Federal program may lower flood insurance costs in Fairfield
FAIRFIELD TWP. - The National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System may not lower the Passaic River, but Fairfield’s participation in the program could lower flood insurance costs for residents drowning in fees.
The township is on the tail end of completing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program, Mayor James Gasparini said at the Township Council meeting on Monday, May 14.
After the program is complete, Fairfield residents may see between a 12 and 15 percent reduction in the cost of flood insurance, Gasparini said.
Elevation certificates, mapping, flood-reduction activities and other flood preparedness actions were required for the participation in the Community Rating System.
“We were doing a lot of it, but now we have to do the paperwork end of it,” Gasparini said on Tuesday.
The council authorized the go ahead with the final stages of the process at Monday’s meeting. Once completed, the township will have a rating, which will determine how significant the flood insurance discount will be.
“We'll be on the higher end of the spectrum,” Gasparini said, which would equal greater savings. “In some cases it can be quite a lot of money; it could be $300 or more,” he said at the meeting.
The Essex County Executive’s Chief of Staff Phil Alagia visited Monday’s council meeting with good news on the flood-cleanup front.
Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo offered county-sanctioned volunteers to assist with the removal of debris and other remaining flood projects.
Once the river lowers a tad, the volunteer will be sent to Fairfield, Alagia said.
In other township news, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 7925 is set to carry on the tradition of Buddy Poppies.
The council presented VFW representative Al Birchler with a proclamation permitting members of the VFW to bring the poppies door-to-door in Fairfield and some areas of West Caldwell. Donations will be accepted for the Buddy Poppies, with all proceeds going to the veterans and families.
“It’s only used for veterans and widows and orphans,” Birchler said.
“It’s our honor to continue this,” Gasparini added.
Lessons on flooding!
We will be posting frequent lessons on how and why floods occur and how rivers actually work!
While most floods follow heavy rain, or rapid, widespread melting of deep snow, flood forecasters also have to worry about several other factors. Here are the factors that help determine whether a flood is minor or major:
Deep snow cover. Deep snow can melt into a lot of water. Deep snow very rarely causes flooding by itself. Often, heavy rain and rapid warm ups combine with rapidly melting snow to cause major flooding problems. For example, Fargo, N.D. had a 15 inch snow pack at the beginning of March 1994. Fortunately, slowly warming temperatures along with below freezing overnight temperatures through most of March into April reduced flooding from melting snow. Forecasters were originally concerned that the deep snow would pose significant problems during the spring thaw.
Frozen ground. Frozen soil can not absorb as much water as unfrozen soil. Rain or rapid snow melt atop frozen soil can cause flooding that wouldn't have occurred if the soil were not frozen.
Wet or saturated soil. Saturated soil can't absorb rain and water from melting snow. The excess water becomes runoff that rapidly flows into rivers and streams. Unsaturated soil acts like a sponge, absorbing some of the water from rain or snow melt. Saturated soil by itself does not cause flooding. Usually, heavy rain or rapid snow melt combined with saturated soil causes the flooding.
Full reservoirs. Reservoirs are large, mostly man-made basins that hold water for irrigation and drinking. Reservoirs can alleviate river flooding by absorbing and spreading out flood crests flowing down the river. This would reduce the height in which the water rises downstream of the reservoir. If the reservoir is already full, then it can not absorb any water from swollen rivers.
High river and stream levels. Streams or rivers that are already at bankfull can be a precursor to major flooding. Heavy rain or rapid snow melt that flows into an already full river will cause the river to overflow its banks and flood nearby locations. High river levels, such as those in the Ohio Valley in the spring of 1997, make forecasters very nervous anytime a storm threatens to dump heavy rain over the region. A prolonged dry spell, however, can alleviate flooding concerns.
Ice-covered rivers. As rain or melting snow fill river, ice at the surface cracks and breaks up into chunks that float downstream. These chunks of ice can form a dam as they run into barriers, such as bridges, along the rivers. The ice dams cause water to rise rapidly behind them, flooding many upstream locations. If the dam suddenly breaks, water can also flood downstream locations. Large chunks of ice can also damage bridges and other structures. A USA TODAY graphic has more on ice jams. (Related:Ice-jam floods)
Widespread, heavy rain. This is perhaps the most important and influential factor of them all. Long periods of heavy rain can cause flooding even if all other factors are unfavorable for flooding. Often, heavy rain is a cause of some of the factors listed above such as wet soils, high stream levels and full reservoirs. The Midwest flooding during the summer of 1993 and the Southeast flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto in 1994 are a couple of examples of flooding caused by heavy rain.
Whether or not these factors cause flooding often depends on daily weather conditions over the region such as temperature and precipitation. This makes long range flood forecasts very difficult to pin down, which is the main reason why hydrologists often forecast long range flood potential rather than actual long range flood forecasts.
Warmer water temperatures due to El Niño could cause floods
Science Q&A
Kimberly from Texas asks our scientist about weather prediction in flat areas.
Even though it was named after the Christ child, El Niño is hardly kind and gentle. This year El Niño could cause major climate change around the world, and flooding in California. El Niño is really just a large body of warm water in the Pacific Ocean. Because of a complicated system of ocean currents, it usually appears once every two to seven years off the coast of South America. It first appeared around Christmas time, so the Spanish speaking natives called it "the little boy".
The 1997-1998 El Ni-ño could be the strongest in 150 years. Right now El Niño is one and half times the size of the entire United States. The warmer water of El Niño creates more water vapor in the air above the tropical Pacific. That means California and states bordering the Gulf of Mexico could see heavy rainfall and flooding, while the eastern Unites States could experience drought conditions.
Visit a cool NASA Web site where satellite pictures show the current temperatures of all the oceans. Also, California has created a site to track El Niño.
On one level, floods are pretty easy to understand.
Most of us have studied the "water cycle", or "hydrological system", in school. Water circulates from clouds to the soil to streams to rivers to the oceans and then returns to the clouds. When that system backs-up there is a flood.
"There's more water flowing through the hydrological system than the system can draw off," says Frank Richards, a National Weather Service hydrologist (a water scientist). "A flood is an imbalance."
What causes a flood?
A number of factors can contribute to that imbalance, including:
heavy, intense rainfall
run-off from a deep snow cover
over-saturated soil, when the ground can't hold anymore water.
frozen soil
high river, stream or reservoir levels caused by unusually large amounts of rain
ice jams in rivers
urbanization, or lots of buildings and parking lots
There are two basic types of floods. In a regular river flood, water slowly climbs over the edges of a river. The more dangerous type, a flash flood, occurs when a wall of water quickly sweeps over an area. Almost three-quarters of the approximately 92 deaths from floods each year are due to flash floods.
Conquering the Flash Flood.
"Because the rainfall associated with flash flooding is so intense, it is among the most challenging problems we have in meteorology," Richards says. "Bottom line is, we don't do a good of predicting exactly where that type of rainfall will fall."
But that may soon change. The National Weather Service is responsible for predicting the weather and warning people about severe weather. Up until now, meteorologists could only guess when a flash flood would occur. Now, they have a new tool, called Doppler radars, which can track rainfall street by street. This should provide more accurate flash flood warnings across the country. The new radar systems should allow meteorologists to provide warnings before a flash flood occurs.
Controlling the river flood.
River flooding, while often more damaging to property, is much easier to predict. The land around a river is called a watershed. When rain falls on a watershed, the land "sheds" the water into the river. "It's almost like a funnel," Richards says. "It's collecting water over a broad area and funneling it this narrow strip that is the river."
Residents and scientists can tell when there has been an unusual amount of snow and rain, and they can see the river getting higher everyday. Early prediction gives emergency officials time to evacuate residents in the danger areas. For example, during the spring of 1997, the heavy flooding of cities along the Red River in North Dakota and Minnesota was predicted two months in advance.
Another winter-related cause of river flooding is ice jams. At times, large chunks of floating ice will pile up if they hit bend, bridge or other obstruction and stop the river's flow.
"The phenomenon is very like when you were on an Interstate highway in an urban area, and there's some sort of construction area where you go from a certain number of lanes to one lane," Richards says. "The traffic backs up."
The '97 floods in the Upper Plains states were caused by heavy rainfall during the fall. Water from that record rainfall froze, and snow then fell on the ice. When the spring thaw came, not only the water from the winter snowfall but also the water from the earlier autumn rainfall rushed into the Red River.
Human progress vs. Mother Nature.
Human activity that changes the surface of the Earth also effects the water cycle, and can cause floods. Buildings, parking lots and roads, replace grass and dirt with concrete. Under normal circumstances, soil acts like a sponge and soaks up a fair portion of rainwater. But in crowded towns and cities, rainwater flows into storm sewers and drainage ditches, and, at times, overloads them. An urban area can be flooded by an amount of rainfall that would have had no impact in a rural area.
The destruction of the nation's wetlands may also contribute to moderate floods. The wetlands are the swampy land along the edges of some rivers. When it rains, the wet soil and mud of a wetland acts like a sponge and stores the extra water. But much of America's wetlands have been drained for farmland or to build houses. The only place flood water can go is up and over its normal riverbanks and into areas where it can cause major damage.
Floods are primarily natural events. Human activity influences the frequency and severity of floods, but they are created by Mother Nature. There is no really workable protection against major floods like those that hit Grand Forks in the spring of 1997 and the Mississippi River Basin in 1993. Our best defense against floods is an understanding of the way people treat their environment and better weather prediction.
Doppler radar shows a storm and possible flood
What is a 500-year flood?
The waters that swept through Grand Forks, ND, and other cities in the Northern Plains states was called a "500-year-flood," and other floods are called "100-year-floods." But what does that means? A 500-year-flood is so big and rare that it will normally happen only once every 500 years. A 100-year- flood is about once every 100 years. That doesn't mean that a 500-year-flood can't happen the year after a 500-year-flood. Every flood season has exactly the same chance - one in 500 -- of producing a 500-year-flood, even in area that experienced a 500-year-flood the season before.
These trailers knocked over in Grand Forks, ND show how devastating floods can be
The disappearing wetlands are making floods more severe
What Is A ...?
Flood Watch - high flow or overflow of water from a river is possible in the given time period. It can also apply to heavy runoff or drainage of water into low-lying areas. These watches are generally issued for flooding that is expected to occur at least 6 hours after heavy rains have ended.
Flood Warning - flooding is actually occurring or is imminent in the warning area.
Flash Flood Watch - flash flooding is possible in or close to the watch area. Flash Flood Watches are generally issued for flooding that is expected to occur within 6 hours after heavy rains have ended.
Flash Flood Warning - flash flooding is actually occurring or is imminent in the warning area. It can be issued as a result of torrential rains, a dam failure, or ice jam.
Officials in Passaic County seek solutions to chronic flooding at symposium
WAYNE — Government professionals and elected officials got together Wednesday for a two-hour symposium on flooding hosted by William Paterson University, with the hope of finding solutions to stem the chronic flooding that has plagued Passaic River towns.
Elected officials, though, were taken aback by the lecture-style tone of the presentations, which began with a history of glacial movements and a description of why the Passaic River flows the way it does.
“I wasn’t excited to hear about glacial movement,” Paterson Mayor Jeffery Jones said. “That wasn’t why I came here tonight. Talk to me about flooding.”
Assemblyman Scott Rumana, the former Republican mayor of Wayne, had similar sentiments.
“This is not 400 million years ago, it is 2012,” he said.
Passaic County suffered through five floods throughout 2011 and has suffered through several major floods since 2005. A study of flooding below the Pompton Lake Flood Gate released this month said that increased rainfall in northern New Jersey has contributed to flooding problems in recent years.
The report said that North Jersey had 50 to 65 more inches of rain in the past 72 months than normal, and that the average peak stream flow along the Ramapo near Mahwah over the past decade was 55 percent higher than the average over the prior 60 years.
The rainfall amounts from Irene in August amounted to a 500-year event in the river system’s upper watershed and a 100-year event in the lower watershed, the report said.
At the symposium, emergency management and flood mitigation professionals from Passaic County, the state Office of Emergency Management, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers spoke about how their individual agencies respond to each disaster.
In terms of solutions, David Rosenblatt, the administrator for the DEP Office of Engineering and Construction, said that reducing flood risks is the best way to go about managing the flooding problem in North Jersey.
“It’s soft solutions,” he said. “It’s buyouts. It’s raising homes.”
Rumana, who has been circulating a petition to make flood mitigation a federal priority since December, strongly disagreed.
“We live in an area that supports New York City. The area was developed because of that,” he said. “You’re not going to scoop everybody up ... and plop them somewhere else.”
Rumana also said that the Willowbrook Mall has to endure millions in retail sales losses each time it floods – and that people around the mall have less money to spend because they are using the cash to repair their homes.
But Roy Messaros, a coastal and hydraulic engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, strongly disagreed with Rumana.
“The township approved Willowbrook Mall to be built in a flood plain with the expectation that it would flood,” Messaros said. “Now you don’t want it to flood and you want the economic benefits. You can’t have it both ways.”
Veterans of Passaic River Basin floods came to the university with the hope that they would hear solutions to a chronic problem they say is just getting worse.
“They are all talking about what they do after a storm,” said Roy Rosimini of the Old Wayne section of Wayne. “They said it’s going to flood and there’s nothing we can do. I don’t buy that.”
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2012
CONTACT: Lawrence Ragonese (609) 292-2994 Lawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795 Bob Considine (609) 984-1795
CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION CONTINUES COMMITMENT TO FLOOD MITIGATION; DEP COMMISSIONER PROVIDES FLOOD MITIGATION UPDATE TO ELECTED OFFICIALS 540 home buy-outs in pipeline to move residents out of harm's way
(12/P44) TRENTON – Reaffirming that dealing with flooding is a top priority of the Christie Administration, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin met today with mayors and other elected officials to provide them with an update on the state's efforts to mitigate the impacts of flooding in the Passaic River Basin.
"While there is no silver bullet that can put an end to flooding, the Christie Administration is committed to doing everything in its power to provide relief to people who have had to live for far too long with the cost, stress and anxiety of repeated flooding," Commissioner Martin said. "We are continuing to move ahead on the Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission's 15-point plan to mitigate the impacts of flooding in this highly populated basin."
During Thursday's meeting at the Lincoln Park Community Center, Commissioner Martin explained that 540 residential properties, representing $121 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant commitments, have been approved for buy-outs in flood-prone municipalities.
"These acquisitions have been made possible through the unprecedented support from FEMA, which is working in a nationally unique funding partnership with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management and DEP to leverage federal dollars to move residents out of harm's way," said State Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes, a member of the Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission.
Of the 540 properties in the pipeline, 125 are acquisitions leveraged by $5.6 million in DEP Blue Acres funds – 58 properties in Wayne, 46 in Lincoln Park, 20 in Pompton Lakes, and one in Little Falls. Following the ratification of FEMA grant contracts last month, the DEP has begun appraisals and other necessary preliminary work on these properties and will make offers to owners in the coming weeks and months. The DEP expects to close on the majority of these acquisitions by the end of the year.
The DEP previously set aside $2 million to provide block grants to municipalities and counties to cover their required non-federal match to buy flood-prone properties. The DEP is now working to direct another $8 million for the non-federal match for 174 additional properties that received FEMA grant funding under the federal disaster declaration for Hurricane Irene. These properties are in Denville, Fairfield, Lincoln Park, Little Falls, Manville, Middlesex, New Milford, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Paterson, Pequannock, Pompton Lakes, and Westwood.
The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, working in cooperation with FEMA and the DEP, is working toward securing matches from local funding sources for the remaining 241 properties. Matching funds will come from a variety of sources, including the Green Acres Program and county and local open space trust programs.
Also at Thursday's meeting, the Commissioner outlined the results of an independent scientific evaluation requested by local officials following the floods of March 2011. AECOM, a leading consulting engineering firm, utilized the most sophisticated modeling technology available to analyze four recent flood events, including Hurricane Irene. AECOM determined the operation of the Pompton Lake Dam's flood gates is not increasing downstream flooding in the central part of the basin.
The study also posited that the flood gates are serving the intended purpose of preventing upstream flooding in Oakland and that the lowering of Pompton Lake does not have an obvious affect on the storm's flooding impacts.
In February 2011, the Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission, formed by Governor Christie in response to a series of damaging floods, recommended 15 short-term and long-term measures to help mitigate the impacts of flooding in the basin, which covers significant portions of Bergen, Morris and Passaic counties. Although the commission analyzed the Passaic basin in particular, the measures it recommended will have benefits to communities statewide.
Key developments on the commission's recommendations include:
• The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management reports that FEMA has approved grants that will elevate 106 flood-prone properties. More elevation grant approvals are expected under three recent federal disaster declarations. Grant awards are expected this summer.
• Under a pilot DEP program providing $350,000 in grants, four municipalities – Wayne, Pequannock, Riverdale and Pompton Lakes – have completed or begun work to remove snags and debris from local waterways that can exacerbate flooding. In addition, the DEP is streamlining and expediting its stream cleaning permit process to make it easier for local governments to do these types of activities, which can prevent significant property damage.
• The DEP and Army Corps of Engineers next month will execute a project agreement to begin the first phase of a $2.6 million study to evaluate future engineering projects such as levees and flood walls, as well as nonstructural measures that could provide long-term flood damage reduction.
• The DEP has partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey to install new stream gauges and improve existing ones to help better predict flooding and improve emergency response capabilities as part of an enhanced Passaic River Flood Warning System. The DEP is working to update flood inundation maps that, coupled with the improved gauging network, will enhance real-time, web-based flooding information for basin residents.
The Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission has acknowledged that none of its recommendations can change the reality that the Passaic River basin is a highly developed flood plain that will continue to flood. The DEP's goal has been to effectively leverage Blue Acres funds with FEMA money to purchase structures most susceptible to chronic flooding and preserve those properties as open space.
"The most effective strategy is to move as many people out of harm's way as we can," Commissioner Martin said. "We fully expect the pace of offers and acquisitions to pick up in the coming months. All levels of government will continue to work together to help local governments and the residents of flood-prone areas."
Encourage the Federal Government to prioritize the Passaic River Basin in New Jersey as a Presidential priority in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget request to Congress.
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