New London FEMA 50% Rule
June 4th, Thursday at 5:15, New London’s Special Plan Commission held a presentation on the 50% Rule for the general public to attend. Concerned residents were in the audience. They shared about their furnace, hvac, and water heaters being on a 1 foot pedestal in their basements, and the water was 18” higher than said systems.
The City of New London’s Community Development Director, Austin Dyb, assessed the damage first with a “Windshield Review” where staff drives around wherever possible to see what neighborhoods were hit hardest by the 100 year flood in April. The DNR assisted with those assessments with detailed onsite inspections to determine which homes needed to be vacated or could be inhabited.
The Wolf and Embarrass rivers greatly impacted upwards of 300 homes in the flood plains resulting in substantial damage. I became aware of a glaring detail in the 50% Rule, which is a mechanism of the National Flooding Insurance Program from 1968. When non-compliant homes are being assessed, the 50% Rule is a cumulative value. If during the history of a non-compliant home records indicate a new roof was put on for maintenance, that value is put towards the cumulative value IN ADDITION to the current itemized structural repairs and labor costs dedicated to flood damage repair.
Structures in floodplains need to be in compliance for the municipalities to receive NFIP funding. If the non-compliant structures/homes have substantial damage and the cost to repair is more than 50% of the home’s value, raising the structure into compliance is the law. I am concerned for how the homeowners who may not have the funds to get their substantially damaged home into compliance. Raising the structures into compliance could include 1. demolishing the structure. 2. Relocating the structure out of regulatory floodplain. and 3. Elevate existing structure to applicable floodplain elevation.
I want to see vulnerable homeowners be supported by legislation that works for them. In the meantime, municipalities like Waupaca are considering revamping their current ordinances to give options to residents with non-compliant homes. Another avenue to explore is Wisconsin’s Act 175, which bypasses the 50% rule and provides some flexibility on how repairs are facilitated. I support protecting the health and safety of residents, natural resources, property values, minimizing future damages, and maintaining access to disaster assistance.
If and when this 50% rule exploits the most vulnerable residents, who do not have the financial means to make their homes compliant, an adjustment needs to be made to protect them. We can count on these extreme weather events to keep happening, it is up to us to make one another whole again. I want to see the flow of FEMA funds into municipalities and into homeowner’s hands.
Community Development Dept Line: 920-250-5633
