Flood Mitigation Good Investment for Washington

OLYMPIA – Investing in projects that prevent damages from floods has shown to be a good investment for Washington with every $1 spent on prevention saving up to 80 percent in repair costs.

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is available after a presidential disaster declaration.  Funding typically is available statewide to eligible applicants – state agencies, local governments, special districts Indian Tribes, and private non-profit organizations that provide like government services.

Washington gets an amount equal to 20 percent of what FEMA spends to help individuals and families after a disaster and to help communities repair their damaged infrastructure. For the December Winter Storm and the January Flood disasters, the state expects it will have about $18 million in federal, state and local funds for hazard mitigation planning and mitigation projects.

“This investment will not only save us money in the event of another disaster, but more importantly, it will help hundreds of homeowners, businesses and communities withstand the devastation and loss that occurs during major flooding,” said Kurt Hardin, state coordinating officer for the Washington Emergency Management Division. “This type of planning is critical to improve our response for future disasters.”

Typical mitigation projects the state sees are for removing homes from hazard areas, such as acquiring homes from the floodplain; elevating homes above the base flood elevation (100-year flood); retrofitting buildings such as fire stations or schools to prevent future earthquake damage; improving stormwater systems to prevent future flooding in urban areas or placing power lines and affiliated equipment underground.

Recent studies of Washington State projects that elevated flood-prone homes in Snoqualmie and Chehalis following flood disasters in the mid 1990s showed that those projects saved more in damages that the projects cost. The Snoqualmie project examined 28 elevated homes that were impacted by the November 2006 flood disaster.

Cost to elevate the homes was $1.3 million, while the avoided damages were estimated at $1.6 million. The Chehalis project examined 35 homes that were impacted by the December 2007 flood disaster. Cost to elevate these homes was just over $1 million, while the avoided damages were more than $1.9 million.

The state Emergency Management Division is studying the effect recently completed mitigation projects had on preventing damage during the January 2009 flood disaster and expect reports on how these projects performed later in the year.

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