very costly—flooding from

Hickory Creek.

On average, the floods were causing about

$760,000 a year in damage to homes,

businesses, and public buildings, and

another $95,000 a year in damage to roads

and bridges.

A permanent solution was needed to solve

Neosho’s chronic flood problem. An answer

emerged in the form of a plan. Working in

conjunction with the U.S. Department of

Agriculture’s Natural Resources

Conservation Services (NRCS), Neosho

devised a watershed plan that involved the

creation of dams, retention ponds, and a

concrete waterway to direct the runoff.

It was a solution, but a cost-prohibitive one.

The most expensive part of the plan was

purchasing the 52 residential properties that

sat in the path of the proposed waterway.

The historic flood of 1993 provided more

heartache to Neosho, but also a glimmer of

hope.

It occurred to City Manager Jim Cole that

the funding might be available through the

Missouri Buyout Program to acquire

properties in Neosho’s floodplain from

willing homeowners and help them relocate

to safer neighborhoods.

Cole and key staffers worked all night on the

city’s buyout proposal they would submit to

the State of Missouri, which administers the

Missouri Buyout Program.

The efforts paid off. Neosho was awarded

$1,386,634 from FEMA, which it combined

with funding from HUD’s Community

Development Block Grant Program. With its

buyout funds, Neosho purchased 52

residential properties in the floodplain.

Every homeowner in Neosho who was given

the opportunity to exchange his or her

repetitively flooded home for a check from

the city did so.

“They were ready to get out,” says Cole,

who personally negotiated every acquisition

in Neosho.

The buyout was tested in 1995, when

Neosho flooded again. This time, the

"We've gone from buying sandbags to

lawnmowers," says Neosho, Missouri,

City Manager Jim Cole.
28

damage was minimal. Most of the residents

had moved out of the hardest hit areas.

Those who remained in harm’s way in 1995

suffered additional damage. They, too, were

finally ready to get out. However, there was

very little buyout funding left.

No problem for Neosho residents, who

decided by a 75-percent margin to levy a

3/8th-cent sales tax on themselves to pay for

the additional 26 acquisitions and to

maintain the newly acquired land, which is

now part of Neosho’s 175-acre city park.

In May 2002, the floodwaters barely made a

ripple in Neosho, now that its floodplain is

mainly parkland.

“We’ve gone from buying sandbags to

lawnmowers,” said Cole.

With its watershed plan a proven success,

Neosho can turn its attention to designing

the new park. So far, the plan includes

baseball diamonds, hiking trails, a

community soccer field, and fishing areas

from the banks of Hickory Creek.

“And that’s just the beginning,” said Cole,

with understandable pride.
29

St. Charles County, Missouri: The

Successful Experiment

St. Charles County, Missouri, has a long

history of flooding. Situated at the

confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi

Rivers, the county of almost 300,000

residents suffered perhaps Missouri’s worst

flood damage in 1993, when more than

2,100 homes were condemned as a result of

the disaster.

St. Charles County was hit hard by the

floods. But it fought back with the Missouri

Buyout Program. Between 1993 and 1995,

St. Charles

County used

$5.78 million

in FEMA

funding and

$8.8 million

from the

Community

Development

Block Grant

program to

acquire 1,159

properties

from willing

homeowners.

“A federal

buyout of

property in the floodplain has worked

wonders,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

reported in May 1994.

When a second major flood occurred in

1995, St. Charles County had an opportunity

to test the effectiveness of its buyout

program. The results were impressive.

Of the 1,159 properties acquired in 1993-95,

St. Charles County Planning Director Steve

Lauer estimated that at least 95 percent

would have flooded again in 1995.

“These were the places where, year after

year, we saw the highest incidence of

repetitive loss,” Lauer said. “If you look at it

over the long term, there’s a real cost

savings in buying out these places. And

there’s the peace of mind it gives people.

They’re really glad to be out.”

When Missouri received a Presidential

disaster declaration for flooding in May

2002, St. Charles County, the worst-hit

county in the 1993 flood, was not included

in the

disaster

declaration.

The damage

was simply

not

significant

enough to

justify it.

“The

flooding

wasn’t as bad

as in ’93,”

explains

Lauer. “That

makes a difference, of course. But what

really helps is that the flooding occurred

along the rivers, where we’ve bought out a

lot of homes. The people who didn’t

participate in the buyout have elevated their

homes. So it’s a combination of buyouts and

elevations.”

St. Charles County transferred much of the

buyout land to the City of St. Charles to use

as park and recreational areas. Other parcels

have been leased for garden spots.

Nature–and taxpayers–benefited

when more than 1,100 flood-prone

homes were removed from wetland

areas of St. Charles County,

Missouri.
30

Perhaps the most creative use of the St.

Charles buyout land is the outdoor

classroom at Lindenwood University.

“It’s been wonderful for the students,” said

Professor Daryl Anderson, who teaches

biology and oversees the seven-acre

classroom where flooded cabins once

floated.

“These are true wetlands and ideal for

students who ultimately want to work for

the EPA or as park rangers or be involved

in fish and wildlife preservation,” said

Anderson. “We’ve had a chance to do all

kinds of outdoor biology. The students

take soil samples from the marsh. They

observe in a way that teaches biological

techniques. Some of these kids are

becoming experts in migratory birds and

frogs and plants. They’re not just learning

about science. They’re learning science,

which is a methodical way of thinking and

doing things.”

Likewise, the Missouri Buyout Program was

methodical. It offered homeowners in the

floodplain a practical way to move out of

harm’s way. It further spared them the

heartache of having to live though another

flood. It also saved taxpayer dollars that

would have been necessary to bail out

repetitive-loss homeowners after another

flood.
31

St. Mary, Missouri: Making Flood Damage

a Thing of the Past

In recent years, tiny St. Mary, Missouri

(pop. 377), attempted to use its antique mall

and quaint Main Street to lure visitors to this

Mississippi River town in St. Genevieve

County.

However, St. Mary was becoming better

known for its chronic floods than for its

antiques.

The problem was a five-acre parcel of land

on the city’s southern edge, where the St.

Lawrence Creek and the Regular Slough

flooded frequently, damaging a handful of

homes.

Many homeowners in the area accepted the

repetitive flooding—and the repetitive

checks for federal assistance—but only

because moving to higher ground was

financially impractical.

The floodwaters that overtook St. Mary in

1993 were more severe. They stayed for a

month, damaging every structure outside the

makeshift levee built by residents to save

Main Street.

After the waters receded, city officials

aggressively pursued federal and state

funding to buy out the homes that sat in the

city’s 100-year floodplain and move the

residents to higher, safer ground.

With $93,390 in funding from the Missouri

Buyout Program and $237,785 from the

Missouri Department of Economic

Development, the City of St. Mary

purchased 36 homes and helped their owners

relocate.

The success of the buyout was evident in

1995, when floodwaters returned to St.

Mary. All but four families had moved out

of the flooded area, and damage was

minimal.

In May 2002, when St. Mary flooded again,

no one seemed to mind. “When it comes to

buyouts of flooded residential property,

Missouri is well in front of the pack of

flood-ravaged states,” reported the Jefferson

City News Tribune.

“Nobody had water in their homes this

time,” said St. Mary City Clerk JoAnn

Donze. “Two people had water in their

yards, but nobody had flood damage to their

house.”

The success of the St. Mary buyout

underscores the wisdom of letting local

communities oversee such projects.

“We knew which houses to buy,” explains

Donze. “We knew the homes that flooded

time after time.”

"We knew which houses to

buy," says St. Mary, Missouri,

City Clerk JoAnn Donze.
32

According to JoAnn Donze, residents in St.

Mary were eager for the buyout.

“People were ready to leave their homes,”

Donze says. “A lot of them had been

flooded so many times. They didn’t want to

go back to that.”

But they didn’t want to leave St. Mary,

either. “We got government funding to help

build new neighborhoods and bring back

businesses,” says Donze. “So now we have

younger families and more businesses.”

And, today, locals can spend more time

shopping for antiques and less time trying to

save their own treasures from floodwaters.
33

Special Feature

Hazard Mitigation: The

Cornerstone of Emergency

Management

35

A Tale of Two Flood-Prepared

Iowa Communities

Hazard mitigation is sustained action that

reduces or eliminates long-term risk to

people and property from natural hazards

and their effects. Mitigation is the

cornerstone of emergency management. It’s

the ongoing effort to lessen the impact

disasters have on people and property.

Mitigation involves keeping homes away

from floodplains, engineering bridges to

withstand earthquakes, creating and

enforcing effective building codes to protect

property from windstorms—and more.

Hazard mitigation programs have been put

to the test in nine or more Midwest states

since the massive floods of 1993. Thousands

of buildings have been cleared from the

floodplain since mitigation efforts were

stepped up in the area. In Iowa, one of the

states heavily hit in 1993, FEMA’s hazard

mitigation offer was readily accepted,

setting in motion one of the most ambitious

floodplain acquisition programs in the

nation.

“We’ve been very aggressive in pursuing

these hazard mitigation programs,” said

John Miller, former director of FEMA

Region VII, which includes Iowa. “We are

beginning to see the results of our efforts.

The avoided damages from the recent May

and July floods will be millions of dollars.

These programs are paying off.”

The Mitigation Payoff

Since the 1993 floods, Iowa has begun more

than 46 acquisition or relocation projects,

according to Dennis Harper, the State of

Iowa hazard mitigation officer. Some 1,000

properties have been removed from floodhazard areas in the state. More than 20

critical facilities, such as hospitals, have

been protected. At least 66 projects have

been funded, with a total investment of $54

million in FEMA, state, and local

community funds. The long-term payoff is

2 dollars returned for every 1 dollar

invested, Harper says. In some communities

the payoff is already greater.

In the spring and summer of 1999, Iowa

was again inundated by heavy rains. Two

federal

disasters

were

declared.

In May,

16 counties were

declared

for tornadoes

and

floods.

In July,

21

counties were declared for severe storms and

floods again.

Many of the same counties were declared in

both disasters. Fortunately, eight of the

declared counties had elected to participate

in a hazard mitigation buyout program after

the 1993 floods. In these eight counties, 271

families who had been affected by the 1993

floods were spared the trauma and loss of

repeat flooding because they no longer lived

in the floodplain.

Among the declared counties, Black Hawk

and Buchanan were declared disaster areas

in both events. In these counties, two

With flood-hazard mitigation help

from FEMA, Iowa experiences far

fewer scenes like this.
36

cities—Cedar Falls in Black Hawk, on the

Cedar River, and Independence in

Buchanan, on the Wapsipinicon River—had

actively pursued participation in the buyout

program. Their stories follow.

Cedar Falls

Cedar Falls is a quiet residential community

of 34,000 people in Black Hawk County. In

a more heavily populated area, it would be

considered suburban in the true American

sense. The University of Northern Iowa, a

state college with an enrollment of 13,000

students, is the city’s largest employer.

Some residents work in local light industry.

Others commute to nearby Waterloo, many

to work in the John Deere tractor factory,

the largest tractor factory in the world.

Locals, however, consider Cedar Falls a

“college town.”

Wide streets, lined with old-growth maple,

oak, and walnut trees shading grand

Victorian homes, traverse a gently sloping

hill and wander through a flourishing

downtown business area, which abuts the

Cedar River. North of the downtown area,

across the river, in a low-lying area along

the north bank and in the floodplain, is the

“Cedar City” neighborhood, an area of

single-family houses, mobile homes, and

industrial buildings.

At the City of Cedar Falls, the river has

crested above flood stage 94 times or more

since 1929. When the water flows, it flows

onto Cedar City. Since 1990, Black Hawk

County, including Cedar Falls, has had six

federally declared disasters for floods.

After contending with back-to-back floods

in the spring and summer of 1993, the city

decided to take action to break the constant

cycle of flooding, rebuilding, and flooding

again. Cedar Falls applied for assistance in

buying out homes in the frequently flooded

Cedar City area.

Flood-protection buyout projects are

developed at the local level and submitted to

the state for approval under FEMA’s Hazard

Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and

HUD’s Community Development Block

Grant (CDBG) program.

The buyouts began in December 1993. By

the time this program was completed in

September 1997, the city had purchased 99

properties. Ninety-eight homes and one lot

were purchased. Ninety-six of the homes

were demolished. Two were moved to

higher land. In all, 89 families were moved

to safety from the floodplain.

The first 12 properties were purchased with

CDBG grants. The other 87 were purchased

with money from FEMA HMGP grants (75

percent) and state and local community

financing (25 percent) assisted by CDBG

grants. The total cost of the program was

$4,330,000. This expense includes

appraisals, acquisition, closing and legal

costs, relocation assistance, and demolition.

Of the 89 families relocated, 46 found

replacement housing in Cedar Falls, 18

relocated to nearby Waterloo, and 25 moved

to other areas of Iowa. Local officials say

there was little loss to business or the tax

base.

The State of Iowa projects the 30-year

benefit from this project to be more than

$6.6 million in avoided damages. Since the

beginning of the project in 1993, $872,022

in damages has been avoided. Estimated

avoided damage from the recent May and

July floods is $4,472,333. The total avoided

damage for these events is $5,344,355,

which exceeds the cost of the hazard

mitigation project by more than $1 million.

All acquired properties are deed restricted

and must remain in public ownership

permanently. The Cedar City property will

be saved as green space. Parks will be built,
37

bike trails laid out, and possibly a

campground built. All will be connected to

existing parkland in the area.

Marty Ryan is the City Planner in Cedar

Falls. When asked if the city has any further

plans for buyouts, Ryan replied, “After the

July floods this year, we sent a survey to the

125 remaining residents in Cedar City.

Almost immediately, we received 78

answers, all wanting to be bought out. We

will begin the next phase as soon as we have

funds.”

How do the people in town feel about the

buyouts? Barb Hugi, the city planner who

handled the buyouts in 1993 says, “I’ve

never run into any person who was not

happy to be moved from that area.”

Sandy Albert and her husband Brian moved

the house she grew up in. They had bought it

from her mother 3 months before the April

1993 flood. She was attached to the house

and did not want to see it demolished.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” Sandy

said while sitting on the sundeck of her

relocated house less than 2 miles from Cedar

City. “My house is adding value now rather

than subtracting value. I would highly

advise anyone still there to get out.”

Independence

Independence, Iowa (pop. 6,000), is a classic

Midwest farm community. The towering

grain elevators of the local co-op, the

Buchanan County Fair grounds, the

ubiquitous Wal-Mart, and a neighborhood of

well-kept, single-family homes frame the

downtown area. Corn and soybeans grow

right up to the edge of downtown.

Independence is the Buchanan County seat

and center of this agricultural county’s

business community.

The city is divided east-west by the

Wapsipinicon River and north-south by First

Street, its main street. The low-lying area in

the northwest section of the downtown,

boarded by the “Wapsi,” as local folks call

Sandy Albert, with her daughters and their friends, spends a sunny day at her relocated

Cedar Falls, Iowa, home. (FEMA Photo: Kevin Galvin)
38

the river, and First Street, is a residential

area. This area is in the floodplain and has

been a constant flood pain for the city.

The City of Independence, Iowa, was

declared a federal disaster area three times

in the 1990s.

From 1968 to July of 1999, the Wapsi has

overflowed its banks at least 11 times,

wreaking havoc on the homes in this

northwest neighborhood. Three of these

flood events were declared federal disasters:

one in 1993, two in 1999. In the May floods

of this year, 328 homes were flooded again.

In the July floods, the number was 186.

After the Midwest floods of 1993, the City

of Independence decided it could no longer

live with the constant flood-rebuild-flood

cycle, which was a severe drain on local

resources. The city applied for assistance in

buying out homes in the frequently flooded

northwest neighborhood along the river.

As was the case in Cedar Falls, the floodprotection buyout project in Independence

was developed at the local level and

submitted to the state for approval under

FEMA’s HMGP and HUD’s CDBG

program.

The State of Iowa approved Independence’s

buyout plan in short order.

The buyouts began in 1993 and were

completed in 1994. Twenty-eight families

were moved from the floodplain. Twenty-six

of the houses were demolished, and two

were moved to higher, dryer ground. Most

of the families stayed in the city. There was

negligible loss to community businesses or

the tax base. No businesses had to be

relocated.

The buyouts were funded with FEMA

HMGP grants (75 percent) and state and

local community financing assisted by

CDBG funds. The total cost of the program

was $754,295. This expense includes

appraisals, acquisition, closing and legal

costs, relocation assistance, and demolition.

The State of Iowa projected the 30-year

benefit from this project to be a little more

than $800,000 in avoided damages. Since

the beginning of the project in 1993, more

than $2 million in damages has been

avoided. Estimated avoided damage from

the recent May and July floods alone is

$1,869,028. Savings to date are 2.5 times the

original estimate.

All of the acquired properties are deed

restricted and must remain in public

ownership permanently. They will be

converted to green space. “Teachers Park”

will be built along the Wapsi with baseball,

football, and soccer fields. The John Deere

plant in nearby Waterloo is donating EPAapproved foundry sand to raise the elevation

and level the playing fields. This approach is

a win-win situation for the city, alleviating a

constant drain on precious emergency

resources and creating an attractive park in

the downtown area.

Greg Knott is the Building Official, Zoning

Administrator, and Floodplain Manager in

Independence. He has applied to the state for
39

funds to buy out 50-65 more homes. When

asked how the people of Independence feel

about mitigation now, he replies, “Not all of

the people were concerned after the May

flood. After the second flood this year, the

July flood, everybody is in favor of

mitigation. They just wish it would hurry

up.”

“Historically we’re going to get more floods

on the Wapsipinicon. That’s a gimme. If we

can move 65 more homes out of there, that’s

65 more families who are not going to be in

danger again,” said Knott. “That’s the whole

process of mitigation. Not only that, it’s

going to relieve the disaster funds required

to give them assistance in the future. It’s a

good investment because you’re operating

against something that’s going to happen.”

Conclusion

The recent unfortunate flooding in Iowa

shows the importance of the hazard

mitigation. The same cities and towns in the

same counties have been flooded again and

again.

The avoided damages in Cedar Falls and

Independence in 1999 have proven the

value of the buyout investment. More than

$7 million in potential savings has been

realized in these two cities alone.

“We cannot continue to pump money into

areas that are repeatedly flooded,” said

FEMA’s Miller. “We have seen from these

two examples how effective buyouts can be.

We must convince other communities to

commit to hazard mitigation programs to

insure the safety of their citizens and reduce

future disaster losses.”

41

Special Feature

Illinois, Iowa, Kansas,

and Missouri

Insurance Success Stories

43

Where the Eagles Fly

Grafton, Illinois, is one of the prettiest

places you’ll find in the Midwest. The old

section of town lies where the Mississippi

and Illinois Rivers meet, about 50 miles

upstream from the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

Grafton was founded in 1836, and you’ll

still see paddlewheel riverboats and ferries

cutting across the rivers.

Grafton is also renowned for a number of

things—for its morel mushrooms and as the

winter home of the American Bald Eagle.

Some would argue, too, that Grafton is a

“must-see” venue on one of the most scenic

drives in the United States, along Route 100

between Alton, Illinois, and Pere Marquette

State Park.

There’s a great deal in Grafton to be

justifiably proud of—the people, the place,

the history. But part of Grafton’s history

also involves frequent flooding.

“With floods and Grafton, it’s not a question

of if,” says Richard Mosby, Mayor of

Grafton and owner of Mosby’s Woodwork.

“It’s really a question of when. So everyone

needs to be protected.”

True to his own advice, in 1993, Mosby did

everything in his power to protect his

business from flood damage. Mosby’s

Woodwork on East Main Street lies just at

the edge of the Mississippi River, so when

the river rises he takes extra precautions.

With each revised estimate of the flood

stage that summer, Mosby would raise his

equipment and inventory higher. Finally, he

had everything on 6-foot-high platforms,

thinking that that would be high enough. In

addition to sandbagging and elevating his

contents, he also had flood insurance under

the National Flood Insurance Program

(NFIP).

By July 1993, flood stages along the

Mississippi and the Illinois went to record

levels and finally flooded Grafton. The

depth of the floodwater inside Mosby’s

Woodwork was 10 feet, just 2 feet below the

roof.

“I lost close to $180,000 in building and

contents from the flood,” Mosby recalls.

One consolation, though, was that Mosby’s

lender had required him to carry $80,000

worth of flood insurance. This helped,

although Mosby now wishes he had carried

more flood insurance protection that

summer. But Mosby also rolled up his

sleeves and rebuilt his business and helped

rebuild his community, too.

After the 1993 flood, Grafton became a

mitigation success story. Seventy houses and

18 commercial buildings were bought and

removed from Grafton’s floodplain, at a cost

of $2,320,980 in FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation

Grant Program funds and $773,636 in

matching funds from the Illinois Department

of Commerce and Community Affairs.

So some things in Grafton have changed for

the better since 1993. The bluff overlooking

the old town now has a new subdivision out

of the reach of floodwaters. The old section

of Grafton has a new face for some of its

businesses, without losing any of its charm,

and a number of homes at the riverside

have been elevated above the reach of the

floodwaters. But some things have remained

the same since 1993.
44

Richard Mosby still lives in a hollow that

comes alive each spring with dogwoods; the

bald eagles still come home to winter in

Grafton; and Mosby still carries NFIP flood

insurance on his business—both the building

and the contents. And the advice Mosby

offers, for everyone living in a floodplain, is

the same regardless of whether their bank

requires them to carry flood insurance: “Go

get flood insurance.”

We think that advice makes sense coming

from both a business owner and community

official who lived through one of the worst

floods in the nation’s history, only to make

his community stronger and safer.
45

Red House on the Wapsi

Bob and Joni Hocken don’t plan to let the

muddy waters of the Wapsipinicon River

drive them from their Independence, Iowa,

home again.

Twice in 1999—first in May and later in

July— the “Wapsi,” as the river is known

locally, flooded the Hockens’ red-painted,

100-year-old home. Both were traumatic

experiences, Joni Hocken said, but the May

flooding was worse. Spring planting had just

taken place, so the river brought with it large

quantities of mud and silt and had an odor

she’ll never forget.

“You need a positive attitude to make it

through something like this.” (Photo: Bob

and Joni Hocken)

At its highest, the brown water flooded the

first floor to a depth of 46 inches, soaking

carpeting, furniture, and personal items.

Even food, stacked on the kitchen counter,

and thought by Bob and Joni to be out of

harm’s way, got wet and was ruined.

They’d just managed to mop up that damage

when the river flooded again 2 months later,

although not quite as bad as it did in May.

“You need a positive attitude to make it

through something like this,” Joni said.

Bob and Joni, both Iowa natives, thought

about taking advantage of a city buyout

 

backed up by funding from the Federal

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

and the State of Iowa.

Buyouts in Independence began in 1993.

Thus far, 28 families have accepted buyouts

and moved out of the floodplain. However, a

severe housing shortage forced many of

them to move away from town. The

Hockens wanted to stay in Independence.

Independence, a town of 6,000 residents and

the county seat of Buchanan County, was

settled in 1847. Its vibrant downtown is

surrounded by large single-family homes

with big lawns and old trees. The

Wapsipinicon Mill, severely damaged by

flooding in 1999, dominates the west end of

First Street.

The Wapsi has repeatedly devastated this

community. Between 1968 and 1999, it

flowed out of its banks 11 times. After the

Midwest flood of 1993, the community

decided enough was enough. Repeated

flooding was becoming a severe drain on

resources, so the community agreed to

Joni Hocken said she and her husband,

Bob, decided their Independence, Iowa,

home had too many memories, such as

this door frame that recorded the heights

of children and grandchildren, to sell after

the floods of 1999. Instead, they elevated

their home out of the floodplain. (Photo:

David Teska, FEMA)
46

At first, said Joni Hocken, their Independence, Iowa, neighbors were puzzled by

the spectacle of their 100-year-old, two-story, red-painted home being elevated

on new concrete foundation walls. (Photo: Mike McCoy, FEMA)

participate in a buyout program under

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program,

as provided under the guidelines of the

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Assistance and

Emergency Relief Act. This program

provided additional federal funds to the

State of Iowa to fund community projects to

lessen or mitigate damage from future

disasters.

Because the Hockens’ home sustained

substantial damage, defined as more than 50

percent of its market value, they qualified

for an additional flood insurance benefit.

This benefit is spelled out in a provision of

the National Flood Insurance Program

(NFIP) flood insurance policy called

Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC)

coverage.

Under ICC, NFIP-insured property owners

may qualify for an additional payment of up

to $20,000 to bring their flood-damaged

buildings into compliance with local

floodplain laws and ordinances. [Effective

May 1, 2003, the ICC coverage limit was

increased to $30,000.] In the Hockens’ case,

their home was elevated with a combination

of funds—a regular NFIP flood insurance

claim payment, an ICC payment, and their

own money.

In the end, Bob and Joni couldn’t bring

themselves to sell their home of 27 years.

They had raised their two children, Robbie

and Kelley, in that home and their three

grandchildren are often about the place.

Dates, names, and height marks on a door

frame provide a visible link between the

house and the Hocken family.

Once they decided moving wasn’t an option,

Bob and Joni decided to take the radical step

of elevating their home out of the floodplain.

To further protect it, they moved it 50 feet

from the street and 50 feet back from the

bank of the Wapsi.

At first, Joni said, neighbors were puzzled

by the spectacle of a two-story home being
47

elevated on new concrete foundation walls.

“I had people saying, ‘You don’t want to

raise that house,’” she recalls.

Their experience with the flooding of the

Wapsi has taught the Hockens what it means

to live near a flood-prone river. Bob laid out

the home’s new first floor (the original first

floor is now at the second-story level) in

such a way that, when the river floods again,

the water will simply flow out when the

level drops. “The next time it floods the

clean-up will cost about $100,” Bob said.

To cut costs and maintain control of the

project, Bob recommends that anyone

contemplating such a project act as his own

contractor. He’s kept control of the project

from the start and held costs down. The final

bill, including the $6,500 it took to raise the

home, will come to about $60,000,

according to Hocken—far less than building

or buying elsewhere. They also decided to

make the house handicapped accessible to

enhance its resale value.

The Hockens further reduced costs by

tapping into family resources such as Joni’s

uncle, who is a carpenter.

Living close to the Wapsi and having

experienced three floods in the 1990s taught

the Hockens the value of flood insurance.

Joni said that homeowners in a floodplain

should consider NFIP flood insurance,

which covers the structure and its contents.

These days, Bob and Joni Hocken can talk

philosophically about their experiences with

the Wapsi. They know what it’s like to live

next to a river that, on most days, flows

serenely past their home but can quickly

become tempestuous and threatening. Rather

Bob and Joni Hocken decided that selling

their Independence, Iowa, home of 27 years

wasn't an option, even after it flooded twice

in 1999. Instead, they elevated the home,

seen in the background, so that the living

areas are now well above the floodplain.

(Photo: David Teska, FEMA)

than move away, certainly an option for

some, the Hockens decided to stay and make

the necessary changes to their home so that

they are prepared when the Wapsi rages

again. They know they can’t tame nature.

What they can do and have done is use the

knowledge gained from the past so that they

aren’t flooded out of their home the next

time.

“You live here; you have to expect it,” Joni

Hocken said.

49

Learning a Lesson . . . the Hard Way

In the torrential downpour of October 4,

1998, Doug Lytle, owner of Olympic

Cabinet Company, and his father, Bill, stood

high on a bridge embankment overlooking

their businesses on Southwest Boulevard in

Kansas City, Kansas.

Doug’s 13,000-square-foot cabinet

fabrication shop was right on the banks of

the overflowing Turkey Creek. “A wall of

water 8 feet high” as he later described it,

came barreling down from nearby railroad

yards. The water slammed into the back wall

of his building, caving in a 25-foot section.

It continued inside, rushing through the shop

and out the front overhead garage doors.

The wall of water carried off tools,

equipment, and projects-in-progress for

clients. It also swept away irreplaceable

memorabilia of his pole vaulting

performances at the 1984 U.S. Olympic

summer games.

In a heartbeat, Doug Lytle’s business was a

ravaged, soaking mess. And an important

piece of his life was washed away forever.

And, as he later found out, he didn’t have

insurance to cover the losses.

Doug wasn’t the only one in the family who

suffered. Bill Lytle’s office building stands

on the same road but about a block

“downstream” from his son’s cabinet shop.

The October 4 storm wasn’t kind to him,

either. Bill’s two-story building was filled

with more than 4 feet of water.

Bill was no stranger to flooding. His

building got about 21⁄2 feet of water during

the Midwest flood of 1993. The difference,

he says, was that in 1993, the water came up

more slowly. This year’s storm was a

different story. The water was fierce and

fast. A 6-foot-tall privacy fence buckled and

disappeared. Two storage sheds were

washed away. His parking lot rippled and

heaved. Only the building remained.

Now, for the second time, Bill Lytle’s

losses—contents and damage to his

building—were covered by a National Flood

Insurance Program (NFIP) flood insurance

policy.

“Had to buy flood insurance to finance the

building when I bought it in 1988,” he said.

“In 1993, the flood insurance agent was on

the spot within four days. FEMA was here

quick and paid quick,” he said confidently.

For Doug, the story wasn’t so good. He

wasn’t covered by flood insurance. When he

changed insurance agents a few years back,

the flood insurance coverage he had

“somehow got dropped.” He never knew it

until it was too late.

“I’ve probably lost a quarter of a million

dollars,” he said ruefully about the October

storm and its effect on his business. “I’m

probably the largest employer in this

quadrant, and I was shut down for a month,”

he said. More than a month after the flood,

part of the operation still was shut down.

Both buildings are located in a well-known

floodplain. Southwest Boulevard often takes

on water during a heavy rain, the Lytles say.

Still, there are distinct advantages to being

there. The Boulevard is right along I-35,

with easy access to Kansas City’s southern

suburbs, where many of Doug’s customers

are building.
50

“We wouldn’t want to sell out,” Doug

commented. “We’ve been on this boulevard

for 12 or 13 years. The Boulevard is a really

good area for business. It’s an industrialized

area and all our major suppliers are close

by.”

So, Doug is taking steps to protect his future

and his business from the next inevitable

flood. He’s purchased flood insurance from

the NFIP and is taking out low-interest

disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business

Administration to clean up, repair, and

rebuild. He’s reinforcing the floors, raising

the heating and air conditioning units, and

possibly building a retaining wall.

“I’m almost through the 30-day waiting

period for my flood insurance policy to go

into effect,” he said, eyeing the blue

November sky. He believes his business will

be better protected the next time.

The lessons Doug learned from that October

storm haven’t stopped at the doors of his

business. Although his home wasn’t

damaged this time, he knows of others who

live outside of floodplains and who still got

as much as 2 feet of water inside. In fact, he

knows of a lot of places that took on water

in that storm for the first time ever.

“Floodplains seem to change,” he said

wryly.

With that in mind, he’s getting flood

insurance for his house, too.
51

My Loan Man Made Me Do It

Les Wheatley hadn’t really thought much

about it. He had been a good businessman

all his life. But when he was applying for a

loan to expand Dotty’s Quilt Shop,

Wheatley’s lender insisted that he buy flood

insurance.

It seemed like just one more thing at the

time.

Today he says, “Thank God, my loan man

made me buy it. It kept me in business.”

It was the afternoon of July 30, 1993. Les,

his daughter, and her husband had heard the

warnings earlier that day, as everyone else

had in Chesterfield, Missouri. For 6 hours,

they piled sandbags around Dotty’s.

They also did another smart thing and rented

a truck, the last one available from the rental

place down the street. They loaded it up

with as much as they could from Dotty’s—

sewing machines, fabric, records—and

moved to high ground.

Late that night, the levee blew, and the

Missouri River rushed past Dotty’s on both

sides, only to back up and fill the place

with floodwater that almost reached the

15-foot-high ceiling.

“It was just like filling up a bathtub,”

Wheatley recalls. “Some people around here

called the city ‘Lake Chesterfield.’”

The water stayed high for 3 weeks in and

around Dotty’s. Finally when it receded, Les

and his family took stock and started the

grueling job of cleanup.

Les got back on his feet thanks to hard work,

the support of his family, lots of friends, and

his National Flood Insurance Program flood

insurance claim payment.

Dotty’s was one of 65 businesses in

Chesterfield, Missouri, able to start back up

again. Close to 200 others in Chesterfield

never did. Many of the failed businesses

didn’t have what Les Wheatley had: flood

coverage.

Now, it’s 10 years later. Les Wheatley has

sold his business and retired. But he’ll never

forget that day in 1993 when the Missouri

River swept away so many people’s dreams.

And if anyone wants to go into business, Les

has two pieces of advice: keep good books

and “you’d better have flood insurance.”

We think that advice is rock-solid, especially

from one who was a little reluctant to buy

flood insurance in the first place.

53

Computer Oatmeal

From his seat in the small airplane circling

at 12,000 feet above the watery disaster

scene on the ground, Steve Rouff couldn’t

make out the exact location of International

Marketing Group, Inc. (IMG), one of more

than 200 businesses in Chesterfield,

Missouri, submerged by the 1993 flood. As

far as the eye could see, it looked like one

vast, muddy lake.

While Rouff dreaded the grueling cleanup

ahead of him, he did have the comfort of

knowing IMG was protected, at least

financially.

“I’ve lived in the St. Louis area most of my

adult life, so floods are no stranger to me,”

said Rouff. “But I bought flood insurance

largely on the advice of my insurance agent.

Now, I can’t thank him enough.”

For about 3 weeks, Rouff couldn’t even get

back into his business to assess the damage.

Perched on telephone poles, the egrets and

water birds seemed to be waiting, as well, to

reclaim the place for themselves.

When Rouff could finally assess the

damage, he saw what he now refers to as

“computer oatmeal.” Nothing was left. But

because of some careful planning and some

quick thinking, he and his “team” (that’s

how he refers to his employees) were able to

save the business.

Ten years after the Great Midwest Flood of

1993, Steve Rouff reflects on what helped

IMG, Inc., stay afloat when almost

two-thirds of the businesses in Chesterfield

never recovered.

“We survived because we had four things

going for us.”

First of all, IMG, Inc., had backed up all of

its computer and record systems at another

location. This is a business practice that

emergency managers, bank regulators, and a

number of corporations have been urging for

years.

Second, Rouff and his team had developed a

disaster recovery plan that they had walked

through—each knowing what to do and

when to do it in case of an emergency.

Third, they had removed IMG, Inc.’s,

servers from the Chesterfield Valley

Industrial Park when they got the first

warning.

Last, but certainly not least, Steve Rouff had

the protection of his National Flood

Insurance Program (NFIP) flood insurance

policy.

To this day, Rouff is proud that his team’s

planning paid off: International Marketing

Group, Inc., suffered no business

interruption after the 1993 flood, and they

were able to provide seamless service to

their customers.

This is what planning did for IMG, Inc.: On

Friday, July 30, the day of the flood, IMG

removed vital servers to a safe location. On

Saturday, suppliers were rerouting orders.

On Sunday, August 1, 20 single phone lines

were dropped at IMG’s new site. On

Monday morning, they were taking orders

from their customers. And on Tuesday,

August 3, those orders were being shipped.

For the long-term, however, IMG was able

to recover because Steve Rouff had bought

flood insurance.
54

“I would have bought more if I could have.”

(There is a $500,000 statutory limit on NFIP

flood insurance protection for nonresidential

contents, such as business inventory,

equipment, and furnishings.)

Steve Rouff’s only regret today is that he

lost some irreplaceable treasures in the 1993

flood: a cherished picture of his wife, and

the crafts his then 8-year-old had made just

for him.

The egrets and Steve Rouff are no longer in

Chesterfield.

But his business survived. And, according to

Rouff, this is a large part of the reason: “If

you’re going to live or work in a floodplain,

you need flood insurance . . . and maybe a

boat.”
55

FEMA Region VIII

The Langdon, North Dakota,

Success Story

FEMA Region VIII serves Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,

South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

For contact information, see the FEMA Regional Offices list on pages vii-viii.

57

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

Diversion Project in Langdon, North Dakota

After the 1993 flood, the City of Langdon,

North Dakota, installed a new diversion

channel to handle excessive storm runoff

and flooding. The community received

almost $82,500 in federal funds under

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

to help pay for this $110, 000 project. The

diversion project now enables floodwaters to

flow around the city through a series of

channels.

That was not the case during the 1993

Midwest flood. Water was flowing through

Langdon at an estimated 80-90 cubic feet

per second. Water levels in Langdon

increased rapidly with nowhere for any of

the excess water to drain.

The 1993 flood caused more than $700,000

in damages for this small community. The

excess water infiltrated Langdon’s sanitary

sewer system and posed a threat to public

health and safety. The flooding also

impacted the city water reservoirs, the city

lift station, and numerous residences.

The diversion project gave an early return to

Langdon on this investment in mitigation.

During a spring flood of 1997, the water

flowed through the diversion channel at an

estimated rate of nearly 150 cubic feet per

second—close to double the rate of the 1993

flood. Langdon residents reported no

damage from the 1997 flood, one of the

most damaging in North Dakota’s history.

If the diversion project had not been

completed, the City of Langdon estimates,

damages would have exceeded $1 million.

In Langdon, flood hazard mitigation has

paid off handsomely: $82,500 in federal

mitigation funds “bought” the city

$1 million in avoided flood damages.

The residents of Langdon, however, are the

main beneficiaries of this mitigation project.

They are safer from the effects of spring

flooding. Their sanitary sewer system is

protected from flooding, and the residents

have a safer and healthier environment to

live in.

For additional mitigation success stories, see

Journeys: North Dakota’s Trail Towards

Disaster Resistance, prepared and issued by

FEMA Region VIII and the North Dakota

Division of Emergency Management,

January 2001. Journeys reflects mitigation

successes after the 1997 Upper Midwest

flood.

59

Association of State Floodplain Managers

Excerpts from

Mitigation Success Stories

Edition 4, January 2000

The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) is an organization of

professionals involved in floodplain management, flood hazard mitigation, the

National Flood Insurance Program, and flood preparedness, warning, and recovery.

For information, visit ASFPM’s web site (http://www.floods.org).

61

Petersburg, Illinois

Location: Petersburg, Illinois

Project: PORTA High School Community

Problem-Solving (CmPS) Team

Technique(s): Open Space Creation and

Preservation

Contact: Mary Mies, PORTA High School

CmPS Team Sponsor and Coach,

mmies@roe38.kk12.il.us or

217-632-3216

Background

When the settlers built Petersburg, Illinois,

they chose a site on the banks of the

Sangamon River. However, the river’s

flooding often plagued the oldest part of

Petersburg. Families living there suffered

declining property values and an overall

degeneration of the area. The city could not

squeeze enough money from an already

strained budget to contain the flooding.

After devastating floods in 1979, 1981,

1983, 1990, and 1993, the city sought

outside help. Petersburg applied for and

received federal funds from FEMA HMGP.

The Hazard Mitigation Project enabled the

city to acquire and remove residences and

other structures located in the designated

floodplain in preparation for project

development. The City Council was

delighted when the PORTA High School

Community Problem-Solving (CmPS) Team

expressed an interest in seeking permission

to design a reuse plan for a portion of the

property after the acquisition program was

completed. For each aspect of the project,

the team carefully considered all appropriate

floodplain uses and incorporated designs

that would withstand occasional flooding.

The greatest hindrance was that the team

had little money to work with. The daunting

question was how to raise enough funds to

do anything significant with the land?

Project Description

In two lots, the CmPS Team planted flower

gardens containing landscaped beds of

perennials, installed paths of water-resistant

brick paving stones, and added accents such

as a flagpole, birdbath/fountain, ornamental

trees, and rustic benches. Natural plantings

of hedge roses, which grow to 6 feet at

maturity, define park boundaries.

Three other lots were designed as preschool

playgrounds. Selection of playground

equipment reflected the results from polls of

elementary school students’ favorite play

equipment.

Fund raising activities produced more than

$15,000 and included the “Decorate an Abe”

contest in honor of former Petersburg

resident Abraham Lincoln. Area businesses

sponsored and decorated silhouettes of

Lincoln, and passers-by used their spare

change to vote for their favorites. The

“Abes” were later auctioned off to raise

additional funds.

Sponsorships by civic groups and donations

from private citizens also helped with the

funding. The Illinois Department of

Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA)

and the Association of State Floodplain

Managers contributed $51,000.

As the project work was implemented, the

city council designated additional lots for

which the CmPS Team could develop plans

for reuse. The team’s efforts motivated other

groups to become involved in the reuse of

floodplain lots. The Petersburg Tree

Committee planted a Memorial Grove, and

the High School Science Club began a
62

prairie grass restoration project on lots that

adjoined the preschool playground.

Benefits

 Community and neighborhood pride has

been restored by reusing an area of town

that was devastated by floods. The

whole community has benefited by

becoming involved in reclaiming and

restoring land previously deemed

unusable.

 A useful recreation area was created.

Neighborhood children can now play in

a clean, safe playground.

 Fund-raising efforts and sponsorships

stimulated community interest in the

park and instilled feelings of personal

ownership and pride.

 The reuse efforts have been cited as a

“blueprint” for other small towns facing

similar problems. The team has

presented the project to many state

agencies, federal agencies, and

associations.

 The CmPS Team has proven that

through education, initiative, and

persistence, communities can revitalize

flood-prone areas. These properties can

become a focal point of pride and

beauty.

 This project has brought together a

community, has restored the integrity of

the land, and has created a lasting

contribution to Petersburg.

Costs and Funding Sources

Total project cost = $67,000

 DCCA and the Association of State

Floodplain Managers funded the shelter,

picnic tables, grills, benches, and other

amenities of the playground = $51,000

 Local fundraising and private

contributions = $16,000

Members of Petersburg, Illinois’s, PORTA High School Community Problem-Solving Team helped

prepare flower beds for the winter in the new city park—and had a lot of fun in the process.
63

Beatrice, Nebraska

Location: Beatrice, Nebraska

Project: Beatrice Acquisitions

Technique(s): Acquisition, Bank Stabilization

Contact: Steve McMaster, Nebraska

Department of Natural Resources,

smcmaster@dnr.state.ne.us or

402-471-3957

Project Description

After major floods on the Big Blue River in

1973 and 1984, the City of Beatrice

instituted its own voluntary acquisition

project for residential structures. After

another flood in 1993, the city continued to

acquire flood-prone structures with funding

from FEMA’s HMGP and FMA Program.

Beatrice was the first community in the

nation whose flood mitigation plan received

an FMA grant. This funded the acquisition

of 12 residential structures in the Big Blue

River floodplain.

To date, Beatrice has almost completed the

goal of removing all of the residential

structures in the city’s regulated floodplain.

The majority of the remaining insurable

structures are commercial. Of the 16

repetitive-loss structures in the city, 14 have

been acquired and demolished. Most of the

acquired open space is being used for

athletic fields and parks. A hiking and

biking path is to be constructed in the future.

Benefits

 No more federal disaster assistance will

ever again be paid for these properties.

 Only open space uses compatible with

flood storage will be permitted.

 Expenses for flood cleanup and fire

department/law enforcement overtime

for flood duty and rescue have been

reduced.

 Public safety has been increased.

 The natural habitat for wildlife has been

expanded and enriched.

 Beneficial wetland acreage has been

gained.

 Creation of a natural buffer strip

(riparian corridor) has increased water

quality.

 Beatrice was selected by FEMA as

Nebraska’s first Project Impact

community.

Costs and Funding Sources

Total cost of the project (including

demolition) = $370,000

 FEMA FMA Program funds were first

received in 1997 and were used to

acquire 12 homes at 75% = $277,500

 City of Beatrice funding at 25% =

$92,500

In Beatrice, Nebraska, repetitive-loss

buildings in the floodplain were acquired

and demolished by the city. The open

space now is home to athletic fields and

parks.

65

Union, Missouri

Location: Union, Missouri

Project: Single-Family Home Acquisition;

Mobile Home Park Acquisition

and Assistance

Technique(s): Acquisition, Demolition

Contact: Sheela Amin, Missouri Emergency

Management Agency,

samin@sema.state.mo.us or

573-526-9116

Background

With both the Mississippi and the Missouri

Rivers located within its borders, the State

of Missouri is highly susceptible to riverine

flooding. The state, however, is also

susceptible to flash flooding. In fact, since

1993, 64 of the 88 flood-related deaths in

Missouri were caused by flash floods, not

riverine floods. In Missouri, flash flooding is

a far greater threat to lives and property than

riverine flooding.

The City of Union, located just 45 minutes

by car from Saint Louis, is the Franklin

County seat. It is a peaceful community of

7,757 people. Flooding in Union is usually

caused by the Bourbeuse River. In fact, it

was several of the normally quiet little

streams with names like Flat Creek, Possum

Creek, and Fenton Creek that were suddenly

transformed into raging torrents of sewer

and stormwater runoff when more than 14

inches of rain fell in less than 8 hours in

May 2000. This incredible, unexpected

discharge formed a destructive wall of water

that rudely awakened many of the city’s

sleeping residents, immediately endangering

their lives and damaging or destroying

numerous homes, vehicles, and personal

belongings.

The State of Missouri received a presidential

disaster declaration on May 12, 2000,

establishing funding for disaster relief and

mitigation activities through FEMA.

Project Description

On May 30, the city submitted an

application to Missouri’s State Emergency

Management Agency (SEMA) to purchase

29 residential structures and five mobile

home parks. The value of the initial

application was $2,044,340. Due to

funding limitations, the application was

modified to include only substantially

damaged, residential, “stick built” structures

located within the “1-percent-chance flood”

event area. (The “1-percent-chance flood” is

a flood event that has a 1 percent chance of

occurring or being exceeded in any given

year. The 1-percent-chance flood formerly

was referred to as the “100-year flood.”)

The City of Union ultimately acquired a

total of 17 properties. The demolition

project was completed on January 18, 2001.

As a result of the acquisition program, 17

families are now “out of harm’s way.”

Those 17 properties are deed restricted for

Residents of mobile home parks were

among the people hit hardest when

Union, Missouri, was inundated by 14

inches of rain on a single day in May

2000.
66

open space, which will prevent future

development and the potential for flash

flood deaths in that area.

The State of Missouri Community

Development Block Grant (CDBG) program

was notified by SEMA and the City of

Union of the funding shortfall, specifically

in regard to the mobile home parks. The

May 2000 flood event displaced about 225

people from three mobile home parks.

Debris removal costs in the three mobile

home parks totaled $241,262. In addition, a

majority of the IFG and Disaster Housing

payments, which totaled over $722,000,

were also provided to the residents of the

three mobile home parks. The City of Union

applied for and received a grant to acquire

the land and financially assist the owners of

approximately 58 mobile homes in the three

mobile home parks. These mobile home

parks will also be deed restricted for open

space.

Benefits

 The costs associated with response to

and recovery from future flooding in the

acquisition areas will no longer exist.

This includes approximately $963,262

spent for IFG, Disaster Housing, and

PA.

 The flash floods of May 2000

demonstrate the value of disaster and

mitigation money invested by the

federal, state, and local governments in

voluntary flood acquisition programs.

When a property is acquired and

demolished in an acquisition program

and the area is converted to open space

for perpetuity, that area may flood again

at some time, but people and property

simply will not be there to suffer further

injuries and damage. In the City of

Union, when the next flood event occurs,

the damage will be much more limited

because many of the homes and people

will no longer be in harm’s way.

Costs and Funding Sources

Single-Family Home Acquisition

and Demolition

Total project cost = $926,412

 FEMA HMGP funds for acquisition =

$628,336

 State of Missouri General Revenue

HMGP funding for acquisition =

$209,446 (25% of the matching funds)

 FEMA PA funds used for demolition =

$66,472

 State of Missouri General Revenue

funding for demolition = $8,863 (10% of

the matching funds)

 Local costs for demolition = $13,295

(15% of the matching funds)

Mobile Home Park Acquisition and

Assistance

Total project cost = $435,000

 Missouri’s CDBG program to acquire

the land and financially assist the mobile

home owners = $435,000

In the floodplain area of the City of

Union, Missouri, severely flooded

buildings were demolished and cleared

to create open space.
67

East St. Peter, Minnesota

Location: East St. Peter, Minnesota

Project: Commercial Buyouts

Technique(s): Acquisition, Relocation, Elevation

Contact: Terri Smith, Minnesota Division of

Emergency Management,

Terri.Smith@state.mn.us or

651-296-0469

Background

After floodwaters devastated the area

around East St. Peter, Minnesota, in the

1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

constructed a temporary dike in 1969 to

protect homes and businesses from flooding.

Because the dike was not a permanent

structure, no funding was available for

maintenance or upgrading. The community

needed a permanent solution.

The Minnesota River covered Highway 99

in Le Sueur County in 1993, 1997, and

2001. In each case, the high water caused

the closing of the busy roadway that crosses

the river and made the bridge from the

unincorporated community of East St. Peter

to the city of St. Peter impassable. The flood

of 1993 caused hundreds of thousands of

dollars in property damage and lost revenue.

Repetitive flooding endangers communities

at many levels: loss of life, reduction of

property values, significant losses in

revenue, and stress-related illnesses. These

severe consequences push citizens and local

officials to action and force difficult

decisions.

The concept of FEMA’s acquisition

program is simple. When homes and

businesses have been involved in heavy

flooding (especially multiple flooding

events), and local officials and owners of

these properties are looking for a solution,

acquisition can completely eliminate future

flooding problems by removal of structures.

However, the acquisition process can take

years to complete.

Project Description

An acquisition program, initiated after

devastating flood damage in 1993, helped 16

East St. Peter business owners and two

homeowners move out of the floodplain by

the time the 1997 flood hit.

A number of businesses were involved, and

various funding agencies participated.

Public meetings were held, and

subsequently, appraisals and negotiations

were conducted on all the properties.

Owners were offered a preflood fair market

price and additional monies for relocation

expenses. Environmental testing took place

as required by federal law in the purchase of

commercial property. By the next major

flood, the acquisitions were complete.

The decision to “get out” was an agonizing

one. For some, it was saying good-bye to the

livelihoods they had known for 20 to 30

years and a lifetime of customer-based

relationships.

The owners of the Whiskey River restaurant

and bar, the largest dining establishment in

the St. Peter area, chose to remain along

Highway 99 and undertook a major

rebuilding effort on higher ground.

Cooperating with local, state, and federal

agencies, the owners of the Whiskey River

elevated their building on fill in compliance

with the local floodplain ordinance, greatly

reducing the risk of flooding. “We owned

the land already. We had been in business
68

for 15 years and had a good reputation. We

checked into other sites in St. Peter and they

just didn’t have the space,” said the owner.

A short-grass prairie now grows where a

cement plant, auto body shop, furniture

store, and grain elevator once conducted

operations. The Le Sueur County Park

Committee has responsibility for managing

40 acres that Le Sueur County now holds

title to through the acquisition project. Plans

for the space include use by community

groups for Boy Scout encampments and as a

picnic area.

Benefits

 During the 1997 and 2001 flood events,

there were no damages to residences and

businesses along Highway 99 in the East

St. Peter area. “Had the houses and

businesses still been located in East St.

Peter, they would have had 2 to 6 feet of

water in them,” said Darrell Pettis, Le

Sueur County Engineer, describing the

2001 flood.

 Removal of commercial structures (e.g.,

auto body) helps to reduce the risk of

surface and groundwater contamination.

 “The river was so powerful, the

movement of the water would make the

ground shake,” said John Zimmerman, a

long-time resident. “Today, if the

Minnesota River floods, it floods and it’s

okay.”

Costs and Funding Sources

Total project cost = $2,331,000

 FEMA HMGP = $828,000

 Le Sueur County stepped up to be the

local-share partner for FEMA’s HMGP

acquisition project, administered through

the Minnesota Division of Emergency

Management (DEM) after the

presidentially declared disaster of 1993

= $46,000

 The Minnesota Department of Trade and

Economic Development (DTED)

provided funding for commercial

relocation, business reestablishment,

environmental studies, and cleanup =

$1,182,000

 Minnesota DNR funded = $25,000

Minnesota DEM funded = $250,000

Much of East St. Peter, Minnesota,

was under water during the Minnesota

River Valley flooding in 2001. (Photo:

St. Peter Herald)
69

Bibliography

71

Bibliography

Reports

Association of State Floodplain Managers. Mitigation Success Stories. Edition 4,

January 2000.

FEMA Region VII and the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency.

Success Stories from the Missouri Buyout Program, August 2002.

FEMA Region VIII and the North Dakota Division of Emergency Management.

Journeys: North Dakota’s Trail Towards Disaster Resistance.

Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee to the Administration

Floodplain Management Task Force. Sharing the Challenge: Floodplain Management

into the 21st Century, June 1994.

Larson, Lee W. The Great USA Flood of 1993. (Monograph presented at the International

Association of Hydrological Sciences Conference, Anaheim, CA, June 1996)

Articles

Faber, Scott. “Flood Policy and Management.” River Voices, Vol. 8, No. 2,

Summer 1997.

FEMA Region VII. “Learning a Lesson . . . the Hard Way.”

FEMA Region VII. “Red House on the Wapsi.”

FEMA Region VIII. “Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Diversion Project in

Langdon, North Dakota.”

Web Sites

Association of State Floodplain Managers: http://www.floods.org

FEMA Flood Hazard Mitigation Success Stories: http://www.fema.gov/fima/success.shtm

Under “Case Studies,” visitors may print a Microsoft Word version or an Adobe PDF

version of Success Stories from the Missouri Buyout Program, published by FEMA

Region VII and the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency.

Under “Regional Resources,” visitors will find links to FEMA Region V’s

Mitigation Success Stories and to Journeys: North Dakota’s Trail Towards

Disaster Resistance, published by FEMA Region VIII and the North Dakota Division

of Emergency Management.

A-1

Appendix A

Maps

SDSD

MOMO KSKS

NENE IAIA

MNMN

NDND

ILIL

WI WI 1993 Great Flood Declared County

Flooding Source

Location Map

Declared Counties for the Great Midwest Flood of 1993 

Mitigation Division

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

fld1993_declared_cnty.wor

TN NM

CO

North Dakota North Dakota Minnesota Minnesota

Wisconsin Wisconsin

Illinois Illinois

Iowa

Missouri Missouri

Kansas

Nebraska Nebraska

South Dakota South Dakota

KY

AR

OK

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R.

RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R.

JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R.

KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R. KANSAS R.

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R.

IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R.

DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R.

SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R.

SMOKE

SALINE R.

Y HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R.

BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R.

ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R.

BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R.

RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... REPUBLICAN R.

MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R.

A - 3

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

SDSD

MOMO KSKS

NENE IAIA

MNMN

NDND

ILIL

WI WI

CRS Community

1993 Great Flood Declared County

Flooding Source

Location Map

Locations of Current CRS Communities

for the 1993 Midwest Flood Region 

Mitigation Division

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

fld1993_crs_comm.wor

TN

NM

CO

Kansas

Iowa

Missouri Missouri

Illinois Illinois

Wisconsin Wisconsin

Minnesota Minnesota

Nebraska Nebraska

South Dakota South Dakota

North Dakota North Dakota

KY

AR

OK

KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSS RRRR.... KKKAAANNNSSSAAASSS RRR.... KKKAAANNNSSSAAASSS RRR.... KKKAAANNNSSSAAASSS RRR.... KKKAAANNNSSSAAASSS RRR.... KKKAAANNNSSSAAASSS RRR.... KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSSRRRR.....

RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... REPUBLICAN R.

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R.

IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R.

SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R.

PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R.

JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R.

RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R.

BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R.

ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R.

SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R.

MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R.

DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R.

RR

A - 5

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

SDSD

MOMO KSKS

NENE IAIA

MNMN

NDND

ILIL

WI WI

Class Improvement for Each Community

from July 1993 to January 2003

New CRS Communities

+4 Class Improvement

+3 Class Improvement

+2 Class Improvement

+1 Class Improvement

No Improvement

1993 Great Flood Declared County

Flooding Source

Location Map

Improvement in CRS Community Ratings

for the 1993 Midwest Flood Region 

Mitigation Division 

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

4/08/2003

fld1993_crs_comm_chg.wor

TN NM

CO

T

Y

K

Kansas

South Dakota South Dakota

North Dakota North Dakota Minnesota Minnesota

Wisconsin Wisconsin

Illinois Illinois

Iowa

Missouri Missouri

Nebraska Nebraska

KY

AR

OK

KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSS RRRR.... KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSS RRRR.... KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSS RRRR.... KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSS RRRR.... KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSS RRRR.... KKKKAAAANNNNSSSSAAAASSSS RRRR.... KKKKKAAAAANNNNNSSSSSAAAAASSSSSRRRRR.....

SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R. SOLOMON R.

RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... RRRREEEEPPPPUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIICCCCAAAANNNN RRRR.... REPUBLICAN R.

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R.

SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R. SALINE R.

SMOKE

SALINE R.

Y HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R. SMOKEY HILL R.

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R.

BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R.

JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R.

RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R.

BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R.

IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R.

MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R.

DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R.

A - 7

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

Percent Increase in Policies

per State

Over 60%

40% - 60%

20% - 40%

Up to 20%

Policy Growth from July 1993 to February 2003

for the 1993 Midwest Flood Region

Mitigation Division

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

fld1993_policy_growth.wor

5,643 4,828

1,557 1,557 2,968 2,968

13,330 13,330 9999,,,,555566664444

9,038 10,314

5,695 5,695

7,668 7,668 111111222222,,,,,,777777000000555555

8,683 8,683

31,884 45,327

7777,,,,000022221111

22,097

9999,,,,555577776666

16,228

KY

IN

AR TN

NM

CO

OK

Illinois Illinois

Wisconsin Wisconsin

Minnesota Minnesota

Iowa

Missouri Missouri

Kansas

Nebraska Nebraska

South Dakota South Dakota

North Dakota North Dakota

July 1993 Policies

Feb 2003 Policies

Policy Count

 per State

A - 9

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

WY

CO

MT

IN

MI

TN

KY

NM AR

OK

Illinois

Missouri

Iowa

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Kansas

Nebraska

South Dakota

North Dakota

Increase in Flood Insurance Coverage

per State

Over 200%

175% - 200%

150% - 175%

115% - 150%

fld1993_insurance_growth.wor

Flood Insurance Coverage in July 1993 and February 2003

for the 1993 Midwest Flood Region

$0 $1,000,000,000 $2,000,000,000 $3,000,000,000 $4,000,000,000 $5,000,000,000

IA

MO

MN

WI

IL

NE

SD

KS

ND

Flood Insurance in Force ($) per State

A - 11

Flood Insurance Coverage Amount (July 1993)

Flood Insurance Coverage Amount (Feb 2003) FEMA

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Mitigation Division

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

FEMA Program Expenditures

per State

Over $200,000,000

$50,000,000 - $100,000,000

Up to $50,000,000

FEMA Expenditures per State

for the 1993 Midwest Flood 

Mitigation Division

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

fld1993_fema_exp_st.wor

MI

TN

KY

AR

NM OK

WY

MT

Missouri

Illinois

South Dakota South Dakota

North Dakota North Dakota

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Iowa

Kansas

Nebraska

CO

IN

$74,992,347

MN

$67,052,447

WI

$265,790,850

MO

$251,235,160

IA

$253,730,786

IL

$61,336,743

NE

$35,858,754

SD

$97,998,069

KS

ND $32,885,980

Total FEMA Program Expenditures per State ($)

Total FEMA Obligations: $1,140,881,136

A - 13

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

FEMA Program Expenditures per State

for the 1993 Midwest Flood 

Mitigation Division 

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

fld1993_fema_prgm_exp.wor

MI

IN

KY

AR TN

NM OK

CO

WY

MT

Illinois

Iowa

Kansas

Nebraska

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Missouri

South Dakota South Dakota

North Dakota North Dakota

$518,982,658

$371,130,290

$157,769,235

$32,279,972

$60,718,981

Public

Assistance

Individual

Assistance

Hazard

Mitigation

Mission

Assignments

FEMA

Administration

FEMA Program Expenditures

Total FEMA Obligations: $1,140,881,136

$97,998,069

$265,790,850

$253,730,786

$251,235,786

$61,336,743

$32,885,980

$35,858,754

$74,992,347

$67,052,447

A - 15

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

National Flood Insurance Program Losses Paid

per State for the 1993 Midwest Flood 

fld1993_nfip_losses_st.wor

KY

OH

IN

MI

CO

AR TN

OK

South Dakota

Illinois

Minnesota

Iowa

Wisconsin

Missouri

Nebraska

Kansas

North Dakota

A - 17

$100,000

$1,000,000

$10,000,000

$100,000,000

$1,000,000,000

$1,282,792

$490,985

$171,938,390

$22,638,556

$60,755,224

$4,772,145

$600,787

$8,575,321

$271,426

MN WI MO IA IL NE SD KS ND

Loss_Payments

NFIP Loss Payments per State

Total: $271,325,626

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

177 83

5,321

1,134

2,519

344

64

497

118

MN WI MO IA IL NE SD KS ND

Losses_Paid

NFIP Losses Paid per State

Total: 10,257

Average Loss Payment

per State

Over $20,000

$10,000 - $20,000

$5,000 - $10,000

Up to $5,000

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

Mitigation Division

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

Hazard Mitigation Projects from June 1993 through April 2003

per County for the Great Midwest Flood Region

Mitigation Division 

ITS Mapping and Analysis Center

Washington, DC

05/07/2003

fld1993_mitigation_properties.wor

WY

MT

NM

KY

CO

MI

AR

IN

TN

OK

Iowa

Minnesota Minnesota

North Dakota North Dakota

South Dakota South Dakota

Kansas

Illinois Illinois

Nebraska Nebraska

Missouri Missouri

Wisconsin Wisconsin

DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R. DES MOINES R.

IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R. IOWA R.

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MI

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SOOUURRI R. M I R. ISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MI

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.

RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R. RED R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R. MISSOURI R.

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ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R. ILLINOIS R.

MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R. MINNESOTA R.

MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R. MISSISSIPPI R.

BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R. BIG SIOUX R.

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.

BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R. BLACK R.

PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R. PLATTE R.

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REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R. REPUBLICAN R.

JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R. JAMES R.

11,888

356

31

110

Properties

Acquired

Properties

Relocated

Properties

Elevated

Properties

Floodproofed

Total Hazard Mitigation Projects by Type

for the 1993 Great Midwest Flood Region

Total Number of Properties Mitigated: 12,385

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

FEMA

Total Mitigated Properties

per County

Greater than 100

50 - 100

25 - 50

Up to 25

Flooding Source

A - 19

B-1

Appendix B

Flood Statistics Tables

B-3

Damage Estimates for 1993 Midwest Flooding1

in Millions of Dollars

FEMA Region

and State

National

Weather Service

Totals

State

Totals

State

Agriculture

New York Times

Totals

New York Times

Agriculture

Region V Subtotal 4,508 3,630-4,630 2,865 3,467 2,205

Illinois 2,640 1,000-2,000 565 1,535 605

Minnesota 964 1,700 1,500 1,023 800

Wisconsin 904 930 800 909 800

Region VII Subtotal 10,016 >6,900 2,231 6,121 3,726

Iowa 5,740 >3,400 na 2,200 1,200

Kansas 551 >500 441 574 434

Missouri 3,430 3,000 1,790 3,000 1,800

Nebraska 295 na na 347 292

Region VIII Subtotal 1,177 1,196 1,072 2,095 1,300

North Dakota 414 600 500 1,500 705

South Dakota 763 596 572 595 595

TOTAL 15,701 12,000-13,000 na 11,683 7,231

1

Adapted from Sharing the Challenge: Floodplain Management into the 21st Century, a report of the Interagency

Floodplain Management Review Committee to the Administration Floodplain Management Task Force, Washington,

DC, June 1994, page 15.

B-5

FEMA Expenditures for 1993 Midwest Flooding

Federal Disaster Declarations1

in Millions of Dollars, as of March 31, 2003

FEMA Region

and State

Public

Assistance

Individual

Assistance

Hazard

Mitigation

Mission

Assignments

FEMA

Administration

Total FEMA

Expenditures2

Region V Subtotal 171.75 141.77 58.36 8.07 15.84 395.77

Illinois 122.39 77.43 35.07 7.28 11.57 253.73

Minnesota 29.20 31.11 12.35 .28 2.06 74.99

Wisconsin 20.16 33.23 10.94 .51 2.21 67.05

Region VII Subtotal 328.46 194.77 90.24 22.84 40.06 676.37

Iowa 105.81 87.52 32.60 12.75 12.55 251.24

Kansas 48.87 24.05 15.87 2.75 6.46 98.00

Missouri 127.54 80.44 31.52 7.02 19.28 265.79

Nebraska 46.24 2.76 10.25 .32 1.77 61.34

Region VIII Subtotal 18.77 34.61 9.16 1.39 4.82 68.75

North Dakota 8.55 17.26 4.43 .51 2.14 32.89

South Dakota 10.22 17.35 4.73 .88 2.68 35.86

TOTAL2 518.98 371.13 157.77 32.28 60.72 1,140.88

1

Nine federal disaster declarations, one for each affected state, were issued between June 11 and July 26, 1993.

2

In a few instances, because of rounding, a column or row of figures may not sum to the total or the total FEMA

expenditure indicated. All totals are correct.

B-7

National Flood Insurance Program

Claim Payments for 1993 Midwest Flooding

as of March 31, 2003

FEMA Region

and State Claims Paid Claim Payments Average Claim Payment

Region V Subtotal 2,779 $62,529,001 $22,501

Illinois 2,519 $60,755,224 $24,119

Minnesota 177 $1,282,792 $7,247

Wisconsin 83 $490,985 $5,915

Region VII Subtotal 7,296 $207,924,412 $28,498

Iowa 1,134 $22,638,556 $19,963

Kansas 497 $8,575,321 $17,254

Missouri 5,321 $171,938,390 $32,313

Nebraska 344 $4,772,145 $13,873

Region VIII Subtotal 182 $872,213 $4,792

North Dakota 118 $271,426 $2,300

South Dakota 64 $600,787 $9,387

TOTAL 10,257 $271,325,626 $26,453

B-9

National Flood Insurance Program

Policies in Force and Insurance in Force, Then and Now

Insurance in Force Figures in Billions of Dollars

FEMA Region

and State

Policies in

Force 07/93

Policies in

Force 02/03

Change

(N)

Change

(%)

Insur. in

Force 07/93

Insur. in

Force 02/03

Change

(N)

Change

(%)

Region V Subtotal 45,247 66,715 21,468 47.45 2.89 7.32 4.43 153.29

Illinois 31,884 45,327 13,443 42.16 2.15 4.92 2.78 129.56

Minnesota1 5,695 8,683 2,988 52.47 .34 1.07 .73 212.39

Wisconsin 7,668 12,705 5,037 65.69 .40 1.33 .92 228.92

Region VII Subtotal 41,851 55,317 13,466 32.18 2.17 5.59 3.42 157.60

Iowa 7,021 9,576 2,555 36.39 .35 .91 .56 160.09

Kansas 9,038 10,314 1,276 14.12 .46 1.00 .54 115.47

Missouri 16,228 22,097 5,869 36.17 .86 2.39 1.53 177.94

Nebraska 9,564 13,330 3,766 39.38 .50 1.29 .79 157.63

Region VIII Subtotal 6,405 8,611 2,206 34.44 .34 1.03 0.69 202.94

North Dakota1 4,828 5,643 815 16.88 .24 .71 .46 195.29

South Dakota1 1,577 2,968 1,391 88.21 .10 .32 .23 240.22

TOTAL, Nine States2 93,503 130,643 37,140 39.72 5.40 13.94 8.54 158.17

TOTAL, All States 2,683,535 4,402,336 1,718,801 64.05 250.93 640.05 389.12 155.07

1

For Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, 02/03 data and all change data were affected by the Upper Midwest flooding of

1997.

2

In a few instances, because of rounding, a column of figures may not sum to the nine-state total indicated. All totals are correct.