Yesterday's post about regional efforts to fund Mississippi levee improvements was a "big picture" post; today I will focus on what citizens and business owners can do to control their costs, both as individual entities and collectively.Columbia City Engineer Ron Williams serves on a task force created in early 2008 by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to help restore the levees and build support for the funding that will be needed to achieve recertification by FEMA. Yesterday I participated in a briefing hosted by Ron's group for other local officials where I garnered the following advice applicable to small business owners, major employers and local residents alike--especially those who own property in the Bottoms:
Know your property's designation within the restoration zone--every parcel in the flood plain has been assigned a flood risk profile that you can access online requiring only your address.
Carry flood insurance--property owners in the Bottoms currently enjoy a preferred rate which will vanish when decertification is complete; it makes economic sense to purchase now, when rates remain low, and have an additional year to assess the next step. The AR zone will require that residents and businesses purchase flood insurance but will guarantee a reduced rate.
Know your limit--the National Flood Insurance Program provides government-mandated low rates for just the first $250,000 for residents and $500,000 for businesses, but this coverage is a good start for an umbrella supplemented by private carriers.
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