City Scores A ​“Perfect” Seven For Flood Preparedness

New Haven has built a lot of ​“green infrastructure,” like those Lots of green infrastructure like bioswales that catch run-off. It is also monitoring the elevation of new buildings in flood plains.

Those were among the achievements that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) noted when it awarded New Haven a top rating for the voluntary steps it has taken to prepare long term for sea rise, surges, flooding, and erosion.

Tuesday morning the mayor, city planners, and emergency preparedness officials gathered at the Pardee Seawall in Morris Cove to show off a certificate from FEMA and to celebrate a top Class Seven rating in the Community Rating System (CRS) program operated by FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Because of that rating, all homes and businesses in the 100-year flood plain ​“can get a 15 percent reduction in their flood insurance,” reported Deputy Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana.

Only seven communities out of 65 participating in New England received a Class Seven rating. The only other in Connecticut is Stamford.

About 1,800 parcels of land are in the flood plain — which can mean being riverine, coastal, or in a low lying area. Only about half of these have NFIP insurance currently, said Susmitha Attota, the city’s outgoing assistant director of comprehensive planning.

Now the rest who do not have the insurance can contact their insurance agents, direct them to the flood maps on the City Plan website, and wait for that reduction.

“The city has completed a number of projects identified in its Hazard Mitigation Planning (HMP) to help prevent or mitigate localized flooding or erosion, including the Brewery Square Seawall, storm drain and catch basin cleaning, repair of the Long Wharf Storm Drain outfall, repair and replacement of tide flaps at other outfall locations and River Street coastal structures,” said City Plan Director Karyn Gilvarg, who was also attending the ceremony.

Gilvarg and other officials present hailed a team effort involving city, state, and federal levels of government in the wake of Super Storm Sandy and Hurricane Irene to take steps — and then to painstakingly document them in FEMA’s and the NFIP’s CRS program — to make the city more resilient in future flooding emergencies.

The city’s maritime life ​“is a cornerstone of its history and its Achilles heel,” said Mayor Toni Harp.

She noted that 1,900 acres of city land are within the 100-year flood zone. ​“There is no such thing as being overly prepared,” she said.

Pointing to the homes immediately facing the Pardee Seawall, Fontana estimated that at least 400 of them are in the flood plain and are now eligible for insurance reduction as a result of the city’s rating.

“We were worried what could happen here after a heavy rain and surge, after Irene and Sandy,” said Fontana. ​“We had pumps on Dean Street and we made sure those tide gates would work,” he added.

“I’m proud to have been part of this. It is a huge accomplishment. The area around Morris Cove, Long Wharf, Quinnipiac River, down by City Point are now better protected, ” he said.

Officials said they did not want to rest on these laurels. ​“Now we have a responsibility to continue to enforce flood plain development permits given out by the buildings department and secure [more] grants to check out seawalls” and other projects, said Gilvarg.

“A large surge and rain event [combined] keep us up at night,” said Zinn. He also said the need for long-term resiliency to keep up with the unpredictability of climate change is another sleep-depriver, along with how to find the right balance between deploying more hard or gray infrastructure, like seawalls, and the green stuff, such as bioswales; the city has 32 of the latter.

When the NFIP re-evaluates its rating standards for cities in five years, New Haven will have a chance to score even better, which would mean a greater reduction for those who purchase flood insurance.